Recruiters

[sunlioness]

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Anyone have any funny recruiter stories?

My favorite just happened yesterday when a locums recruiter left me a voicemail trying to recruit me to cover my recently vacated position. He didn't say the name of the organization. But he told me it was right there in [town I used to live in]. 100% outpatient. 30 minute follow ups. Full time. What else could it be? We were the only game in town except for some solo practices who wouldn't be looking for locums.

He also said that they had just lost their long term locum who left to take his "dream job". That is thoroughly not true. I wasn't a locum or a "he". And I'm not sure if this is my dream job or not, but so far so good.


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[sunlioness]

This is off topic, but I'm not starting a new thread.

So I grew up in the town I live in now. It is in the metro area of a major NE city. I went to med school and trained in Pittsburgh. Same state, but culturally different. Practiced there and then moved to the Midwest. (So yeah. I'm in Philly now)

So I'm down doing intakes this morning and catch myself asking people how much "pop" they drink. People don't drink pop here. They drink soda. I drink soda (well, not much, but you know what I mean). I use the word soda to express the fizzy sweetened beverage in every context of my life EXCEPT when talking to patients. So now I have to change my schtick to my native dialect.

For some reason, this amuses me.

Also, I'm tired.


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[Shikima]

Could just say "Coke" and be done with it.

 

[clausewitz2]

Could just say "Coke" and be done with it.

This doesn't necessarily work outside the Southeast.

 

[Trismegistus4]

This is off topic, but I'm not starting a new thread.

So I grew up in the town I live in now. It is in the metro area of a major NE city. I went to med school and trained in Pittsburgh. Same state, but culturally different. Practiced there and then moved to the Midwest. (So yeah. I'm in Philly now)

So I'm down doing intakes this morning and catch myself asking people how much "pop" they drink. People don't drink pop here. They drink soda. I drink soda (well, not much, but you know what I mean). I use the word soda to express the fizzy sweetened beverage in every context of my life EXCEPT when talking to patients. So now I have to change my schtick to my native dialect.

For some reason, this amuses me.

Also, I'm tired.


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I also grew up in soda-land but went to med school and did residency in pop-land. I'm now at a locums assignment back on the East coast and having to readjust.

 

[eli20]

Texas: "What kind of coke do you have? Sprite?"

 

[erg923]

Why the F dont people just say what specific soft drink (coke, sprite, dr. pepper). Is it that hard?

 

[clausewitz2]

Why the F dont people just say what specific soft drink (coke, sprite, dr. pepper). Is it that hard?

Semantic bleaching is a thing that happens in natural language. The word "dog", for instance, used to refer to a very specific sort of four-legged canine, and the word for a generic canid was "hound." Not so much anymore.

Likewise, in these dialects, it is more helpful to think of the string of phonemes /kok/ as just meaning "fizzy carbonated syrup drink" instead of "stuff what comes in the red and white bottle." Etymologically relates, sure, but I would bet cash money they are represented differently in the minds of these speakers.

 

[downwithDTB]

How muck coke do you drink? Pepsi? Dr. Pepper? Mr. Pib? Coke Zero? Coke zero cherry? Etc.

Given that you have to ask people at least four different ways (do you have htn? do you have high blood pressure? do you take anything for your blood pressure? did you blood pressure used to be high? ok... just give me your med list and i'll guess your medical problems since you clearly have no clue, oh, you're on hctz, labatolol, losartan and enalopril... uh huh... no medical issues... and your blood pressure is great)... I imagine this strategy would lead to you seeing two pts a day.

 

[Chimed]

Easy solution: Say "soda pop"

 

[clausewitz2]

How muck coke do you drink? Pepsi? Dr. Pepper? Mr. Pib? Coke Zero? Coke zero cherry? Etc.

Given that you have to ask people at least four different ways (do you have htn? do you have high blood pressure? do you take anything for your blood pressure? did you blood pressure used to be high? ok... just give me your med list and i'll guess your medical problems since you clearly have no clue, oh, you're on hctz, labatolol, losartan and enalopril... uh huh... no medical issues... and your blood pressure is great)... I imagine this strategy would lead to you seeing two pts a day.

Yeah, we get a lot of that in my current neck of the woods:
"Any medical problems?"
"Nope."
"Any medicines you take at home?"
"Well, I got my insulin"
"...and what do you take that for?"
"Oh, that's just for the sugars."

 

[Shikima]

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Could just say "Coke" and be done with it.

Now you're talking my native dialect. I say soda now. I hate the word pop.

 

[Rogue Penguin]

Now you're talking my native dialect. I say soda now. I hate the word pop.

Pop is the worst. I definitely can't move to a place where people say that. New question to ask my interviewers!

My grandmother calls it "sodee". That's a better word than pop.

 

[Shikima]

Pop is the worst. I definitely can't move to a place where people say that. New question to ask my interviewers!

My grandmother calls it "sodee". That's a better word than pop.

I was trying to find a video of Yosemite Sam saying that - sodee-pop.

 

[erg923]

How muck coke do you drink? Pepsi? Dr. Pepper? Mr. Pib? Coke Zero? Coke zero cherry? Etc.

Given that you have to ask people at least four different ways (do you have htn? do you have high blood pressure? do you take anything for your blood pressure? did you blood pressure used to be high? ok... just give me your med list and i'll guess your medical problems since you clearly have no clue, oh, you're on hctz, labatolol, losartan and enalopril... uh huh... no medical issues... and your blood pressure is great)... I imagine this strategy would lead to you seeing two pts a day.

I didn't mean clinically. I just meant when your over at I'm over someone's house and they offer me a drink. I don't what the F pop/soda means? Coke is amazing. Root Beer-fantastic. Mountain Dew-sewage.
Why would you offer me sewage?

 

[Trismegistus4]

Likewise, in these dialects, it is more helpful to think of the string of phonemes /kok/ as just meaning "fizzy carbonated syrup drink" instead of "stuff what comes in the red and white bottle." Etymologically relates, sure, but I would bet cash money they are represented differently in the minds of these speakers.

Not quite the same thing, since Coke is a brand name and a subtype of one of these fizzy carbonated syrup drinks, and to them "soda" just means bland carbonated water. If they just had another word entirely for the general type of beverage, it wouldn't be as confusing. As it is, it's as though to some people "Ford" means car and "car" means go-kart.

"Do you have a car?"
"No."
"How do you get to your appointments?"
"I drive my Ford!"
"What kind of Ford do you have?"
"A Chevy."

 

[clausewitz2]

Not quite the same thing, since Coke is a brand name and a subtype of one of these fizzy carbonated syrup drinks, and to them "soda" just means bland carbonated water. If they just had another word entirely for the general type of beverage, it wouldn't be as confusing. As it is, it's as though to some people "Ford" means car and "car" means go-kart.

"Do you have a car?"
"No."
"How do you get to your appointments?"
"I drive my Ford!"
"What kind of Ford do you have?"
"A Chevy."

Right, a word going from having a more specific meaning to a more general, less specific meaning is exactly what semantic bleaching is. The intellectual property rights that happen to be connected to a given string of phonemes is largely irrelevant as far as linguistic processes are concerned.

For what it is worth "soda" also underwent a significant shift from "specific chemical compound" to "class of beverage" in much of English.

 

[smalltownpsych]

You guys are funny. I have never asked a patient how much soda/pop/coke they drink. I don't even ask them how much ETOH they drink as I get a more accurate answer by not asking.

 

[Trismegistus4]

Right, a word going from having a more specific meaning to a more general, less specific meaning is exactly what semantic bleaching is. The intellectual property rights that happen to be connected to a given string of phonemes is largely irrelevant as far as linguistic processes are concerned.

I don't think the "Coke" phenomenon is the same as the generalization of brand names like "Crisco, "Kleenex," "Vaseline," etc. (Though those always bothered me too, being such a logical, aspie kid.) "Coke" isn't used to refer just to all colas, but rather all other carbonated non-alcoholic beverages which have never tasted like Coca-Cola nor had any association with that brand. It would be as if "Ford" came to refer not only to all passenger cars, but eighteen-wheelers and motorcycles as well.

 

[Trismegistus4]

You guys are funny. I have never asked a patient how much soda/pop/coke they drink. I don't even ask them how much ETOH they drink as I get a more accurate answer by not asking.

It can be an important way of finding out about caffeine intake.

"Do you drink any caffeine?"
"No."
"Do you drink any soda?"
"Yeah, I drink about two 2-liter bottles of Coke daily."

 

[OldPsychDoc]

"I can't sleep"
[pointing at 20 oz Mt Dew in hand] "How many of those do you drink a day?"
"5 or 6"
[smh...]

 

[smalltownpsych]

🙂 Of course if they are complaining about sleep, we'll talk about caffeine or other aspects of sleep hygiene. We usually don't talk about this during intake although i probably have said to a patient complaining about sleep while holding an energy drink that they might want to not drink those after 5:00. It just tends to be lower on the priority for my patients, but then I don't prescribe either so much different dynamic.

 

[clausewitz2]

I don't think the "Coke" phenomenon is the same as the generalization of brand names like "Crisco, "Kleenex," "Vaseline," etc. (Though those always bothered me too, being such a logical, aspie kid.) "Coke" isn't used to refer just to all colas, but rather all other carbonated non-alcoholic beverages which have never tasted like Coca-Cola nor had any association with that brand. It would be as if "Ford" came to refer not only to all passenger cars, but eighteen-wheelers and motorcycles as well.

You're right, it is not very much like Kleenex becoming generic. It is much more like the "dog" example I gave - a specific exemplar of a category comes to refer to the entire category.

Now if people used /klinEx/ [forgive my busted transcription, don't have IPA font installed] to refer to something like "paper goods that come in a box", that would be more in line with the example of /kok/ in these dialects.

Source: has taught historical linguistics at the university level.

 

[Trismegistus4]

Texas: "What kind of coke do you have? Sprite?"

I'm serious when I say that I do have trouble understanding how people in Texas accurately communicate about soft drinks. There must be endless Who's-On-First routines going on on a daily basis down there.

"What kind of Coke do you want?"
"Coke."
"But what kind?"
"Coke!"
"Do you want me to just pick one for you?"
"No, I want Coke!"
"Look, I know you want Coke, but you've got to tell me what kind!"
"I just want a Coke."
etc., etc.

 

[clausewitz2]

I'm serious when I say that I do have trouble understanding how people in Texas accurately communicate about soft drinks. There must be endless Who's-On-First routines going on on a daily basis down there.

"What kind of Coke do you want?"
"Coke."
"But what kind?"
"Coke!"
"Do you want me to just pick one for you?"
"No, I want Coke!"
"Look, I know you want Coke, but you've got to tell me what kind!"
"I just want a Coke."
etc., etc.

Texans should weigh in, but my guess would be something like "regular" or "coca-cola" is used to communicate a specific preference for the stuff in the red and white can.

You would be surprised how much ambiguity human languages can tolerate. Arabic for example uses the same word to mean "interesting" and "important." No one has trouble differentiating these concepts, though. The mapping between the semantic fields of your languages vocabulary and the concepts you are capable of employing and communicating with ease is not 1-to-1.

 

[FlowRate]

Texans should weigh in, but my guess would be something like "regular" or "coca-cola" is used to communicate a specific preference for the stuff in the red and white can.

That's exactly how it works.

The best is when people don't carry Coca-Cola, but RC instead.

 

[eli20]

Texans should weigh in, but my guess would be something like "regular" or "coca-cola" is used to communicate a specific preference for the stuff in the red and white can.

You would be surprised how much ambiguity human languages can tolerate. Arabic for example uses the same word to mean "interesting" and "important." No one has trouble differentiating these concepts, though. The mapping between the semantic fields of your languages vocabulary and the concepts you are capable of employing and communicating with ease is not 1-to-1.

That's been my experience.

If anything English is overly specific compared to many languages, we have (by most accounts) more words than any other language, probably in part due to our love of stealing them.

 

[clausewitz2]

That's been my experience.

If anything English is overly specific compared to many languages, we have (by most accounts) more words than any other language, probably in part due to our love of stealing them.

This is a bit of a canard, that English has more words than other languages, not really borne out by data. What may give people this impression is that English-speakers do seem to tolerate semantically opaque loanwords in a way other languages do not.

For example, the Dutch for brain hemorrhage is "hersenbloeding" (brain bleeding). The latter is comprehensible to a small child, whereas the English is not something you can understand without a) already knowing the word hemorrhage or b) knowing a fair amount of Attic Greek.

So English speakers may be more likely to encounter words you can't suss out by breaking them down into their parts, you just have to memorize them.

 

[eli20]

This is a bit of a canard, that English has more words than other languages, not really borne out by data. What may give people this impression is that English-speakers do seem to tolerate semantically opaque loanwords in a way other languages do not.

For example, the Dutch for brain hemorrhage is "hersenbloeding" (brain bleeding). The latter is comprehensible to a small child, whereas the English is not something you can understand without a) already knowing the word hemorrhage or b) knowing a fair amount of Attic Greek.

So English speakers may be more likely to encounter words you can't suss out by breaking them down into their parts, you just have to memorize them.

Any data on the number of words a language has is going to be inherently flawed and difficult to capture for obvious reasons. Most of what I've seen seems to corroborate that English is generally considered to have the most. Anyways it's not really important, which is why I said by most accounts in my post. There are probably better measures of range of expression/linguistic richness than word count also.

 

[downwithDTB]

All I know is that hersenbloeding sounds way cooler than a brain hemorrhage.

 

[SXMMD]

How do I like this entire thread?

😀

 

[clausewitz2]

Any data on the number of words a language has is going to be inherently flawed and difficult to capture for obvious reasons. Most of what I've seen seems to corroborate that English is generally considered to have the most. Anyways it's not really important, which is why I said by most accounts in my post. There are probably better measures of range of expression/linguistic richness than word count also.

Unfortunately you fall into a very deep pit once you start asking questions like "what is a word, exactly?" and it is not clear how to crawl out of them in a principled way.

 

[Trismegistus4]

Source: has taught historical linguistics at the university level.

Evidently even the university level is not advanced enough to understand the truly important principle here: that people who call generic soda "Coke" are weird and should be pointed and laughed at.

 

[Shikima]

"I can't sleep"
[pointing at 20 oz Mt Dew in hand] "How many of those do you drink a day?"
"5 or 6"
[smh...]

When I was an intern, there was this young girl who was drinking a 2L of mountain dew daily. She'd been struggling with headaches daily and all kinds of medications were used with minimal success.
Then I asked how much caffeine she drinks... says none. No coffee or tea? none. What about soda?

Oh.... I drink a 2L every day she responds.

Put her on a weaning schedule over 2 weeks and the headaches were cured miraculously.

 

[daru1]

Why the F dont people just say what specific soft drink (coke, sprite, dr. pepper). Is it that hard?

Thank you. I grew up in the SE, and used whatever the drink name was. Couldn't stand it when people just said "Coke." It still kinda bothers me, and I've been in Texas for the last 18 years.

Teachable moment: this is a great way to teach residents about (counter)transference.

 

[eli20]

It still kinda bothers me, and I've been in Texas for the last 18 years.

Haha it's still one of my more minor speech transgressions. I'm always "fixin" to do something.
I get told by varying people both that I have no accent and by others that I do. Personally, I think my accent and my southern-isms get much worse when I'm around family, sleepy/tired, or with alcohol. I remember doing 24 hour call in third year - by the end I sounded likea 70 year old cowboy haha.

 

[clausewitz2]

Haha it's still one of my more minor speech transgressions. I'm always "fixin" to do something.
I get told by varying people both that I have no accent and by others that I do. Personally, I think my accent and my southern-isms get much worse when I'm around family, sleepy/tired, or with alcohol. I remember doing 24 hour call in third year - by the end I sounded likea 70 year old cowboy haha.

Everyone has an accent. Some people just have an accent that does not allow you to peg their area and social class of origi n in a hyper-specific way.

 

[shan564]

Yeah, I've had that caffeine conversation.

Me: "How much caffeine do you drink"
Pt: "None"
Me: "I remember you telling me last time that you drink energy drinks sometimes."
Pt: "Yeah, but not more than 2-3 every day."
Me: "And I remember you said you like Mountain Dew."
Pt: "Yeah"
Me: "How often do you drink that?"
Pt: "I usually just drink a 2L on most days, unless I need to stay up late or if I'm working on something."

As an aside, I noticed that he has significant ADHD (he was seeing me for something else). I wonder how much of his caffeine use is self-medication. I started him on Strattera.

 

[eli20]

Everyone has an accent. Some people just have an accent that does not allow you to peg their area and social class of origi n in a hyper-specific way.

Ummm... Actually
http://mentalfloss.com/article/65824/new-online-geeky-game-show-um-actually

😉

 

[Trismegistus4]

Everyone has an accent. Some people just have an accent that does not allow you to peg their area and social class of origi n in a hyper-specific way.

This is simply false. People from the mid-Atlantic region of the USA excluding New York City and West Virginia do not have an accent and everyone else in the world does.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Yeah, I've had that caffeine conversation.

Me: "How much caffeine do you drink"
Pt: "None"
Me: "I remember you telling me last time that you drink energy drinks sometimes."
Pt: "Yeah, but not more than 2-3 every day."
Me: "And I remember you said you like Mountain Dew."
Pt: "Yeah"
Me: "How often do you drink that?"
Pt: "I usually just drink a 2L on most days, unless I need to stay up late or if I'm working on something."

As an aside, I noticed that he has significant ADHD (he was seeing me for something else). I wonder how much of his caffeine use is self-medication. I started him on Strattera.

This reminds me of patients who tell you they don't drink because they only drink beer and wine.

 

[WingedOx]

Pop is the worst. I definitely can't move to a place where people say that. New question to ask my interviewers!

My grandmother calls it "sodee". That's a better word than pop.

I'm almost ashamed to admit that my use of the word "pop" extinguished when I moved to the East Coast. I feel like I'm violating my Midwestern roots.

though, they can take my superfluous use of the word "at" to finish sentences from my cold, dead vocabulary.

 

[clausewitz2]

This is simply false. People from the mid-Atlantic region of the USA excluding New York City and West Virginia do not have an accent and everyone else in the world does.

You've clearly never met anyone from Bawlimer, Merlin.

 

[sunlioness]

This is simply false. People from the mid-Atlantic region of the USA excluding New York City and West Virginia do not have an accent and everyone else in the world does.

Speak your "Rs" with pride, my brother.


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