"Studying Medicine"

[astrogirl]

Perhaps this depends somewhat on the stage of life I'm currently in. I'm in my early 20's and most of my friends have not gone through post-secondary education. Many HAVE gone through and are still currently unemployed...

 

Well, I'm 29 and many of my friends are intellectual hippy types (a lot are profs now with surprisingly decent jobs - my best friend from undergrad just finished her PhD last month and has a tenure-track position without even doing any postdocs!), and I try to avoid the topic with them because any time it comes up all I hear about is how I sold out to the man by leaving academia and how western medicine is all wrong and doctors give people dangerous drugs when you can actually cure cancer by fixing people's energy fields and how sunburns actually prevent skin cancer rather than causing it, etc, etc. So I guess there are good reasons to avoid talking about being in med school no matter what circumstances you're in. Obviously my friends know what I'm doing, but I just try to change the subject when it comes up. And I don't tell random strangers unless they specifically ask me what I do, and then I tell them I'm in school, and I don't usually specify that it's med school unless they ask me what I'm taking.

[astrogirl]

Oh, and home birth. That's another topic that I get accosted with when the conversation drifts to me being in med school. I have a few friends who are doulas or are in midwife school. Despite the fact that I am not pregnant and I have no desire to be an OB, a couple of them seem to feel a lot of need to preach to me about home birth.

[xkittens]

how western medicine is all wrong and doctors give people dangerous drugs when you can actually cure cancer by fixing people's energy fields and how sunburns actually prevent skin cancer rather than causing it, etc, etc.

 

Sounds like my religiously delusional schizophrenic friend from highschool

You must have the patience of a saint to not get into arguments with your friends over these things

[deeman101]

I just say "I'm in university". If theres a follow up for something more specific then I say "I'm doing an undergraduate degree right now". Topic finished. And I never lied.

 

I hate disclosing that I'm in med most of the time. People will treat you differently in one way or another. Whether it be watching you more carefully to see your hidden cockiness,etc. or to suck up to you for some reason. The only people that don't treat me differently are friends that I've had for many years that don't see me as "that guy thats going to be a doctor". But even then....one of them recently asked me to get the scrabble app on my phone and play against them...because she wanted to test her scrabble skills against a "highly educated person".....:/

 

And maybe its my choice in women but I don't see plugging the "I'm going to be a doctor" line as being very successful. In fact it seems to be met with "oh so you're a greater-than-thou douchebag" kind of response.

[iicii]

I think people outside of med are sometimes unaware of the undergrad+postgrad system of med in Canada. Two things that have come up repeatedly are:

1) In UME, we have already picked a specialization.

2) You get to practice med right after the 4 years.

[anxious_101]

I think people outside of med are sometimes unaware of the undergrad+postgrad system of med in Canada. Two things that have come up repeatedly are:

1) In UME, we have already picked a specialization.

2) You get to practice med right after the 4 years.

 

But you DO get to practice medicine after 4 years. Heck, you get to practice medicine as a clerk too, for the most part. Unless you're defining practice as an independent practice.

 

And, besides the point, but you also have guaranteed earnings at twice the average Canadian income as the end of 4 years as well - if you factor in the tax credits for beginning residents. All in all, when you tell people you're a medical student, it's easy for them to overlook the "student" part.

[NLengr]

Keep the doctor thing to a minimum.

 

The only place I ever throw around the MD is at the bank when they're trying to charge me a new fee. That cuts them off pretty quick.

 

Never tell salespeople, dates, or investors that you are a doctor. Might as well just burn your money.

 

Agree. Hardly ever use Dr. Outside of 2 locations:

 

1. Bank. Makes them work harder for my business.

 

2. Vet. Even then I keep it to a minimum, but if my normal vet is gone and I have to see a different one I sometimes will drop the MD bomb. Usually i limit it to when I think they are trying to rip me off (ordering tests that do not change treatment plans, drugs with no evidence etc.)

 

Otherwise, I don't because everyone assumes you are rich and tries to take you to the cleaners.

[Jochi1543]

Agree. Hardly ever use Dr. Outside of 2 locations:

 

1. Bank. Makes them work harder for my business.

 

2. Vet. Even then I keep it to a minimum, but if my normal vet is gone and I have to see a different one I sometimes will drop the MD bomb. Usually i limit it to when I think they are trying to rip me off (ordering tests that do not change treatment plans, drugs with no evidence etc.)

 

Otherwise, I don't because everyone assumes you are rich and tries to take you to the cleaners.

 

Apparently, you should also never disclose that fact on a cruise....

 

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/dr.html

 

 

One other reason to avoid a cruise is that you may be asked to help. Take the case of a 38-year old cardiologist who went on a four-day cruise. On day three he attended to a fellow passenger who suffered an asthma attack, fell off a raft, and nearly drowned. He got the man breathing and stayed with him until the med-evac helicopter came and went. Before dinner he received a request from the ship’s nurse – the ship’s physician could not be found and the nurse did not know how to put in an IV – to assist with a woman who was having a seizure. He spent the next two hours with the woman. At 10:00 PM he went to the bar, ordered a martini, and heard a voice over the ship’s loudspeaker: “Dr. V to the medical centre! Stat!” A woman was in respiratory arrest and the ship’s doctor needed help. He was there until 2:30 AM. The ship docked in Miami five hours later. Dr. V. wrote to the cruise line. He indicated he worked for more than 10 hours providing critical care medical treatment for its passengers and asked for a refund or an “alternative solution.” The company’s response: the company already showed its appreciation – the ship’s captain sent him a thank-you and a bottle of wine. And so it goes.

 

 

ETA: what kind of nurse doesn't know how to put in an IV?

[Satsuma]

Yes, nobody seems to really understand. I very frequently get "Oh, so you're going to be a nurse?" and "So what are you going to do when you graduate?"

 

If you are a young female just get used to the nurse thing. You will introduce yourself as Dr. so and so and people will still think you are their nurse. You can even introduce yourself as Dr so and so and then follow with, I am your doctor today and they will still think you are their nurse. You will see them maybe daily, tell them they have cancer, go over treatment plans and discharge plans etc and then they will follow with...and will the doctor come before I go? You will round daily where you have asked every patient if they had any questions for you...and then at some point a nurse will come and tell you that some patient is very upset that there hasn't been a doctor in to see them in awhile. It's just the way it seems to go! It doesn't really matter though, since it doesn't impede your actual work...it seems that alot of people will let you do alot of stuff to them, even when they don't think you're their doc!

[rmorelan]

If you are a young female just get used to the nurse thing. You will introduce yourself as Dr. so and so and people will still think you are their nurse. You can even introduce yourself as Dr so and so and then follow with, I am your doctor today and they will still think you are their nurse. You will see them maybe daily, tell them they have cancer, go over treatment plans and discharge plans etc and then they will follow with...and will the doctor come before I go? You will round daily where you have asked every patient if they had any questions for you...and then at some point a nurse will come and tell you that some patient is very upset that there hasn't been a doctor in to see them in awhile. It's just the way it seems to go! It doesn't really matter though, since it doesn't impede your actual work...it seems that alot of people will let you do alot of stuff to them, even when they don't think you're their doc!

 

Fortunately I don't think that problem will exist forever - seems to be an older generation thing.

 

Related note I have the opposite problem - I am an older applicant so everyone assumes I am an attending. Doesn't matter how many times I tell them I am a student, where I put my id, or how often I throw around my med knapsack. Last week I had someone in the ICU undergoing possible emergency heart surgery refuse to go forward with the treatment until I gave him my opinion (in front of an actual cardiac fellow no less - granted the fellow didn't have the best bed side manner). Awkward.