2016 Backpack Vote

[criselda]

Ditto for finding friends in airports... During CaRMS and very hungry during a short layover in Montreal, a senior resident from a different school recognized my backpack and gave me access to the Air Canada lounge where I shamelessly helped myself to the hot meal offerings and beverages. There was wine and beer too, but interviews in the morning........

[BrendanJ]

Literally everyone would still wear them if they didn't say MD on them, because it's written in silver and you have to get up pretty close to read the small-ish font.

Nobody knows what they are except people in medicine (and a few premeds), so I'm not sure how they're a status symbol.

I disagree. I really can't see a group of 200 adults walking around with backpacks like they are in junior high if it said Scotiabank or something on them. They should swap it out for MD fanny packs and People would be talking about how long lasting, reliable, and useful this particular model of fannypack is and that it has little to due with exclusivity.

 

Anyway, it was just an observation or opinion that always nagged at me. I Remember standing in line for coffee with nurses at the hospital when I was a student intern and them asking me why those things are worn around like a uniform.

 

I would vote pink

[Cytosine]

They don't get the ones the rest of us get, but they get their own.

 

Well, they used to at least. I don't know if that's still the case. My last clinical skills preceptors both went to Ottawa (class of 2015) and they had black bags with the U of O logo on them.

 

Yes, we do still get backpacks from the Faculty!

[NeuroD]

agree 100%, it's a status symbol. I cannot accept anyone's argument that they wear it because it is "high quality"/"spacious" or any other excuse after seeing how excited people were to receive them. Like this backpack was seriously more spacious and high quality than 95% of people's old backpacks? Because almost everyone ditched their old packs and immediately started wearing the them around campus. Not buying it

Nobody gets that excited for a spacious, quality backpack. stop lying to yourselves lmao

Status symbol? It would have to be recognizable to be a status symbol. I've been in academia for 9 years (read: PhD) and yet I never recognized what it meant, no one around me seemed to either. Hardly a status symbol. I would say the engineer's jackets hold more sway as status symbols than MD backpacks. I think it's much more a symbol of comradery.

 

I could be wrong, and I'll admit I don't think I'll ever wear mine on campus because I don't want to standout if someone DOES know what it is. But I will definitely wear it when travelling in hopes of meeting others!

[daftypatty]

Yes, we do still get backpacks from the Faculty!

kinda sucks that they don't get the same backpacks as everyone else.. The whole point is so that all the Med students from the province have the same backpacks :/

[xkittens]

Status symbol? It would have to be recognizable to be a status symbol. I've been in academia for 9 years (read: PhD) and yet I never recognized what it meant, no one around me seemed to either. Hardly a status symbol. I would say the engineer's jackets hold more sway as status symbols than MD backpacks. I think it's much more a symbol of comradery.

 

I could be wrong, and I'll admit I don't think I'll ever wear mine on campus because I don't want to standout if someone DOES know what it is. But I will definitely wear it when travelling in hopes of meeting others!

Many premeds know what it means, especially the ones that are doing their undergrad in a university that has a med school. It also says OMA/CMA on it so if someone's walking behind you they'd know what it is. 

[NeuroD]

Many premeds know what it means, especially the ones that are doing their undergrad in a university that has a med school. It also says OMA/CMA on it so if someone's walking behind you they'd know what it is.

Again I'll just comment that I was a premed, both in undergrad and graduate school, both of which I completed at major universities with some of the largest med schools in Canada, and yet neither myself nor any of my fellow premeds ever new what they were.

 

I'm not saying they're unidentifiable or that no one knows about them, but they're hardly a "symbol" outside of medicine.

[Alphalima]

agree 100%, it's a status symbol. I cannot accept anyone's argument that they wear it because it is "high quality"/"spacious" or any other excuse after seeing how excited people were to receive them. Like this backpack was seriously more spacious and high quality than 95% of people's old backpacks? Because almost everyone ditched their old packs and immediately started wearing the them around campus. Not buying it

Nobody gets that excited for a spacious, quality backpack. stop lying to yourselves lmao

I see nothing wrong with being proud of what you have accomplished by getting into medical school.. who cares If someone wants to show that off by wearing a med backpack or a med hoodie? 

[amichel]

I see nothing wrong with being proud of what you have accomplished by getting into medical school.. who cares If someone wants to show that off by wearing a med backpack or a med hoodie?

Exactly. It's not like we're driving around in cars with MD student as a liscenc plate.

 

I definitely have a few classmates with very conspicuous cars though. That's much more a status symbol than a back pack.

[Cytosine]

kinda sucks that they don't get the same backpacks as everyone else.. The whole point is so that all the Med students from the province have the same backpacks :/

 

It would have been nice to have the same backpacks as everyone else, but the ones they've given us are really high-quality and are a lovely mix of red and black so I can't complain!

[freewheeler]

It would have been nice to have the same backpacks as everyone else, but the ones they've given us are really high-quality and are a lovely mix of red and black so I can't complain!

 

 

The uOttawa ones look nicer tbh.

 

The backpack I have now is the same one I've had since grade 11 so it is overdue for a change...I'll either get a Dakine one or use one of the med backpacks if I receive one and they aren't crappy.

[GH0ST]

agree 100%, it's a status symbol. I cannot accept anyone's argument that they wear it because it is "high quality"/"spacious" or any other excuse after seeing how excited people were to receive them. Like this backpack was seriously more spacious and high quality than 95% of people's old backpacks? Because almost everyone ditched their old packs and immediately started wearing the them around campus. Not buying it

Nobody gets that excited for a spacious, quality backpack. stop lying to yourselves lmao

 

Even if that's true (and it probably is to a lot of people)..... who cares? 

 

I wear mine regardless of who recognizes it because it's a good bag, and I'm proud of my achievement. I couldn't care less who recognizes me or the bag. 

 

People are so salty about what people wear. 

 

- G 

[_ _]

Even if that's true (and it probably is to a lot of people)..... who cares? 

 

I wear mine regardless of who recognizes it because it's a good bag, and I'm proud of my achievement. I couldn't care less who recognizes me or the bag. 

 

People are so salty about what people wear. 

 

- G 

Exactly. If they want to give me a fun colored, free backpack, then I'm going to use it. 

And maybe it is pretentious, but I'm pretty sure the vast majority of the population doesn't know or care where I got my backpack from. So if we worked really hard to 'earn' them, then why be ashamed of it.  

[xkittens]

And maybe it is pretentious

yes it is

 

 So if we worked really hard to 'earn' them, then why be ashamed of it.  

Technically there is nothing wrong with it. But there is also technically nothing wrong with this analogous pic on 50 cent's twitter page lol

[amichel]

yes it is

 

Technically there is nothing wrong with it. But there is also technically nothing wrong with this analogous pic on 50 cent's twitter page lol

I think you're overreacting on a fairly large scale.

[InstantRamen]

.

[xkittens]

On 5/2/2016 at 5:17 PM, amichel said:

I think you're overreacting on a fairly large scale.

I was kidding!

[username123]

They should make it so every year the incoming residents get a different coloured lab coat so you can differentiate and identify them.

 

Wouldn't a hospital be so much better with bright green, orange, and pink coats everywhere?

 

Or maybe doctors should wear full gorilla suits to identify themselves instead.  I think that would be pretty cool.

[RedLily]

They should make it so every year the incoming residents get a different coloured lab coat so you can differentiate and identify them.

 

Wouldn't a hospital be so much better with bright green, orange, and pink coats everywhere?

 

Or maybe doctors should wear full gorilla suits to identify themselves instead.  I think that would be pretty cool.

 

Nah, all tacky.

 

Now, superhero costumes... I'd make my year spiderman.

[AntiSWOMEN]

Nahh I'm just drawing a ridiculous comparison cuz I think it's funny, but my point still stands. I just don't like it when med students that clearly are super proud of themselves won't admit that they brag a little. Medicine is an incredibly elitist institution and this is just another symptom of a bigger problem. 

I don't think it should be looked at to the same extent or level of pretentiousness as obvious displays of wealth/power/status etc such as the picture you posted. There's a big difference between unnecessarily flaunting how successful you are and being proud of your accomplishments by wearing a bag that has become a symbol of medical students nationwide. As already mentioned, the circle of individuals who know what the bags symbolize is small and I doubt most medical students wear them as a mark of superiority.

 

I do agree with you though that I think some students can't admit that it is, to an extent, bragging. I really don't buy the "spacious/high quality bag for free" argument.

[Cytosine]

Seeing as I paid about 26 000$ this year to go to school, if I get a backpack, a water bottle, a pen, or anything for free, you bet I'll be using it

[Redpill]

Nahh I'm just drawing a ridiculous comparison cuz I think it's funny, but my point still stands. I just don't like it when med students that clearly are super proud of themselves won't admit that they brag a little. Medicine is an incredibly elitist institution and this is just another symptom of a bigger problem. 

 

What, do the med students you know shove the OMA logo into everyone's face (and explain what it stands for) as they walk by them or something? That's really the only way I can see it as bragging, because 99.99% of Canada has no clue what the significance of those backpacks are. It literally only has meaning if you're in med school or want to get into med school.

 

They should make it so every year the incoming residents get a different coloured lab coat so you can differentiate and identify them.

 

Wouldn't a hospital be so much better with bright green, orange, and pink coats everywhere?

 

Or maybe doctors should wear full gorilla suits to identify themselves instead.  I think that would be pretty cool.

 

Nah dude no fun allowed. Don't you know that medicine is 100% nose-to-the-grindstone hard work, even suggesting adding a little flavor to something as mundane as backpacks is utterly ridiculous and should be met with harsh criticism and shame

[thethirdlaw]

I'm with username123, we should stamp out any personality or idiosyncrasies in our medical profession, we want to prepare patients for the inevitable takeover of AI facilitated health care and robot doctors and being hooked into the Matrix with our overall plight into a Huxley like world... /s

[Arztin]

Don't worry. It won't actually be pink. Of course, as a current student, I obviously voted for pink to freak out the inc. students

[RedLily]

Don't worry. It won't actually be pink. Of course, as a current student, I obviously voted for pink to freak out the inc. students

 

 

yeasssss... and you know you can vote everyday, yeah?