"You're a gunner"

[pianola]

Aaah! Why is there gunning in 3rd year?? What happens then (during rotations?)?

(Do patients die in the crossfire?)

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[MonkeyNuts!]

Somewhere along the way, "gunner" became a little synonymous with "overachiever." Except if you are being branded as an overachiever by med students, who are by definition, usually overachievers, that makes you an uber overachiever, which, depending on how laid back and chill your med school and/or med school class is, could pass off as douchebaggerism, regardless of your character, because med students are also by definition, raging emos who are judgemental and secretly crave drama but can't do any of that college/high school crap anymore because they simply don't have the time or energy or feel that they should be "professional" or "mature" even though those concepts are a total farce made up by the Man to control you.

 

[supergirl87]

Aaah! Why is there gunning in 3rd year?? What happens then (during rotations?)?

(Do patients die in the crossfire?)

lmao! haha, i'm curious too. what kind of gunning goes down 3rd and 4th year? is it one student trying to one up another on how much they know while on rotations?

 

[DwyaneWade]

lmao! haha, i'm curious too. what kind of gunning goes down 3rd and 4th year? is it one student trying to one up another on how much they know while on rotations?

Charts getting taken and purposefully not put back, students not telling other students that they are rounding, students assigning patients to other students, students snapping up easy questions and looking expectantly at everyone else on the tough ones etc. etc.

 

[LadyWolverine]

More like friendly student A spends a significant amount of time helping out fellow student B who is having some difficulties with two patients that student B is responsible for. Later on that week, in a gesture of gratitude, student B throws student A under the bus in front of the senior resident and then, the next day, practically interrupts table rounds with the attending to enthusiastically and smugly present a topic relevant to one of student A's patients without telling student A about it first, knowing full well that student A had already prepared a presentation on a similar topic and was supposed to deliver it in a few moments.

Student A wishes they had seen it coming sooner.

Beware. The waters of 3rd year are infested with sharks, including ones who you once considered friends and colleages.

 

[Law2Doc]

Aaah! Why is there gunning in 3rd year?? What happens then (during rotations?)?

(Do patients die in the crossfire?)

It's when your grades aren't exclusively numeric based and so seeming more prepared than the other guy can translate to a better eval. Thus folks whose playbooks include undermining others tend to find this the opportune time to strike. Throwing others under the bus, showing them up, volunteering them for things, and various other forms of one-upsmanship can be observed.

 

[mmmcdowe]

It's when your grades aren't exclusively numeric based and so seeming more prepared than the other guy can translate to a better eval. Thus folks whose playbooks include undermining others tend to find this the opportune time to strike. Throwing others under the bus, showing them up, volunteering them for things, and various other forms of one-upsmanship can be observed.

I can only hope this isn't my experience. So far I've dodged "horror stories" like this in my academic career, and I'll cross my fingers that there is a sufficient range of this that its not always the rule.

 

[supergirl87]

eek. now i'm scared for the clinical years... i'm not the kind of person to try to one up others. i hope that doesn't mean that i'm going to get eaten alive...

 

[majik1213]

gunner = amber from house

.. still can't believe i felt blue when she died ._.

 

[mmmcdowe]

gunner = amber from house

.. still can't believe i felt blue when she died ._.

to the comparison

I wasn't too sad to see her gone, though I thought it was a bit much to kill her off... lol. I didn't like the whole Wilson - Amber thing. I really miss House doing Clinic duty btw!

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

gunner = amber from house

.. still can't believe i felt blue when she died ._.

Absolutely. They actually did a really good job with the "new hires" because Taub and Kutner are about the best representatives of the personalities of Plastics and FP I've ever seen.

And before people lose hope, there ARE smart attendings out there who absolutely do not tolerate any gunning behavior. Not all, but some.

 

[mjl1717]

Dude, you have not seen gunning yet until you see this guy I know who finished First AID before starting medschool. He also had q-bank subscription before starting medical school.

That's fun-ny!! But serious as hell!

 

[mjl1717]

Agreed. Gunners are not folks who work hard and do well. They aren't the folks who study stuff like First Aid early. And they aren't folks who are chummy with faculty or the teachers pet. And they aren't the folks who sit in the front row (because if you are in front of everybody you cannot see what they are studying/working on -- it's a competitive disadvantage). A gunner is someone who tries to get ahead by trying to step on others. He's the guy who asks you that impossible question during your presentation to make you look bad. He's the guy who volunteers you to take a patient because you haven't had one with X condition yet. He's the one who checks the charts and reads up on your patients in addition to his own, hoping he can show you up and make himself look more prepared. He's the guy who always brags about how little studying he does just to make it seem more effortless for him. In law school we had a guy who used to tear pages out of library books on reserve so that nobody else could finish the assignment. In med school it's much more subtle, but there are gunners here and there.

It does not mean someone who merely works hard and does well, or someone who is smart or diligent. Folks who use this label on such people are bastardizing the term. Sort of like calling someone you disagree with a fascist. It's pejorative, not definitional usage. If however they call you a gunner, and you are one, you are a bad gunner. Because for someone to actually accomplish a gunner's goals they generally want to maintain lower visibility.

So true..As said before: The big thing with the gunner is that he is malicious,
totally unconscientious, everything is me, me, me, no compassion for his colleagues.. In a somewhat "giving", or altruistic field..

Also as jumping jax alludes to: His greed and unconscientiousness can lead to his downfall or unsuccessful practice... [kind of like the Republican party]

 

[MsKrispyKreme]

More like friendly student A spends a significant amount of time helping out fellow student B who is having some difficulties with two patients that student B is responsible for. Later on that week, in a gesture of gratitude, student B throws student A under the bus in front of the senior resident and then, the next day, practically interrupts table rounds with the attending to enthusiastically and smugly present a topic relevant to one of student A's patients without telling student A about it first, knowing full well that student A had already prepared a presentation on a similar topic and was supposed to deliver it in a few moments.

Student A wishes they had seen it coming sooner.

Beware. The waters of 3rd year are infested with sharks, including ones who you once considered friends and colleages.

I'm wondering...what is the correct, diplomatic approach to this behavior? I'm a no nonsense/"let's nip it in the bud" type person so I would interrupt student B and mention something like, "Oh, excuse me, but remember I told you that was the topic of my presentation so do you mind if I present my information before your discussion?".

Does one fight gunnerism with more gunnerism? Is the passive-aggressive approach better?

I might just have to throw a brick through somebody's window if they try to screw me over during my rotations...

 

[Law2Doc]

I'm wondering...what is the correct, diplomatic approach to this behavior? I'm a no nonsense/"let's nip it in the bud" type person so I would interrupt student B and mention something like, "Oh, excuse me, but remember I told you that was the topic of my presentation so do you mind if I present my information before your discussion?".

Does one fight gunnerism with more gunnerism? Is the passive-aggressive approach better?

I might just have to throw a brick through somebody's window if they try to screw me over during my rotations...

You never take on a gunner in front of attendings/residents -- makes you both look bad. They have no frame of reference so they can't tell who is showing up whom in that situation. Best to not give the gunner more ammunition during the rest of the rotation, and simply hope your paths don't cross again. The way rotations/electives are set up at most schools, you potentially won't see them again until graduation.

 

[MsKrispyKreme]

You never take on a gunner in front of attendings/residents -- makes you both look bad. They have no frame of reference so they can't tell who is showing up whom in that situation. Best to not give the gunner more ammunition during the rest of the rotation, and simply hope your paths don't cross again. The way rotations/electives are set up at most schools, you potentially won't see them again until graduation.

Thanks for the advice, L2D.

Then the passive-aggressive approach it is.