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Do we get a backpack in O-week?

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New001 Newbie

New001

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But will it cook my breakfast?

 

Sadly the backpacks were not designed to cook one's breakfast. However, the standard medical student diet consists of devouring no0bs for breakfast lunch and dinner. Luckily no0bs come pre-cooked.

 

 

 

Lol, what is the point of this post?

 

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leuven Newbie

leuven

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Lol, what is the point of this post?

 

Ha I quite liked that post.

The way those bags are flaunted symbolize the worst pretensions of this field that I have encountered since getting my acceptance. Let's not fool ourselves: nobody likes them "cuz they're good bags".

 

The bags themselves are even kind of ugly! They're used to advertise an elite status, and everybody knows that.

 

I met an upper year who explained why he gave his bag away to a premed. I plan on doing the same.

 

If you're really blessed with the talent, utilize it to the fullest. Be true to yourself and stay humble! - Blackalicious, rapper, womanizer
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gibson303 Newbie

gibson303

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Ha I quite liked that post.

The way those bags are flaunted symbolize the worst pretensions of this field that I have encountered since getting my acceptance. Let's not fool ourselves: nobody likes them "cuz they're good bags".

 

The bags themselves are even kind of ugly! They're used to advertise an elite status, and everybody knows that.

 

I met an upper year who explained why he gave his bag away to a premed. I plan on doing the same.

 

I see where you are getting at, but I don't think this is "pretentious". First of all, to the average person the bag looks like a bag they got for free from a bank. The bag I believe even says "MD Financial" on it, I may be wrong, and in fact it no way really indicates that you are in medicine, the only people who would be able to spot it are those who are in meds or premeds.

 

I believe many med students wear it, because they are proud of getting into med school which is certainly not a bad thing. Wearing this bag is no different than wearing a sweater from your university, or Schulich Medicine clothing.

 

However, I agree with you in that I don't think med students wear this bag because it is so "awesome". It has nothing to do with the quality of the bag (don't most people have bags anyway???), nor what it looks like. They simply wear it because they are proud that they got into medicine, and it is a symbol of their success. As I said before, I do not think that this is a bad thing in anyway! I'm going to wear my bag, because I am proud of my accomplishments. I don't think that makes me pretentious.

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In_Valid Newbie

In_Valid

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I see where you are getting at, but I don't think this is "pretentious". First of all, to the average person the bag looks like a bag they got for free from a bank. The bag I believe even says "MD Financial" on it, I may be wrong, and in fact it no way really indicates that you are in medicine, the only people who would be able to spot it are those who are in meds or premeds.

 

I believe many med students wear it, because they are proud of getting into med school which is certainly not a bad thing. Wearing this bag is no different than wearing a sweater from your university, or Schulich Medicine clothing.

 

However, I agree with you in that I don't think med students wear this bag because it is so "awesome". It has nothing to do with the quality of the bag (don't most people have bags anyway???), nor what it looks like. They simply wear it because they are proud that they got into medicine, and it is a symbol of their success. As I said before, I do not think that this is a bad thing in anyway! I'm going to wear my bag, because I am proud of my accomplishments. I don't think that makes me pretentious.

 

agreed. No one hates on people for wearing UWO sweaters. Its just a matter of school pride or in this case profession pride.

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Aequanimitas Newbie

Aequanimitas

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Quote:

Originally Posted by leuven View Post

Ha I quite liked that post.

The way those bags are flaunted symbolize the worst pretensions of this field that I have encountered since getting my acceptance. Let's not fool ourselves: nobody likes them "cuz they're good bags".

 

The bags themselves are even kind of ugly! They're used to advertise an elite status, and everybody knows that.

 

I met an upper year who explained why he gave his bag away to a premed. I plan on doing the same.

 

I see where you are getting at, but I don't think this is "pretentious". First of all, to the average person the bag looks like a bag they got for free from a bank. The bag I believe even says "MD Financial" on it, I may be wrong, and in fact it no way really indicates that you are in medicine, the only people who would be able to spot it are those who are in meds or premeds.

 

I believe many med students wear it, because they are proud of getting into med school which is certainly not a bad thing. Wearing this bag is no different than wearing a sweater from your university, or Schulich Medicine clothing.

 

However, I agree with you in that I don't think med students wear this bag because it is so "awesome". It has nothing to do with the quality of the bag (don't most people have bags anyway???), nor what it looks like. They simply wear it because they are proud that they got into medicine, and it is a symbol of their success. As I said before, I do not think that this is a bad thing in anyway! I'm going to wear my bag, because I am proud of my accomplishments. I don't think that makes me pretentious.

__________________

 

Warning: Musing Thoughts Generated Late At Night b/c Silence Renders Me Contemplative

Cue Music: LeFou I'm afraid I've been thinking... a dangerous past time...I know...

 

The doctors that I have the most respect for struggle with the question of being proud and yet not pretentious, and so I think it's really good that we're already having this conversation. Doctors that I don't respect as much simply don't bother with these kinds of discussions :P

 

There are mixed feelings about modern medicine; medicine brings to mind empathy, healing, and a nurturing relationship, and yet medicine has also been criticized for being impersonal, inappropriately interventionistic, and unsuitably hierarchical. I cannot help but think such thoughts have spilled over into our symbols as well.

 

The bag is a good example of an item that represents our mixed feelings. It represents professional pride or elitist totebag to different people. But a more well-known example is our white coats. Our white coats denotes our professional ideals of healing, and yet it is perhaps one of the symbols most routinely criticized for denoting elitism and impersonal scientific detachment. Indeed, psychiatrists and pediatricians routinely abandon the use of white coats in order to better work with a patient population that is more likely to distrust doctors and the healthcare system.

 

To me, white coats and backpacks are still promoted despite the mixed feelings that they evoke simply because, like all symbols, their meanings are created personally and socially. I look at a white coat/bag and see Responsibility, the idea that we as doctors live in service to our patients. I have friends who look at the white coat/bag and see Professionalism, that they have dedicated themselves to a group of people whose purpose is to fight disease and illness. And I know some who look at the white coat/bag and see Elitism.

 

In light of these many meanings, I've come to suspect that our personal involvement in creating these meanings is the most critical to this issue. There are far too many differing opinions on medical professionalism and medical elitism for the social context to stick any one particular idea onto our bags/coat (except for, maybe, "Medicine", which begs the question "What does medicine represent to you?"). When we receive our bags/coat, some of us will feel such incredible pride and/or responsibility that they will keep it forever to remind them of why they entered medicine. Others will hold the bag/coat and feel such incredible social power that they will either hold onto it for pretentiousness or give it away to do some good. Either way, it is important to appreciate the symbolic significance of our bag and, more importantly, our white coats, and decide how to treat the symbols you have given such meaning to.

 

Which is why I'm very glad to see people having this discussion already!

 

 

(Those of us interested in medical history + sociology, UNITE! What are your thoughts?)

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Ryan Newbie

Ryan

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Personally, I had never even heard of these bags until going for my interviews in Ontario. I think because there are 6 med schools there, it's a big deal to some people. To me it isn't a pretentious symbol because I ascribe no meaning to it whatsoever. I literally don't have a bag right now (my last two fell apart) and need one. Ever since my acceptance I have held off on buying one because I knew I would get this free one.

 

On the other hand, because it is a symbol that other people take seriously, it makes me want to make fun of them by ironically wearing the bag at all times and/or building a shrine to it in my apartment.

 

I'm with you more on the white coat. I think white coats are anachronistic and stupid. Why wear such an obvious symbol of power between you and a patient? Or between you and other hospital staff? I don't like it.

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rmorelan Community Regular

rmorelan

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I also never heard of these things until recently. Never thought of them as a status symbol either, I just need a new bag :)

 

It also just dawned on me that if we all have one of these exact same bags (likely containing the same textbooks), I am going to spend the next 4 years accidentially grabbing someone else's bag over and over again.

 

I hearby apologize to the class in advance :)

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racer_x Newbie

racer_x

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I remember reading somewhere that doctors started wearing white coats many many moons ago, before medicine was taken seriously. They wore them to emulate scientists, who were still taken seriously, and show that their brand of medicine was founded in science and was reliable and defensible. These were the times when doctors still competed with shamans and witch doctors.

 

I could probably find this article if anyone is interested, I don't remember exactly where I read it but I think I can find it.

 

As an aside, you won't see me rocking the free bag. It means nothing to me.

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gibson303 Newbie

gibson303

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Hmm with respect to the white coat, from talking to upper year meds, I hear it is slowly being phased out in hospitals as it is a perfect vehicle for transmitting germs from one patient to the other.

 

And again, that bag yes to some of us, it is just a "bag". For others it is a badge of honor. And to others (the douchebags) it is a tool to demonstrate an "elite" status.

 

And yes, if you are a premed at a university with a med school, these bags are practically shoved in your face. After the med lectures are over, you just see a hall way packed with about a 130 med students all wearing the same bag.

 

However, I still don't buy this idea that "oh I just want a free bag", come on, part of the reason is simply because it somehow indicates that you are in medicine, that is you are proud of your accomplishments. And there is nothing wrong with this.

 

Also, I am looking forward to the White Coat Ceremony, will I wear my white coat? Probably not (only to bars of course, with my stethoscope). But again, this symbolizes our entry into our profession, and it is a sign of our accomplishments and the responsibilities that have been bestowed upon us.

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JPJ Newbie

JPJ

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Hmm with respect to the white coat, from talking to upper year meds, I hear it is slowly being phased out in hospitals as it is a perfect vehicle for transmitting germs from one patient to the other.

 

And again, that bag yes to some of us, it is just a "bag". For others it is a badge of honor. And to others (the douchebags) it is a tool to demonstrate an "elite" status.

 

And yes, if you are a premed at a university with a med school, these bags are practically shoved in your face. After the med lectures are over, you just see a hall way packed with about a 130 med students all wearing the same bag.

 

However, I still don't buy this idea that "oh I just want a free bag", come on, part of the reason is simply because it somehow indicates that you are in medicine, that is you are proud of your accomplishments. And there is nothing wrong with this.

 

Also, I am looking forward to the White Coat Ceremony, will I wear my white coat? Probably not (only to bars of course, with my stethoscope). But again, this symbolizes our entry into our profession, and it is a sign of our accomplishments and the responsibilities that have been bestowed upon us.

 

well said about the bags and white coats

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New001 Newbie

New001

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Hmm with respect to the white coat, from talking to upper year meds, I hear it is slowly being phased out in hospitals as it is a perfect vehicle for transmitting germs from one patient to the other.

 

And again, that bag yes to some of us, it is just a "bag". For others it is a badge of honor. And to others (the douchebags) it is a tool to demonstrate an "elite" status.

 

And yes, if you are a premed at a university with a med school, these bags are practically shoved in your face. After the med lectures are over, you just see a hall way packed with about a 130 med students all wearing the same bag.

 

However, I still don't buy this idea that "oh I just want a free bag", come on, part of the reason is simply because it somehow indicates that you are in medicine, that is you are proud of your accomplishments. And there is nothing wrong with this.

 

Also, I am looking forward to the White Coat Ceremony, will I wear my white coat? Probably not (only to bars of course, with my stethoscope). But again, this symbolizes our entry into our profession, and it is a sign of our accomplishments and the responsibilities that have been bestowed upon us.

 

White coats are a cause for transmission of germs and illness throughout the hospital. But the number one transmitter: Ties ... [cue horror music and flashes of ugly 70's ties]

 

I wouldn't recommend bringing your stethescope to the bar. If you managed to catch the stellar video "Doc Where's My Stethescope?" on interview weekend, this is precisely how our main characters lost theirs. Although they did save the world and are generally regarded as the most heroic and attractive guys in the 2012 class, I will not endorse brining medical equipment to a bar.

 

 

Classic!

 

 

And there seems to be a lot of deep thought going into this whole backpack thing and what it represents. So let me tell you a story about one of these backpacks from earlier this year ...

 

It's still morning, and after 3 hrs of lecture on musculoskeletal anatomy we all head up to the anatomy lab for an hour of lab work. There are 6 people in a group (preassigned of course) and each group is assigned one cadaver for the year. Everyone has lockers just outside the lab to keep your lab coat, dissection kit, bag, shoes, small babies, sandwiches etc. There is also a locker room downstairs which is a riot before anatomy lab as 124 people try to get in there to leave stuff before going up to the lab, but I digress. The point is there are places to leave your stuff. My group is working through the lab material and we're having some trouble so we call our TA over, who just happens to also be the course coordinator. He gives us a hand with the material and then moves on to the next group right beside us. And says "you might want to move that ...". We all look over ...

Aside: it is customary for the cadavers to build up a bit of fluid over time within the body bags which they reside in 24/7. It's also standard to make a small nick in the bag and drain this fluid into a bucket under the table (Windsor students you won't have to deal with this because your anatomy lab is p-i-m-p-e-d OUT!). The group had made an incision in the bag a good 15 min ago to drain out some of the fluid. And one of my clever classmates had decided to put his "medschool back-pack" under the table. Open. Into which the fluid had been draining for the last 15 min. He picked his bag up and fluid started gushing out the bottom of his bag indicating a solid 2-3 litres had gone into it. I don't think I have ever laughed harder at someone elses expense since watching America's Funniest Home Videos with Bob Sagat in the 90's. lol

 

Don't get too deep in thought about the bags 2013's, life's too fun for such nonsense.

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marshan Newbie

marshan

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White coat article?

 

http://www.slate.com/id/2220925/

 

I remember reading somewhere that doctors started wearing white coats many many moons ago, before medicine was taken seriously. They wore them to emulate scientists, who were still taken seriously, and show that their brand of medicine was founded in science and was reliable and defensible. These were the times when doctors still competed with shamans and witch doctors.

 

I could probably find this article if anyone is interested, I don't remember exactly where I read it but I think I can find it.

 

As an aside, you won't see me rocking the free bag. It means nothing to me.

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