- Joined
- Dec 15, 2004
- Messages
- 895
- Reaction score
- 24
OK, this is just one long, hippocritical rant, so feel free to lambast me if at all possible:
I am sick and tired (and probably a little jealous) of all the premeds who are so worried about their grades and MCAT that they forget what is important. The people who are fortunate enough only work to "bolster their ECs", rather than to live. The same ones who think that an A in orgo means that they'll be a great doctor. I for one, don't care about being a great doctor. And furthermore, I am sick of all this competitive crap.
To be a great doctor you need to know more than just the lab values, and medications. Not to say that dilligent study isn't also necesary, it's a big part, just not everything. Bedside manner, ability to respond to a situation, to know when to call for help, and to know when to act quickly, and when to step back, are all things that are not found in a text book. And not that all twenty-somethings have this experience, but I would think that if we are to be dealing with human life and death, we should try to get as much experience as possible.
Now I'm biased, having 16 years of experience as a patient (mech ventilation 2X, two neurosurgeries) and working my way through school as a hospital tech, I have quite a bit of clinical experience. That said, I believe that while book learning is great (and believe me, with 2BS's I've had a lot), learning by doing, working your way, litterally from the 'bottom' up, teaches you much more. And medicine is the only art where the apprentices do not start from the bottom.
And to h*ll with all that competitive crap, it only leads to egos and mistakes that hurt patients. What's real to me has nothing to do with the numbers on my application. What's real is that when I go to work tonight, I will be doing a small part to help others, just as previous nurses and doctors cared for and helped me all the times I was in the hospital.
I don't want to be a great doctor and go to an ivy league school. I want to be a simple but proficient internal med hospitalist who serves the small hospital and community in which I live. I could give a rats @ss about being a great doctor, I just want to be a good person, and try, futile as it may be, to repay a debt that I know I can never repay.
thanks for listening to my rant, please don't ban me, I get a lot of good information from you guys here on student doctor.
I am sick and tired (and probably a little jealous) of all the premeds who are so worried about their grades and MCAT that they forget what is important. The people who are fortunate enough only work to "bolster their ECs", rather than to live. The same ones who think that an A in orgo means that they'll be a great doctor. I for one, don't care about being a great doctor. And furthermore, I am sick of all this competitive crap.
To be a great doctor you need to know more than just the lab values, and medications. Not to say that dilligent study isn't also necesary, it's a big part, just not everything. Bedside manner, ability to respond to a situation, to know when to call for help, and to know when to act quickly, and when to step back, are all things that are not found in a text book. And not that all twenty-somethings have this experience, but I would think that if we are to be dealing with human life and death, we should try to get as much experience as possible.
Now I'm biased, having 16 years of experience as a patient (mech ventilation 2X, two neurosurgeries) and working my way through school as a hospital tech, I have quite a bit of clinical experience. That said, I believe that while book learning is great (and believe me, with 2BS's I've had a lot), learning by doing, working your way, litterally from the 'bottom' up, teaches you much more. And medicine is the only art where the apprentices do not start from the bottom.
And to h*ll with all that competitive crap, it only leads to egos and mistakes that hurt patients. What's real to me has nothing to do with the numbers on my application. What's real is that when I go to work tonight, I will be doing a small part to help others, just as previous nurses and doctors cared for and helped me all the times I was in the hospital.
I don't want to be a great doctor and go to an ivy league school. I want to be a simple but proficient internal med hospitalist who serves the small hospital and community in which I live. I could give a rats @ss about being a great doctor, I just want to be a good person, and try, futile as it may be, to repay a debt that I know I can never repay.
thanks for listening to my rant, please don't ban me, I get a lot of good information from you guys here on student doctor.
