Share your most absurd gunner/crybaby stories!

[DW]

I thought I would start this thread so I could hear some particularly absurd anecdotes of gunning and crybabyism at other medical schools out there. I'm sure you all have some, hop on in.

Our class at my med school has acquired a reputation of being "chock full of gunners" relative to other classes, but I didn't really see it as much until today. So, the backdrop goes as follows: Tommorrow we have a renal physiology/histology/embryology exam (of which I'm currently taking a study break from ) and tuesday we have a huge anatomy practical, with two more labs friday and monday that we will be accountable for on the exam. We also originally had a scheduled take home exam for our "doctoring" class (whatever they're calling it at your medical school) due monday morning, that is going to take a fair amount of outside research and writing to complete. A few people in our class gently asked our doctoring course director if she could push the due date. She, being the kind and reasonable lady that she is, obliged and sent us out an email saying we could turn it in on thursday. So, at that point, my thoughts are

Flash forward to this morning, in lecture at our "doctoring" class. Our often goofy but incredibly nice course director gets up and says she's received not one, but MULTIPLE nasty emails from people in the class (I'm not making this up)...demanding that she would UNPOSTPONE the due date of the take home exam!!! Wanna know what their rationale is? Because since they had already done it 5 minutes within getting it like the gunners that they are, so the rest of the class should have to suffer getting it done in this short amount of time. Cry me a river you freaking losers

come vent people...its cathartic...

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[edfig99]

wow...so different than when i was a student there.... hang in there DW. the anatomy practical is always fair..Dr M is a good guy.

 

[Doctor Octopus]

We have this semi-blowoff course in which all of the questions for the exam come from a database of questions from an online module. The course is actually well structured and is a pretty efficient way to learn the material with lots of repetition of the key concepts. Typically, everyone gets around a 95% with many people acing it. Our course director announced that he received two emails asking him how he was going to assign honors if the mean is so high. He pretty much ridiculed them (without naming them, of course) in front of the whole class.

 

[DW]

Originally posted by edfig99
wow...so different than when i was a student there.... hang in there DW. the anatomy practical is always fair..Dr M is a good guy.

ha...the buzz around the entire school is how we've somehow collected the biggest group of gunners in this schools history. Put it this way, if the "slacker/gunner" alternating class theory holds true, the 2008 kids are going to be the laziest mofos imaginable

and Dr M is in fact THE MAN

 

[lkjh]

Yo DW, go back and study so I can pimp you tomorrow!

or take Dr. M's advice and have some vodka...it will probably work better than studying.

-Your TA
Slacker Class of 2004

 

[edfig99]

Originally posted by DW
ha...the buzz around the entire school is how we've somehow collected the biggest group of gunners in this schools history. Put it this way, if the "slacker/gunner" alternating class theory holds true, the 2008 kids are going to be the laziest mofos imaginable

and Dr M is in fact THE MAN

bummer. that's very atypical i must say. guess everyone fooled the adcom when interviewing. i had nothing to do with the selection of applicants for your class

anyway, get off sdn or you will be FEE-NEESHED!

-ed

 

[Blade28]

Originally posted by DW
Put it this way, if the "slacker/gunner" alternating class theory holds true, the 2008 kids are going to be the laziest mofos imaginable

Funny, our school has that "alternating class theory" thing going on too!

 

[UCLAMAN]

Originally posted by Blade28
Funny, our school has that "alternating class theory" thing going on too!

as does ours...unfortunately for me this year's first year class is the gunner class from hell....we've had some of the highest exam averages ever for the school.

 

[ermonty]

Well, I dont know about the alternating class deal, but my class has the distinction of having the highest MCAT/GPA scores in the history of my school, and we've def lived up to that rep. = gunnerville. Best example, last year there were 10 (out of 180 students) that volunteered to be non-paid tour guides for the school on admissions days, our class ~ 100!!! And this is not an isolated case, IT HAPPENS WITH EVERY SINGLE THING THAT WE CAN GET INVOLVED WITH ON THIS CAMPUS!! It's frustrating to know that if I woulda applied to school but one year earlier that I woulda be a SuperStar, and in this class I'm at the back of the pack just trying to catch my breath. Oh well.

Monty

 

[Habari]

i second DW - our year is by all counts a whack abnormality. i think there are just a few kids who happen to be the most vocal who set the tone. ever notice the high correlation between most OCD about school and those who are sexually frustrated... in the words of Dr.M - they need to anastamose more often...

 

[indianboy]

Don't talk down to me. Don't be polite to me. Don't try to make me feel nice. Don't relax. I'll cut the smile off your face. You think I don't know what's going on. You think I'm too afraid to react. The jokes on you. I'm biding my time, looking for the spot. You think no one can reach you, no one can have what you have. I've been planning while you're playing. I've been saving while you're spending. The game is almost over so it's time you acknowledge me. Do you want to fall not ever knowing who took you?

Hope that Helps

P 'Take The Gunner Oath' ShankOut

You're Next DW.

 

[shorrin]

at my school - there is a basement - stinky, moldy, too hot and cold and too many freaking, freaking out med students. sounds like a nice place to spend 50% of your life right?

the class below mine has instituted a 'gunner cup' in the 'quiet room' of the basement. You gotta sign in/out and whoever has clocked the most hours wins the 'gunner cup'. And yes, there is an actual cup on display on a box next to the sign in sheet.

My friend, an m2, was so irked upon seeing this that she wrote with big red letters on the sheet GET A LIFE!

I don't think they got it.

 

[DW]

Originally posted by shorrin
the class below mine has instituted a 'gunner cup' in the 'quiet room' of the basement. You gotta sign in/out and whoever has clocked the most hours wins the 'gunner cup'. And yes, there is an actual cup on display on a box next to the sign in sheet.

wow. that's.....disturbing

 

[DW]

Originally posted by lkjh
Yo DW, go back and study so I can pimp you tomorrow!

or take Dr. M's advice and have some vodka...it will probably work better than studying.

-Your TA
Slacker Class of 2004

...oh yeah, and another thing....our anatomy TAs are the worst of them all!! like this one TA we have right now for the pelvis/perineum who prosected my cadaver the other day, ugh...thank god she's going to be out west next year...what a freaking pyscho!!!!





just kidding, you rock

 

[DW]

Originally posted by Habari
ever notice the high correlation between most OCD about school and those who are sexually frustrated... in the words of Dr.M - they need to anastamose more often...

its funny because its true!

again, as Dr M says..."If you don't have [male genitalia]...SHOP AROUND!!!"

sorry, I know this is turning into a cornell med inside joke thread

 

[Varblade]

gunners are gooners.

 

[irlandesa]

We have one guy in our class who insisted that everyone in our PBL group during first year (when our medical knowledge wasn't so hot), make handouts every single week, and it is a P/F class. OK, I know it's not bad for learning, but during first year when everyone is adjusting and doesn't know much yet? Chill out already! my friend and I also saw this guy going to the library to study on Friday night AFTER we had finished a test and everyone else was going out that night. During third year, he has distinguished himself by telling course directors and residents that "other students are complaining too much about this course, but I have been pleasantly surprised." Many times these other students are people he is very nice to in person. But, his little games seem to work well, and I have no doubt he'll land that residency at Brigham or MGH. Or if he doesn't, he'll say that he didn't want to go to those awful competitive places anyway

 

[Winged Scapula]

Originally posted by Blade28
Funny, our school has that "alternating class theory" thing going on too!

As did mine...

 

[Masonator]

Originally posted by indianboy
Don't talk down to me. Don't be polite to me. Don't try to make me feel nice. Don't relax. I'll cut the smile off your face. You think I don't know what's going on. You think I'm too afraid to react. The jokes on you. I'm biding my time, looking for the spot. You think no one can reach you, no one can have what you have. I've been planning while you're playing. I've been saving while you're spending. The game is almost over so it's time you acknowledge me. Do you want to fall not ever knowing who took you?

Hope that Helps

P 'Take The Gunner Oath' ShankOut

You're Next DW.

You are a freak. I mean that in the baddest way possible.

 

[Kosmo]

While I'm by no means a gunner, in grades or in attitude, I would frankly be a little miffed if I took time out of my studying to complete a poorly timed -- unrelated -- assignment only to find out before the exam that it was postponed.

But, once it's postponed you can't unpostpone it. That's even worse.

 

[Neuronix]

Our class has a reputation as being the biggest bunch of crybabies ever. I don't buy it, because there's been alot of major screwups with exams, assignments, disorganization, missed/bad lectures, not student friendly changes in policies, etc...

I wish I could say we are being absurd. I haven't seen much from the students in that catagory, only from the administration...

 

[demon strate]

Originally posted by DW
I thought I would start this thread so I could hear some particularly absurd anecdotes of gunning and crybabyism at other medical schools out there. I'm sure you all have some, hop on in.

Our class at my med school has acquired a reputation of being "chock full of gunners" relative to other classes, but I didn't really see it as much until today. So, the backdrop goes as follows: Tommorrow we have a renal physiology/histology/embryology exam (of which I'm currently taking a study break from ) and tuesday we have a huge anatomy practical, with two more labs friday and monday that we will be accountable for on the exam. We also originally had a scheduled take home exam for our "doctoring" class (whatever they're calling it at your medical school) due monday morning, that is going to take a fair amount of outside research and writing to complete. A few people in our class gently asked our doctoring course director if she could push the due date. She, being the kind and reasonable lady that she is, obliged and sent us out an email saying we could turn it in on thursday. So, at that point, my thoughts are

Flash forward to this morning, in lecture at our "doctoring" class. Our often goofy but incredibly nice course director gets up and says she's received not one, but MULTIPLE nasty emails from people in the class (I'm not making this up)...demanding that she would UNPOSTPONE the due date of the take home exam!!! Wanna know what their rationale is? Because since they had already done it 5 minutes within getting it like the gunners that they are, so the rest of the class should have to suffer getting it done in this short amount of time. Cry me a river you freaking losers

come vent people...its cathartic...

DW -- don't sweat it. We've had a bunch of exam schedule changes/f-ups this year and people have just not had the time to prepare. Our biochem prof. threw us a lifesaver and OFFERED us a postponement for our last exam (he's a SAINT), and about 15 gunner-types made a stink about the postponement (let's face it-- giving the rest of us more time throws off the curve for them. NOt that they admitted to this-- the reason they gave was that whining and crying about exam dates makes us "look bad" to the profs. Boo frickin' Radley hoo ). Thankfully the majority won.

 

[carrigallen]

personally, i think our class has its share of absurd crybabies. The kind of people who nothing is ever right for - either the lecture room is too cold or too hot, the syllabus is too detailed or not enough. The lecture is too short or too long, etc. These people are literally never satisfied.

Add to that, the group whose complaints are inversely correlated to their exam scores. These are the type who challenge fair questions they get wrong, and (worse) try to discourage classmates from challenging the bad questions they get right!

Most of the complaints are projection - our feelings of stress are projected outward into whining about lecture. A feeling of inferiority about an exam score turns into a inferiorly written test, an inferior professor, an inferior course.

There's nothing wrong with being a whiner/crybaby really, but it is important to recognize when you projecting or under stress.

 

[jws1911]

Originally posted by carrigallen
personally, i think our class has its share of absurd crybabies. The kind of people who nothing is ever right for - either the lecture room is too cold or too hot, the syllabus is too detailed or not enough. The lecture is too short or too long, etc. These people are literally never satisfied.

Add to that, the group whose complaints are inversely correlated to their exam scores. These are the type who challenge fair questions they get wrong, and (worse) try to discourage classmates from challenging the bad questions they get right!

Most of the complaints are projection - our feelings of stress are projected outward into whining about lecture. A feeling of inferiority about an exam score turns into a inferiorly written test, an inferior professor, an inferior course.

There's nothing wrong with being a whiner/crybaby really, but it is important to recognize when you projecting or under stress.

This is a great post!! I agree 100%

 

[Neuronix]

I agree as well. The punchline of this story is that preclinical grades really don't matter, and lots of schools are switching over to P/F for the basic science period. Why don't all schools? It would certainly reduce the stress level of most of the students.

 

[Zweihander]

Originally posted by Neuronix
I agree as well. The punchline of this story is that preclinical grades really don't matter, and lots of schools are switching over to P/F for the basic science period. Why don't all schools? It would certainly reduce the stress level of most of the students.

See, I don't think it makes a difference one way or the other. In the end, med school can always be pass/fail if you choose to make it so -- it still won't keep you from being a doctor.

Also, I've heard that even p/f schools still keep track of how individual students are doing in the preclinical years, so most of these schools are not truly pass/fail (only from the students' perspective). Does anyone know if this is untrue?

 

[Neuronix]

It's true at some schools, untrue at others. Even when they track your preclinical grades, it ends up being only a small part of your class rank or AOA status. Everywhere I know of, the preclinical courses get a whole sentence in your dean's letter.

Med school will always be P/F for me. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that much of my class is hunkered down and studying hard because they think it matters. Since we went to H/P/F collaboration is way down, and studying seems to be way up. That is exactly the kind of environment I wanted to avoid. I guess part of this also is the required class everyday, that makes everyone come into campus for at least several hours everyday. Ugh. Class is such a waste of time...

 

[Gleevec]

Originally posted by Neuronix
It's true at some schools, untrue at others. Even when they track your preclinical grades, it ends up being only a small part of your class rank or AOA status. Everywhere I know of, the preclinical courses get a whole sentence in your dean's letter.

Isnt preclinical stuff almost all you have for junior AOA in general? Or since Penn is 1.5 years preclinicals, do clinicals count more for junior AOA than at more traditional schools?

 

[aj725]

Care to share info about Penn? How do you characterize the atmosphere--is it really cut-throat due to honors or is it just a subsection of the class that are gunning for H.

I was Penn undergrad a few years ago and knew a few med students, and I got the distinct feeling that they went to class but tried to stay away from their med classmates as much as possible--i.e. studying in the undergrad libraries or student union, walking out of the building the moment class ended relieved that they wouldn't have to be back there for a while, and always talking about how their classmates acted like babies and complained to profs about every little thing. Obviously its possible that these people were not the norm but how do you find the atmosphere at Penn. Are there so many gunners/cry babies that the normal folks try to stay away (i mean i know this is true of some of the penn undergrad schools) or is it just the fact that you are with the same group of people day in and day out so little things tend to become annoying?

 

[DireWolf]

There seems to be a common theme in that the majority of a class will lobby for a beneficial change (such as postponing an exam to allow for more study time), and the gunners will secretly protest by going to the professor and whining. I think some people just have masochism in their blood. Gunners

 

[DW]

Originally posted by aj725
is it just the fact that you are with the same group of people day in and day out so little things tend to become annoying?

i dont go to penn, but I guarantee you it plays into it. even at cornell, where we dont have tons of lecture and dont spend a whole lot of time together during the day relative to other med schools...i need to get the hell away from the class for a bit. med school makes a man extremely claustraphobic, even the coolest people in my class i get sick of seeing and have to distance myself sometimes.

 

[SilverAngel1110]

Originally posted by DW
i dont go to penn, but I guarantee you it plays into it. even at cornell, where we dont have tons of lecture and dont spend a whole lot of time together during the day relative to other med schools...i need to get the hell away from the class for a bit. med school makes a man extremely claustraphobic, even the coolest people in my class i get sick of seeing and have to distance myself sometimes.

i feel the same way (except for the being a man part...), ESPECIALLY at exam time. unfortunately, though, we have like 129348768275 hours of class a week so i have no choice but to see people. however, i have stopped studying at school and no longer listen when people are flipping out over how that day's lecturer ended a sentence in a preposition and how this person is clearly an insult to their intelligence... yeah, my class has the reputation of being the most uptight in years, and it drives me NUTS.

 

[japhy]

i was blown away when i heard kids at my school could do this...

in the class below mine, which in the first few weeks of med school had already gained the reputation for being a bunch of whiners and lameasses, several students passed around a petition to kick one of their classmates out of med school. their rationale was this guy was somewhat introverted, didn't hang out much with anybody, and lacked social skills. they claimed to be doing this FOR HIS OWN GOOD, because obviously he was unfit and would make a horrible doctor. not only did they pass this petition around during class, they turned it in to the dean's office.

wtf! these people are arrogant and insane.

 

[Masonator]

Originally posted by japhy
i was blown away when i heard kids at my school could do this...

in the class below mine, which in the first few weeks of med school had already gained the reputation for being a bunch of whiners and lameasses, several students passed around a petition to kick one of their classmates out of med school. their rationale was this guy was somewhat introverted, didn't hang out much with anybody, and lacked social skills. they claimed to be doing this FOR HIS OWN GOOD, because obviously he was unfit and would make a horrible doctor. not only did they pass this petition around during class, they turned it in to the dean's office.

wtf! these people are arrogant and insane.

How did your school's dean handle this situation?

 

[aj725]

Japhy..you have got to be kidding, that's ridiculous! I love that these complaints come from other 1st yr students--how do they really know what it takes to be a good doctor after being in med school for a few weeks/months. Perhaps he stayed away from his classmates cause he sensed they were arrogant and needlessly judgmental.

 

[japhy]

the dean kindly explained to them that it was not their place to judge what qualities are essential to making a good doctor; that's what the admission committee is for. i was actually surprised that the dean didn't get rip roaring mad.

 

[Masonator]

That is a pretty messed up story. Which school do you go to?

 

[kaos]

Whoa. That's pretty bad. I heard rumors in my school that someone had read some criticisms a guy had made in his online blog about a certain professor. The reader then decided to email the prof these comments just to tell him what he'd been saying.

So mean.

 

[mellantro]

Originally posted by japhy
i was blown away when i heard kids at my school could do this...

in the class below mine, which in the first few weeks of med school had already gained the reputation for being a bunch of whiners and lameasses, several students passed around a petition to kick one of their classmates out of med school. their rationale was this guy was somewhat introverted, didn't hang out much with anybody, and lacked social skills. they claimed to be doing this FOR HIS OWN GOOD, because obviously he was unfit and would make a horrible doctor. not only did they pass this petition around during class, they turned it in to the dean's office.

wtf! these people are arrogant and insane.

that is HORRIBLE. wtf is up with the Lord of the Flies mentality? yuck, who do those kids think they are? are they so stupid not to think that if this guy wasn't ready for primetime, the institution has measures to check/catch the problem (the obvious--tests, standardized clinical exams, etc all stuff that can be used to gauge a student's progress).

as for Penn Med, I know someone in the class who has the same complaints that have been voiced on this board. for this person, there is one girl in particular who is super-annoying and represents this thread to the fullest effect!

but, alas, this thread is also a testament to how no medical school goes untouched by gunners!

 

[Disenchanted 1]

OMG!! Sh@#$T Now that is just insane!! My god, what the hell is this.....I would think by now people would have matured out of this......You gotta be evil to do anything like that. Crap, I feel sorry for the future patients of these psychotic, vicious med students.

 

[Gleevec]

Originally posted by japhy
i was blown away when i heard kids at my school could do this...

in the class below mine, which in the first few weeks of med school had already gained the reputation for being a bunch of whiners and lameasses, several students passed around a petition to kick one of their classmates out of med school. their rationale was this guy was somewhat introverted, didn't hang out much with anybody, and lacked social skills. they claimed to be doing this FOR HIS OWN GOOD, because obviously he was unfit and would make a horrible doctor. not only did they pass this petition around during class, they turned it in to the dean's office.

wtf! these people are arrogant and insane.

OMG that is the worst thing I ever heard. What school is this if you dont mind me asking?

Seriously, those kinds of people who think they're better than everyone really hit a nerve. Especially to want to KICK SOMEONE OUT of something they have worked so hard for.

I wish your dean had responded with some cojones, like distributed all the names of people who started/signed the list to all the basic sci and clinical instructors.

 

[Gleevec]

Originally posted by kaos
Whoa. That's pretty bad. I heard rumors in my school that someone had read some criticisms a guy had made in his online blog about a certain professor. The reader then decided to email the prof these comments just to tell him what he'd been saying.

So mean.

Thats so bad. Wow.

 

[stoic]

...And that's why I want to go to DO school... everybody there is an academic slacker.... that's why they're in DO school!





















P.S. That's a joke for those DO gunners out there. I really do want to go to DO school, and not as a backup.

 

[San_Juan_Sun]

Originally posted by daveswafford
...And that's why I want to go to DO school... everybody there is an academic slacker.... that's why they're in DO school!


P.S. That's a joke for those DO gunners out there. I really do want to go to DO school, and not as a backup.

Don't think you'll escape gunners at DO schools. At my school, the seating in the lecture hall is pretty set. If you sit in someone else's seat... well.... get ready for some of the worst dirty looks you've ever seen.

 

[Brian Pavlovitz]

How about this one:

you know that guy/gal who ALWAYS seems to have a question?

Picture this (I feel like Sophia from Golden Girls): it's mid-lecture, and then you see it--the arm shoots up in the air, eyebrows quiverring, look of extreme confusion on face. Then, the question is asked, only the person brings his voice down a couple of octaves (and decibels) so as to sound very calm and intellectual. The best part? If the person had just read the next couple of sentences in the hand out, the question would have been answered!

Not that I'm against asking questions, of course. But, isn't funny when it's ALWAYS the same person?

I agree about the seating in the lecture hall, too. Take somebody's seat, and whooooo! Sit back and watch the show!

And I thought being in a Caribbean school was so different; it seems that we deal with the same things everywhere!

Brian
St. George's University SOM
Class of 2006

 

[Neuronix]

Originally posted by San_Juan_Sun
Don't think you'll escape gunners at DO schools. At my school, the seating in the lecture hall is pretty set. If you sit in someone else's seat... well.... get ready for some of the worst dirty looks you've ever seen.

This is part of my problem... I just about never go to lecture, so I lost my seat a long time ago. It's so cramped in there, there's no way I can't sit either in someone's seat or intrude on someone's space because I'm such a big dude. In fact, our lecture hall just flat out sucks and I can't sit in there in the standard seats too long because it hurts my screwed up knees. Wait, now I sound like a crybaby I think alot of the social scene there is who you sit next to... e.g. All the cliques are together.

Someone asked about Junior AOA. Our Junior AOA goes from the 1.5 years. I guess that might look good on an application... Oh well, I'm certainly not getting it On our first graded exam we had 60some people get honors (it's a fixed system, not curved). I missed it by one point. I still remember the last question on the exam.

"2 weeks after the wound heals, the granulation tissue will have what strength of the original tissue:"
a. 10%
b. 30%
c. 50%
d. 70%
e. 90%

Emphasize the concepts, not the details... Sure... What makes me mad is that I could have gone skiing in Vermont the weekend before for virtually nothing, and the exam turned out to be really easy. Ugh!

 

[irlandesa]

wow, at my school the Dean of Students probably would have called in the guy they wrote the petition about and told him there were "concerns" about his fitness to be a doctor.. I love how our Dean is SUCH an advocate for the students here. The only person she ever did anything nice for was the fiancee of the gunner I mentioned before, who asked 1 year in advance for a 6 week block off for her wedding (during beginning of third year). C'mon, I know weddings are nice and important, but 6 friggin' weeks??!! The problem with this is that this cute schedule game messes up the whole lottery system for people who need more important time off for kids or family emergencies or whatever..

 

[MoCookiess]

Originally posted by japhy
i was blown away when i heard kids at my school could do this...

in the class below mine, which in the first few weeks of med school had already gained the reputation for being a bunch of whiners and lameasses, several students passed around a petition to kick one of their classmates out of med school. their rationale was this guy was somewhat introverted, didn't hang out much with anybody, and lacked social skills. they claimed to be doing this FOR HIS OWN GOOD, because obviously he was unfit and would make a horrible doctor. not only did they pass this petition around during class, they turned it in to the dean's office.

wtf! these people are arrogant and insane.

Holy crap! I can't believe that there are people in med school this immature. Something like this happened in my senior year; but the petition was to get this one annoying guy to sit in the corner of the class. How sad.

 

[getcloned]

This isn't a medical school story per se, but as an undergrad I took a biochem course with the 1st year vet students at my school.

There was a student, probably 30 or so, who was a complete spaz. When we were studying, she would run table to table asking if we knew some irrelevant detail of a pathway or reaction. A typical 4-5 question per lecture all-star.

During a test, she was sitting a row in front of me, and she started breathing heavily, like a bull about to charge.

She then got up, and threw her test at the prof, and screamed, "I don't even know why I try." She then proceeded to run out of the room, bawling.

The TA was able to coax her back into the room where under much protest she finished the exam.

 

[BPKurtz]

Originally posted by getcloned
This isn't a medical school story per se, but as an undergrad I took a biochem course with the 1st year vet students at my school.
...

She then got up, and threw her test at the prof, and screamed, "I don't even know why I try." She then proceeded to run out of the room, bawling.

Hmmm... just wondering if she's Axis I or II. Could be either.

bpkurtz