"UofA medical students have something to say..."

[Guest kaymcee]

Can an Alberta moderator, please, please, for the love of all that is sacred, just lock this thread?

 

It's been going around in circles since the first page: "If you were there, it'd be different," "Medshow is supposed to be over-the-top," "the depicted stereotypes are offensive," "doctors should uphold a higher moral standard," etc.

 

The fact is, some here find the content of medshow to be offensive, others find it to be funny. Everyone here has formed their opinion and dug in their heels– typical of intelligent, strong-willed people. Unfortunately, this has lead to the beginnings of name-calling, hyperbole, and sarcasm, which detracts from the debate.

 

If you're so insensed by these lyrics, write to the University of Alberta's Dean of Medicine (tom.marrie@ualberta.ca) and tell him so. If you support Medshow and want to see it next year, as offensive and taboo as ever, write to Dr. Marrie and express your opinion.

[Guest marbledust]

As I'd mentioned before, people line up for tickets, scalp tickets, etc. because they want to go so badly. We medical students hold MANY fundraisers throughout the years, most of which we have to hound people to buy into - the support for medshow is NOT primarily due to people wanting to support us medical students - its people wanting to come out to one of the most hilarious shows on campus!

 

I think I have been rendered speechless :lol

 

I don't know if the continued unwillingness (and now abject hostitlity) to acknowledging that the concerns raised in this thread and in the Edmonton media are legitimate come from a complete misunderstanding of the ethical and moral issues involved. But the more I read, I feel only scorn and distain for those who are oppossing it--when all they (including me) are trying to do is open people's eyes to the damage something like this does, and not only to the reputation of U of A medical students. I think this is a losing battle....

 

However, having said that, once you actually experience medshow first hand, you may change your mind and come to realise that medshow is a great event. In its context, the humor is enjoyable - despite how "dispicable" you may find certain lyrics, characters, etc.

 

I have been to 6-7 medshows. I agree that the show has merit. But I wonder why we have to attack other people for it to be funny. Does something like the nurses song actually accomplish anything? I see people here blaming those who have oppossed it for creating the controversy. If you have a right to "enjoy" something like this, do not others have the right to be offended/hurt/angrered by it. This whole clanish notion that unless you are a medical student or graduate who has been to one, you can't understand the nuances of medshow is just ridiculous. I think the word "whores" or a comedic Hitler have pretty clear-cut meanings regardless of what context they are used.

 

Cowgirl Jenn I will leave you with my previous question which nobody answered: would you get up in front of a crown at medshow and call yourself a whore? Just curious...

[Guest marbledust]

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[Guest summervirus]

Thanks for contributing to this message board, everyone. One of the reasons that this board is so popular and helpful is because we have input from a variety of people from different walks of life. One thing to remember is that this board is intended to be a friendly place to exchange ideas. Please be considerate when voicing your ideas.

[Guest purplefairy13]

Some traditions are meant to be broken when they hurt a group of people (even emotionally), and the vast majority of reasonable individuals object to them. Where does medshow draw the line?

 

once you actually experience medshow first hand, you may change your mind and come to realise that medshow is a great event. In its context, the humor is enjoyable - despite how "dispicable" you may find certain lyrics, characters, etc

 

by the same logic, some perverts may find violent pornography enjoyable (not completely unlike depicting nurses as vapid sex objects), but that DOES NOT mean it should be endorsed and even defended. By definition, something 'dispicable' is just that: dispicable.

Now, I'm not one to put limits on freedom of expression, so if those individuals who produced med show find that kind of thing amusing, they are welcome to laugh about it in private (although I really wonder about the type of person who would find that sort of thing even remotely amusing)...but publicly insulting groups of people is just disgusting.

Somehow, I was under the impression that the schoolyard scare tactic of picking on someone and getting a laugh out of it was limited to grade schoolers...come on, GROW UP.

[Guest rookiemeds]

Just discovered this thread and I think it's pretty interesting. I'm in agreement with those who find the lyrics offensive. It does reflect badly on the profession that medical students would hold attitudes like that, even if it is in jest.

 

The thing is, many medical school have some kind of variety show and I've never heard of a controversy like this before. Tachycardia, Euphoria, Daffydil etc are all really funny performances that sell a lot of tickets and raise a lot of money - so the ideas that it's for a good cause, or it's tradition, or that's what people want to see are really not good arguments.

 

I'm all for poking fun at people - these shows would be boring without it. But this sounds like it crossed a line.

[Guest endingsoon]

I just found this thread and would add my 0.02.

 

UofT does a medshow every year, and being the tight-asses school we are, it is always somewhat funny, but not quite there. It is never over the top, and honestly after the first 2 years very few people go back to see it anymore b.c its only fun watching people you know on stage, the acutal content is too tame.

 

The UofT eng. show is a riot and way over the top, I still go to see that one every year!

 

The UofA medshow sounds amazing and I hope they don't change it one bit. These shows are designed to be funny and over the top, sort of like a big roast or a night out at a comedy club. Have you watched Chris Rock or Dave Chapelle or Bill Maher live? Trust me, its only popular b.c its so controversial. No one wathced Suzanne Summers, now did they?

 

So they made fun of some nurses...wow big deal. Its not like they did this in the hospital, its not like they acutally believe this. All they did was take the natual frustrations we have with nurses and amplify them for humor. Its designed to be funny.

 

One of teh biggest things I hate about people in medicine (not doctors, but med students) is this whole holier than thou attitude. I remember when we got a talk about money everyone was 'offeneded' that we would talk about money in medicine. Or offeneded that when we laugh at something or put on a show that it must be held to certian standard becoming a physician or else its just plain wrong.

 

Can't you remember that just b.c you are in medical school does not mean that you can't have fun? Its a comedy show and it was funny, isn't that was its supposed to do?

 

Where do you draw teh line: If watch Family Guy or play GTA, if I get drunk at a club or start a fight playing hockey, if I put on a raunchy yet funny comedy show? Whats acceptable to you and whats not?

 

No one is breaking any laws here...why can't we lighten up and let people enjoy themselves. Afterall, just b.c you went through 4 years of med school doesn't mean that you have to laugh at things that are PG and PC.

 

To be honest, I do think that was a little bit too much. If I had seen the show, I probably would have laughed, but also been somewhat taken aback.

 

However, I don't think jsut b.c they are medical students putting on a show you have to hold them to any higher standards than anyone else. I would have been taken aback if Chris Rock said that on HBO. It seems that most people here are aruging its okay for everyone else to do that, put not us med students...please, last time I checked we all belonged to teh same species.

 

What ever happend to no going if you don't like it, but letting others do what they want? I always though tolerance was somethign most doctors were supposed to possess!

[Guest Cowgirl Jenn]

amen!

[Guest Dent08]

Cowgirl Jenn I will leave you with my previous question which nobody answered: would you get up in front of a crown at medshow and call yourself a whore? Just curious...

 

Gollum (from LOTR) was in the show. Did the audience think it was the real gollum in the show or a med student wearing a costume? Hitler was in the show. Was it the real Hitler? I don't think many people were fooled. And for those who were, sorry to dissapoint but, it was a med student dressed as Hitler.

 

If Cowgirl Jenn called herself a whore in the show would the audience really think that she had sex with men for money? No. They'd realize that she was an intelligent med student pretending to be a whore for the sake of the show.

 

People are mistaking the audience of med show for a bunch of morons. Even if jokes are done in bad taste (which is sometimes the reason they are so damn funny), the audience still knows it was a joke and it was not to be taken seriously. This is why people reading the lyrics of a song published on a forum are getting upset. They are being presented outside the context of a comedy show.

[Guest 0nsp]

I thought it was the real gollum. (Well when it was only the voice on the mic.... that guy was really good. Obviously I realised it wasnt gollum when he came out).

[Guest Cowgirl Jenn]

In response to marbledust:

 

Yes, I would for the sake of comedy.

 

Dosn't sound like you attended medshow this past year, but I actually played the part of a scantily clad "temptress", along with 7 other girls from my class, that performed a dirty little dance for two guys - guys which were testing out a "boner prevention device".

 

I don't think it gets much more "whore" - ish than that. However, I don't feel I lost respest or professional integrity in doing so. It was part of a very fun and very entertaining skit. In fact, medshow is something that has come up time and time again when shadowing or doing electives - it is something looked upon very fondly by many doctors/professors involved in our education. While shadowing in the ENT OR this summer, I actually had a surgeon ask me how he could become involved in medshow. I'm sure someone will now write about how they know a doctor/professor that hated it, and I'm not trying to tell you EVERYONE loves it, or because a LOT of people do, it is therefore "right". I'm just saying, MOST people which attend/participate realize the humor is not intended to be taken seriously, and that the views/jokes expressed in the show are not really held by us medical students - they are jokes!

 

That said, no one thinks of me as a "whore", and I felt no shame in being portrayed as one during the show - it was a show....filled with skits, jokes, humor, etc. Not a documentary on the thoughts and lives of medical students.

[Guest Jerika81]

I just came across this thread today and found it very interesting.

I actually went to U of A's med show last year, and probably would have gone again this year if I'd been able too, largely to support one of my best friends who was very involved in the show both years. When I went to the show last year, I found many of the skits funny, but a lot of other ones made me feel uncomfortable. Why did I feel uncomfortable? because I realized that had I gone to U of A for med school I probably would have been up on stage taking part in skits that I didn't feel right about. I'm sure I would have been right up there in the skit described above by Cowgirl Jenn because this is a huge event at U of A that almost eveyone wants to be a part of, and I wouldn't have wanted to be left out of something like that. But I know I would have felt uncomfortable doing it on some level (probably a good indicator would have been knowing I couldn't invite my parents to the show).

What's concerning to me is that (and I believe Cowgirl Jenn actually mentioned this about herself earlier) pre-med school it seems like most people recognize that some of the skits are crossing a line and think they would never be involved in something like that, but then once you're in and caught up in all the hype of the tradition and wanting to be a part of it, you do things on stage that you never would have thought of doing in your wildest dreams before med school. The other concerning thing is that it seems like the students that don't want to be involved in Medshow are shunned by their classmates. It's not really surprising that only a small number of students voice negative opinions of the show when it looks like they will be med school outcasts if they do.

 

Anyways, I can certainly understand both sides of the argument here but my guess is that even if restrictions are imposed on the show next year in terms of how inappropriate it can be, it will still sell out and make a ton of money, and maybe it will force students to be a little more creative and clever with their comedy (which is why the Family Guy is so hilarious) instead of just banking on shock value.

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

Hee, hee, MedShow sounded cool this year- sorry I missed it- that nursing song, as over-the-top and probably crossing the line/downright insulting as it seems on PAPER, sounds like something to truly behold! I'm sure that the rest of the show was equally as good/bad/hilarious as well!

Are there videotaped copies of the show available? Any ideas as to how I might be able to get my hands on a copy? Hopefully the tapes don't suck like the Tachycardia ones do (in terms of sound quality, not content)! I'm even coming to U of A in the not-too-distant future (ie: 2nd half of September), so I can potentially pick one up then!

Hee, hee, good stuff! :lol

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest Cowgirl Jenn]

TimmyMax,

 

yes there was a DVD made....floating around somewhere...

 

Are you coming in Sept. for an elective?

[Guest Lorae]

I think it's probably time for this thread to die. It's obvious that we're all not going to find any middle ground.

 

One final thought from me: U of C's med show is definitely going to have a skit about the U of A med show this year

[Guest Cowgirl Jenn]

haha, maybe that will spice it up a bit!

[Guest scrubbed]

Well, perhaps U of A's show, then, can feature the intrepid crimefighting of the PC Police.

 

I wonder what sort of bad deeds they can uncover!

 

[Guest marbledust]

Well, perhaps U of A's show, then, can feature the intrepid crimefighting of the PC Police

 

I'm not a fan over over political correctness, however I wonder why as soon as people express concern over inflamatory and hurtful things like calling nurses whores or a tasteless imitation of Hitler, they are attacked as being "tight-asses", "rightgeous", and told to "lighten up." Just because some people find these things funny, doesn't mean that others aren't highly offended and hurt. The propensity to be hurt or offended doesn't mean one is a PC freak or a tight-ass. Maybe it just means that some people in this thread place a little more value on how others think and feel than those making these accusations. I'm sure I will be attacked for this, but whatever...

 

As peachy already mentioned, hopefully the standards of an official medical school function that is open to the public would have slightly higher standards than the repeatedly referred to Chapperelle Show or South Park. Of course, it is the right of the medshow participants to engage in this type of behavior. Just because you have a right, does it mean you have to do it? I could wear a tee-shirt praising the KKK to class (and maybe a white hood for good measure). Just because I can, does it mean I will or I should?

 

You may throw rotten vegtables at me now

[Guest summervirus]

Thanks for your comments, everyone. Thanks, marbledust, for your last post as well. I agree and I think what you said is very reasonable.

 

But, I think that this thread has essential been exhausted. To avoid any rotten tomatoes to be thrown back and forth, I think I'll just lock it for now.