Students using Adderall and Cocaine to study

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tennisstar89

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I recently had a conversation with a classmate about the top students in our class, and how they do so well. I was shocked when he told me he knows all the guys that routinely get over a 95, and they do it by using cocaine and adderall to stay awake and focused while studying. I started asking other people about this, and a bunch of guys who got 250+ on step last year did it by just snorting coke the whole 6 weeks they studied. This seems really extreme to me, totally unfair, and unprofessional. Do you have a problem with this at your school? How prevalent is this?

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I doubt this is that prevalent. I'm first in my class in 1st/2nd year. 265+ Step 1 and Step 2. Didn't do any drugs except coffee.

Your friend is just jelly
 
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Allegedly some people were using cocaine in the anatomy lab the weekends before the tests last year. I was surprised to hear that from a credible source. Whatever. Play your own game it really doesn't matter.
 
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Do it if you want to. You've learned the possible negative consequences. Yes it's unproffessional, but are you going to snitch when it doesn't directly affect you?
 
The cocaine didn't make them smarter, just awake.
 
I recently had a conversation with a classmate about the top students in our class, and how they do so well. I was shocked when he told me he knows all the guys that routinely get over a 95, and they do it by using cocaine and adderall to stay awake and focused while studying. I started asking other people about this, and a bunch of guys who got 250+ on step last year did it by just snorting coke the whole 6 weeks they studied. This seems really extreme to me, totally unfair, and unprofessional. Do you have a problem with this at your school? How prevalent is this?

Prevalent enough. Welcome to med school.
 
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Wow. I routinely score over a 95 using nothing more stimulating than some good 'ol healthy green tea. Well that, and a borderline unhealthy amount of determination to cram everything I possibly can into my brain. The healthiness and the unhealthiness balance out well enough. Don't do coke, kiddos.
 
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that's a waste of cocaine man.

use that **** to party. man I miss college :(
 
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Kinda doubt a lot of people use cocaine in med school. Although every class has a few.

Adderall is a different story.

Sad truth? It's probably easier find and cheaper to use than a black market Ritalin or adderal, especially in an area with a medical school.
 
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Sad truth? It's probably easier find and cheaper to use than a black market Ritalin or adderal, especially in an area with a medical school.

Maybe it is area dependent but to get adderall in my area you basically just walk into an urgent care and say "I have ADHD" and they hand you a Rx. Whole process (including sitting in the waiting room) takes less than 40 minutes.
 
I recently had a conversation with a classmate about the top students in our class, and how they do so well. I was shocked when he told me he knows all the guys that routinely get over a 95, and they do it by using cocaine and adderall to stay awake and focused while studying. I started asking other people about this, and a bunch of guys who got 250+ on step last year did it by just snorting coke the whole 6 weeks they studied. This seems really extreme to me, totally unfair, and unprofessional. Do you have a problem with this at your school? How prevalent is this?

More prevalent than people acknowledge or realize. This study in one medical school, cites a 15% rate of usage, with a 20% rate of lifetime usage. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23376867

I have classmates who are on adderall and are at the top of the class, and others who don't and are at the top of the class. Fact is, everyone's physiology is different. I know people who can function entirely fine on 5-6 hours of sleep a night, and have enough energy to stay awake during rounds, in the OR, go to the gym and make their lunch for the next day. Then there are the ones who need stimulants to do that. Point is, if you are in neither one of those groups, you are competing against people who either have superhuman capabilities or don't need to eat or sleep secondary to stimulant use.

I am now convinced that there are no normal people in medicine.
 
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Maybe it is area dependent but to get adderall in my area you basically just walk into an urgent care and say "I have ADHD" and they hand you a Rx. Whole process (including sitting in the waiting room) takes less than 40 minutes.

I'd be kind of surprised that any urgent dare doc would put their license and DEA up for the potential problems with a schedule two medication like that
 
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Ohh big surprise, students using stimulants to get ahead.

These guys are only looking short-term and don't realize that their dependence on stimulants will have negative effects on them. Whichever student is using coke to study is out of his mind. We're not on wall-street where some decisions can make or break us. A few points on the exam is not worth a drug addiction.
 
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Ohh big surprise, students using stimulants to get ahead.

These guys are only looking short-term and don't realize that their dependence on stimulants will have negative effects on them. Whichever student is using coke to study is out of his mind. We're not on wall-street where some decisions can make or break us. A few points on the exam is not worth a drug addiction.

There are lots of high functioning coke addicts in medicine and other high-intensity fields. High-functioning meaning that they are able to work / maintain family life without their use of cocaine or other drugs being a problem. Granted, many of those people eventually end up in some kind of Professional Rehabilitation program because they get caught stealing drugs, or drunk on call or whatever, but that's only a percentage.
 
Do student loans cover cocaine?
 
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There are lots of high functioning coke addicts in medicine and other high-intensity fields. High-functioning meaning that they are able to work / maintain family life without their use of cocaine or other drugs being a problem. Granted, many of those people eventually end up in some kind of Professional Rehabilitation program because they get caught stealing drugs, or drunk on call or whatever, but that's only a percentage.

I don't know where you go to school but not a lot of docs are doing cocaine to get through work. Being functional is also different than being stable. But if you want to be a full blown cocaine addict to get some extra anatomy points, go ahead.
 
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I've heard rumors of truck drivers and surgeons taking such stimulants?:eek:
 
Kinda doubt a lot of people use cocaine in med school. Although every class has a few.

Adderall is a different story.

This. Not saying med students don't do coke, but the vast majority wouldn't know how to get their hands on some even if they tried.

Adderall is everywhere.
 
Walk into a psychiatrist office tell him you can't focus and within 30 minutes walk out with an addy prescription. Believe it or not it really is that easy.
 
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I'm disgusted by this thread. Oh well. It'll catch up to them...and honestly, I don't feel bad if it does. If you do coke, you kind of deserve to pay the price.
 
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I don't know where you go to school but not a lot of docs are doing cocaine to get through work. Being functional is also different than being stable. But if you want to be a full blown cocaine addict to get some extra anatomy points, go ahead.

Have you ever done a rotation at an inpatient recovery center for professionals with substance use disorders? I have. Nothing I said implies that I personally use cocaine or endorse use of cocaine. I am simply pointing out what I have seen in my experience. Just because you don't want to believe it because of whatever dogma about doctors and medicine you subscribe to doesn't mean it isn't true or even possible that cocaine use is more prevalent than you think. Sure, being functional is different from being stable. How many doctors do you think are "stable" in their personal lives? Want me to pull the data on divorce rates, etc for you?

To clarify, no doctors or faculty at my medical school overtly use cocaine. In fact, I am quite confident that no doctors or other professionals anywhere openly advertise their cocaine use.
 
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If I come across as a bit tetchy, it's because medical school is full of sheltered, self-righteous, high on their horse people who really think that the world is all sunshine and roses and that anything otherwise is an affront to their perfect understanding of everything. Is doing drugs to get ahead a poor choice and unfair? Yes. Get over it and grow up. Medicine isn't immune to the corruption that is inside every human being's soul.
 
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there was a study, and dont quote me for citation, that 90% of cocaine addicts could not tell cocaine from ritalin.
And btw aderall is basically amphetamine salts.
 
I don't know where you go to school but not a lot of docs are doing cocaine to get through work. Being functional is also different than being stable. But if you want to be a full blown cocaine addict to get some extra anatomy points, go ahead.

I wouldnt be surprised, i mean there is always at least one outright drunky in any surg department.

And btw, what about those people that use propranolol or other b blockers for practicals/orals, being able to keep it together is a skill-set on its own. Academical doping is rampant.
 
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Did anyone argue about this prior to the criminalization of cocaine, the controlling of substances and the big bad war on drugs? I think it is wrong to label someone as "corrupt" or "disgusting" just because they are taking advantage of chemistry to get a job done. I do not believe it is anything personal to their classmates. Now, in the event that an addiction develops and the individual is no longer capable of using the substance reasonably and responsibly, he/she should be able to choose to seek medical and mental health attention. We should remember that what others do with their body is not our business unless they make it our business (isn't this why AMA forms exist?). We are health care providers after all, not cops.

You obviously haven't heard of cocaine induced vasospasm pre-med...or nasal septum perforation/chronic sinusitis from snorting...and on and on. There are plenty of physical effects besides addiction.

Anyway, yes why would people not argue about this? Do you really want your surgeon to be going through cocaine withdrawal during your surgery because he didn't manage to get his bump of coke before? It's just one example but the fact is, only college hippies think that all these potent drugs were "totally cool dude" before they were made illegal.
 
You obviously haven't heard of cocaine induced vasospasm pre-med...or nasal septum perforation/chronic sinusitis from snorting...and on and on. There are plenty of physical effects besides addiction.

Anyway, yes why would people not argue about this? Do you really want your surgeon to be going through cocaine withdrawal during your surgery because he didn't manage to get his bump of coke before? It's just one example but the fact is, only college hippies think that all these potent drugs were "totally cool dude" before they were made illegal.

You seem a little sheltered, and I tend to agree with HotHamH20. But I have very strong libertarian leanings, so I digress...
 
I'm not sure i care what people are using to study harder. But this is the first I'm hearing about cocaine.
 
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You seem a little sheltered, and I tend to agree with HotHamH20. But I have very strong libertarian leanings, so I digress...

I'm laughing my ass off at any libertarian calling someone else sheltered
 
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I've heard of cocaine in my school with the class of 2017/18. Kids these days. Someone in my class got adderall from a pill mill doc and distributed it out to some students. He ended up having a seizure and lost his drivers license, and those kids did average/below on boards. Study drugs might get you decent grades, but you wont excel especially in m3m4...The drugs facilitate cramming, not learning and they have serious a/e....this is based on what I've seen at n=30.

Frankly, I can't understand how we give this stuff to kids and pot is illegal, other than that this stuff is regulated, cannot be grown/made easily at home, is made by big pharma, and its taxable. I've heard from users that adderall gives the same strength but longer lasting buzz as mid grade coke.

I have struggled with ADHD since 1st grade, got kicked out of school for behavior and failing grades but eventually got over it. This stuff is a cheap way out for people who rack disciprine.
 
doesnt make any sense for them to get chalked coke when they have big pharma purity, guarantee and package.
 
I'd be kind of surprised that any urgent dare doc would put their license and DEA up for the potential problems with a schedule two medication like that

Really? I wouldn't.
 
Where the heck are you guys going to med school where people are doing coke to study?! This is first time I've even heard of any suggestion of coke abuse as a stimulant for studying in med school. I have a very hard time believing this -- any studies showing the prevalence of cocaine use amongst med students? Or is this all "a friend of a friend" kind of knowledge?
 
I'm laughing my ass off at any libertarian calling someone else sheltered

Please, explain?

This comment makes no sense...what about my post made me "seem sheltered"?

Just the part about "OMGZ coronary vasospasm and nasal septum perf!!"

Those are very rare complications that the vast majority of "responsible" cocaine users will never have.

Now, obviously I don't think that any physician should be using any psychoactive drug while practicing or put himself/herself at risk for withdrawals. I guess I'm just saying that it is naive to think that all "illegal" drug users are inherently evil because the government tells you so.
 
itt: people rationalizing about aderall/ritalin and cocaine abuse being totally different.
 
Man go back to the premed forum and stay there.


We should probably outlaw alcohol then too shouldn't we? I mean after all there's a risk your surgeon could be going through withdrawals from alcohol addiction while trying to operate. You know why don't we just outlaw everything that could possibly be abused and cause negative side effects. There are always going to be substances that alter ones mind. That doesn't mean that these substances are inherently bad. Anything can be abused and cause a negative result. I could go drink 10 red bulls and throw myself into SVT, doesn't mean caffeine is bad.

I'm not advocating the that all doctors should go out and start snorting cocaine. What I am saying though is don't buy into the idea that one thing is good and one thing is bad just because the government told you so. Working in healthcare now for 8 years I've seen a lot more deaths from alcohol and eating too much McDonald's then I have seen from cocaine overdose.

And don't lower yourself to name calling and doing the whole "you are just a dumb pre-med" crap. I have 8 years of clinical experience as a paramedic. I've see my fair share of things.
 
We should probably outlaw alcohol then too shouldn't we? I mean after all there's a risk your surgeon could be going through withdrawals from alcohol addiction while trying to operate. You know why don't we just outlaw everything that could possibly be abused and cause negative side effects. There are always going to be substances that alter ones mind. That doesn't mean that these substances are inherently bad. Anything can be abused and cause a negative result. I could go drink 10 red bulls and throw myself into SVT, doesn't mean caffeine is bad.

I'm not advocating the that all doctors should go out and start snorting cocaine. What I am saying though is don't buy into the idea that one thing is good and one thing is bad just because the government told you so. Working in healthcare now for 8 years I've seen a lot more deaths from alcohol and eating too much McDonald's then I have seen from cocaine overdose.

And don't lower yourself to name calling and doing the whole "you are just a dumb pre-med" crap. I have 8 years of clinical experience as a paramedic. I've see my fair share of things.

When did this turn into a thread about what should be legal or not...I wouldn't want my surgeon operating after a couple drinks to steady his hands either.

It's okay though dude I'm not gonna let the government control my mind. Fight the system man.
 
Please, explain?



Just the part about "OMGZ coronary vasospasm and nasal septum perf!!"

Those are very rare complications that the vast majority of "responsible" cocaine users will never have.

Now, obviously I don't think that any physician should be using any psychoactive drug while practicing or put himself/herself at risk for withdrawals. I guess I'm just saying that it is naive to think that all "illegal" drug users are inherently evil because the government tells you so.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2111405/
This is a bit of a side argument but I think you'll see it could be a bit more common than you think.
 
Well. That would also surprise me. As someone with a license and a DEA#, I'd never give someone an adder rx. What is your context? Have a license? Have a DEA#?

As a lung guy, I wouldn't think you would be giving out much adderall anyway :D

The DEA is too busy with opioid prescribing to care much about stimulants, Schedule 2 v. lortab's 3 notwithstanding.

I don't prescribe the stuff when I moonlight in Urgent Care (and try not to in my office), but I know folks who will.

Luckily, the stimulant abuse in college/grad school is getting more attention paid to it. Hopefully this will make prescribers pay more attention.
 
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