Any surgeon want to adopt me?

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BeachBlondie

BeachBlondie

Put some tussin on it!
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I don't eat much, and I do dishes....

Actually, I'm a little rookie minion. Of course, ortho is my preference going in, but who DOESN'T say that? I suppose I just want to bend your ears. So, if you'd all be so kind, give me a little somethin'-somethin'....a tidbit about why you decided to do it, what you're craziest instance was, the rigors of it all, ad nauseum.
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Just out of curiosity, why Ortho versus any other surgical field?

Edit: :thumbup: for all the use of your Latin!
 
Blade28 said:
Just out of curiosity, why Ortho versus any other surgical field?

Edit: :thumbup: for all the use of your Latin!
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I'm considering a few others, but that seems to be my top choice. We have an ortho surg that has worked exceedingly close with my family. She is amazing and her work is beautiful. I suppose she serves as a fabulous inspiration.
 
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Perhaps no one is understanding what I mean by "adoption" as evident by the...lack of love.

I just meant for someone(s) to take me under their proverbial wing for a brief instant and provide for me--a pre-med peon--a surgical anecdote (or six of them).

If that's what you THOUGHT I meant, then carry-on.

HI-HO, SILVER!
 
BeachBlondie said:
I don't eat much, and I do dishes....

Actually, I'm a little rookie minion. Of course, ortho is my preference going in, but who DOESN'T say that? I suppose I just want to bend your ears. So, if you'd all be so kind, give me a little somethin'-somethin'....a tidbit about why you decided to do it, what you're craziest instance was, the rigors of it all, ad nauseum.
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If your avatar is actually you, we bear a passing resemblance so the adoption would look "legit" if I were to be your new mother.

I decided to pursue a surgical career after my 3rd year Core rotations and a few more 4th year electives and found, stereotypically, that there was nothing else I really enjoyed near as much. Of course, I was fooled because my med school surgical faculty were so nice and encouraging that I thought all surgeons were that way, but I made it out the other end alive.

I suffered many instances of wanting to quit during residency but my experience would not necessarily be yours because it was dependent on me, my program, my background, etc. YMMV.

I also highly enjoyed Ortho and PRS during medical school and eventually chose PRS over Ortho; I didn't match into Integrated PRS and chose gen surg as back-up. Along the way Independent PRS also got very competitive and honestly I was not prepared to spend more years in the lab (as I spent nearly 10 prior to medical school) in an effort to make myself more competitive. I chose my current specialty because it appeals to my strengths: love of surg oncology but hate of long cases, like talking to patients, can tolerate high maintenance patients, no ER call, interest in women's health and high need/marketing prospects.

I have blocked out all painful memories of "crazy instances" but surely the 12 hour cases would rank up there along with the old days of 130 hr weeks, falling asleep at the wheel while driving home, taking foreign bodies out of people's rectums, etc.

These would also be part of the rigors of surgical training (although the work hour restrictions have taken care of part of it). For me, what was hardest was not the hours and the bone crushing fatigue, but daily humiliation, lack of faculty that acted like they gave a damn about me and my education and feeling like I was failing all the time. If it weren't for my ex-SO I don't know that I would have survived the training. Many people have much much better experiences than I, and many have had worse. Perhaps I expected or needed something different.

At any rate, hope this helps.
 
Winged Scapula said:
If your avatar is actually you, we bear a passing resemblance so the adoption would look "legit" if I were to be your new mother.

I decided to pursue a surgical career after my 3rd year Core rotations and a few more 4th year electives and found, stereotypically, that there was nothing else I really enjoyed near as much. Of course, I was fooled because my med school surgical faculty were so nice and encouraging that I thought all surgeons were that way, but I made it out the other end alive.

I suffered many instances of wanting to quit during residency but my experience would not necessarily be yours because it was dependent on me, my program, my background, etc. YMMV.

I also highly enjoyed Ortho and PRS during medical school and eventually chose PRS over Ortho; I didn't match into Integrated PRS and chose gen surg as back-up. Along the way Independent PRS also got very competitive and honestly I was not prepared to spend more years in the lab (as I spent nearly 10 prior to medical school) in an effort to make myself more competitive. I chose my current specialty because it appeals to my strengths: love of surg oncology but hate of long cases, like talking to patients, can tolerate high maintenance patients, no ER call, interest in women's health and high need/marketing prospects.

I have blocked out all painful memories of "crazy instances" but surely the 12 hour cases would rank up there along with the old days of 130 hr weeks, falling asleep at the wheel while driving home, taking foreign bodies out of people's rectums, etc.

These would also be part of the rigors of surgical training (although the work hour restrictions have taken care of part of it). For me, what was hardest was not the hours and the bone crushing fatigue, but daily humiliation, lack of faculty that acted like they gave a damn about me and my education and feeling like I was failing all the time. If it weren't for my ex-SO I don't know that I would have survived the training. Many people have much much better experiences than I, and many have had worse. Perhaps I expected or needed something different.

At any rate, hope this helps.
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Actually, that was perfect: what I wanted to hear. Screw the sugar-coated, headstrong tales of blood and glory. I want you to say, "You know what? It was a pain in the ****ing ass sometimes."

And hey, if we look alike, you most certainly mean 'ravishing' ;)

Thanks, mom
 
P.S.

You're not the first person who has said that a boyfriend/husband/lover/one-of-many-stallions-in-a-given-stable acted as a great deal of strength. I was always cocky and figured that it'd be easier to go through it alone because I would feel like I was not putting in enough time to a relationship. But hey, maybe it's....*looks around*...what the DOCTOR ordered!!

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAH

...ahem.
 
BeachBlondie said:
P.S.

You're not the first person who has said that a boyfriend/husband/lover/one-of-many-stallions-in-a-given-stable acted as a great deal of strength. I was always cocky and figured that it'd be easier to go through it alone because I would feel like I was not putting in enough time to a relationship. But hey, maybe it's....*looks around*...what the DOCTOR ordered!!

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAH

...ahem.
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The time investment can certainly make it difficult to nurture a new relationship. I met my ex my first month of residency and I'm not sure the relationship would have survived if he had not been a surgical resident (at another program). I certainly didn't have a lot of time nor energy (although in those heady early days, I did without a *lot* of sleep) that someone else might expect.

He was perfect in that he understood, and knew that a date might mean coming to my hospital when I was on call and bringing me dinner (made me a picnic once out on the grass behind the hospital) or even just going grocery shopping, doing laundry and other daily mundane things I didn't have time for. Of course, I did the same for him.

So concessions have to be made, even in this day and age of fewer work hours. I know many people prefer not to have relationships during residency for the reasons you give, but we just sort of met and it worked despite the odds. Like most stressful things in life, if you have a good relationship, it makes it easier to get through the tough times.
 
Beach, you seem unusually giddy in here. Even giddier than normal. Have you been drinking?
 
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Yeah, surgery residency is no piece of cake. I must say that i was single throughout (i tried dating but surgery life didn't leave any time to nurture a relationship). It was the other residents in my year that got my through - other singles like me that were in it together. We'd go out for brunch of the weekend and exchange war stories, bash our clerks, our staff and anyone else who we saw was "out to get us" and it made us feel better!

Residency is sort of like an abusive boyfriend. You try and try and they keep putting you down, but right when you're ready to leave they do something nice (let you do a great case, a great patient thanks you for what you do, etc) and you're hooked again.

I had no intention of being a surgeon when i started medical school but loved it when i did my clerkship rotations and it's a great fit for my personality. I did general surgery and then a fellowship in colorectal surgery - i love the oncology but few super-long procedures. it's a procedure-rich sub-specialty (most new consults i see get a colonoscopy at the very least and many get multiple procedures so clinics are not a waste like in some subspecialties).

My advice; do what you love and keep an open mind when you do your clinical rotations. Listen to the advice of your mentors and be introspective of what your strengths and weaknesses are and choose a specialty that suits you.

You mention you have a mentor that is an ortho person - is it this person that attracts you to the specialty or the specialty itself. You can take the positive qualities of that person and apply them to any specialty. Don't get sucked into something that might not suit you because you want to be like someone else even if they are someone worth emulating.

good luck.

PS I'll adopt you if you can cook and clean as well. I can't afford a housekeeper on my fellow's salary.
 
Wait, I want to be adopted. I don't want to be a surgeon, but I like them. Can I be adopted?
 
tussy said:
My advice; do what you love and keep an open mind when you do your clinical rotations. Listen to the advice of your mentors and be introspective of what your strengths and weaknesses are and choose a specialty that suits you.

You mention you have a mentor that is an ortho person - is it this person that attracts you to the specialty or the specialty itself. You can take the positive qualities of that person and apply them to any specialty. Don't get sucked into something that might not suit you because you want to be like someone else even if they are someone worth emulating.

good luck.

PS I'll adopt you if you can cook and clean as well. I can't afford a housekeeper on my fellow's salary.
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I think everybody is a little guilty of this.
 
DrDre311 said:
I think everybody is a little guilty of this.
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I think you're a liar! A dirty dirty liar!




Ok...not really. Have to meet my quota for worthless comments per day though.
 
roja said:
Wait, I want to be adopted. I don't want to be a surgeon, but I like them. Can I be adopted?
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I'm going to say no. If only for the fact that I'm greedy and want all of the surgeons to adopt me. Yes, I have two adoptive surgeons already. BUT, think of all of the Christmases I get!!!!!

*squeal*
 
I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.
 
SocialistMD said:
I'm sure that can be arranged. Wait, what are we talking about again...?
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Socialist...your quote at the bottom of your sig makes me laugh because I actually showed up to a Johns Hopkins interview with no pants. Seriously. Well, I couldnt find my dress pants. So I had to wear another pair of pants with no suitcoat. So i spent the rest of my day explaining....why I wasn't wearing any pants. That's good experience for the premier medical institution of the world.
 
Strength&Speed said:
Socialist...your quote at the bottom of your sig makes me laugh because I actually showed up to a Johns Hopkins interview with no pants. Seriously. Well, I couldnt find my dress pants. So I had to wear another pair of pants with no suitcoat. So i spent the rest of my day explaining....why I wasn't wearing any pants. That's good experience for the premier medical institution of the world.
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For me, I just don't like wearing pants, so I try to find any excuse not to. I've found that my sig allows me to take off my pants after every post (assuming I'm wearing them in the first place).
 
Winged Scapula said:
This could be potentially useful.

After all, you are over 18 with a presumably useful skill so you could earn your keep.

Plus, I would have a place to stay in NYC.

I'm game!:p
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*squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*


Yes, I am over 18. I cook. I like to travel. I can earn enough to hire a housekeeper. :D And although I"m not a surgeon, think of all the useful screens I can do for you... weeding out all those obnoxious belly pains and only giving you the ones that have to go to the OR. :cool:

I have red hair, too. (I have no idea how that is relevant)


Ummm, and while I will be moving San Francisco shortly, I maintain many friends with whom lodging won't be a problem.
 
roja said:
*squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*


Yes, I am over 18. I cook. I like to travel. I can earn enough to hire a housekeeper. :D And although I"m not a surgeon, think of all the useful screens I can do for you... weeding out all those obnoxious belly pains and only giving you the ones that have to go to the OR. :cool:

I have red hair, too. (I have no idea how that is relevant)


Ummm, and while I will be moving San Francisco shortly, I maintain many friends with whom lodging won't be a problem.
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Even better!

We'll save money on sunblock for you in Fog City.
 
Still waiting for more stories....

Ahem.

Winged Scapula and Tussy: you are both exempt from the beatings.
 
Tired said:
Nobody wants to make it sound too great to you, since you may not get into med school, and then you'd be even more disappointed . . .
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If I'm going into this endeavor assuming it's all smiles and rainbows, I'm entering into the wrong profession.

...But, thanks.
 
BeachBlondie said:
Of course, ortho is my preference going in, but who DOESN'T say that? I suppose I just want to bend your ears. So, if you'd all be so kind, give me a little somethin'-somethin'....a tidbit about why you decided to do it, what you're craziest instance was, the rigors of it all, ad nauseum.
Click to expand...

BeachBlondie said:
If I'm going into this endeavor assuming it's all smiles and rainbows, I'm entering into the wrong profession.

...But, thanks.
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Why are you already so worried about the downsides of ortho? :confused:

You're a pre-med, for the love of Jeebus! Your primary concern at this point should be about the downsides of the med school application process, the downsides of MS1 and MS2, the crap that you'll have to put up with as a third year, and the downsides about the practice of medicine in general.

I'm sorry if I sound frustrated, but I am. Medical school has taken more out of me than I would have ever imagined, and I'm not even done yet!

I don't like talking about it, particularly not on SDN (where the cheerful patrol always seems to be lurking around the corner, ready to pounce on any moment of pessimistic weakness), but the first two years of medical school S-U-C-K-E-D. If I considered quitting only once that week, that was a pretty damn good week. I usually thought about quitting once a day.

I have never had moments of such terrible sadness and depression as I've had in med school. There have been times when I've felt really alone, and there's no one to talk to. The friends who would understand are too busy (and you don't want to burden them) and the rest just don't quite get it.

The stress has been out of this world sometimes. The sleep deprivation has been awful. The frustration of dealing with administration has made me not just want to punch walls, but has actually made me punch them. (I'm sorry, but I am NOT going to be able to get that paperwork in today, seeing as I'm on a rotation in ANOTHER F'ING STATE. Jesus Christ.)

People that are close to you move on, too fast it seems. Or else you get close to someone, and then you have to leave while they stay. Or else you find someone that you'd like to get close to, but your schedules just never synch up. It's hard, sometimes.

And the work plays a toll on your relationships. Ask any third year medical student, and I guarantee you that they all know someone who got divorced/broke up because of medicine.

No, it might not be that hard for you. In fact, I hope that it ISN'T that hard for you, if you ever make it past the pre-med stage. But I also hope that you don't become one of those relentlessly happy, cheerful people, and then get angry at your classmates for not being relentlessly happy and cheerful too.

And there are many good moments too. But they don't totally erase the bad ones.

So, no, you're correct that it's not all smiles and rainbows. But I wonder if you have any idea just how hard it can be. And it's something that you need to think about, before even starting to wonder about the downsides of surgery or ortho.

I'm sorry if I sound angry. And I know that this is probably not what you want to hear. (And I know that I'm spilling pessimism over an otherwise light-hearted thread. Sorry.) But...this is stuff that pre-meds need to hear. I know a lot of people who really should have heard it before applying to med school, and learned a lot of the stuff that I talked about above too late.
 
smq123 said:
Why are you already so worried about the downsides of ortho? :confused:

You're a pre-med, for the love of Jeebus! Your primary concern at this point should be about the downsides of the med school application process, the downsides of MS1 and MS2, the crap that you'll have to put up with as a third year, and the downsides about the practice of medicine in general.

I'm sorry if I sound frustrated, but I am. Medical school has taken more out of me than I would have ever imagined, and I'm not even done yet!

I don't like talking about it, particularly not on SDN (where the cheerful patrol always seems to be lurking around the corner, ready to pounce on any moment of pessimistic weakness), but the first two years of medical school S-U-C-K-E-D. If I considered quitting only once that week, that was a pretty damn good week. I usually thought about quitting once a day.

I have never had moments of such terrible sadness and depression as I've had in med school. There have been times when I've felt really alone, and there's no one to talk to. The friends who would understand are too busy (and you don't want to burden them) and the rest just don't quite get it.

The stress has been out of this world sometimes. The sleep deprivation has been awful. The frustration of dealing with administration has made me not just want to punch walls, but has actually made me punch them. (I'm sorry, but I am NOT going to be able to get that paperwork in today, seeing as I'm on a rotation in ANOTHER F'ING STATE. Jesus Christ.)

People that are close to you move on, too fast it seems. Or else you get close to someone, and then you have to leave while they stay. Or else you find someone that you'd like to get close to, but your schedules just never synch up. It's hard, sometimes.

And the work plays a toll on your relationships. Ask any third year medical student, and I guarantee you that they all know someone who got divorced/broke up because of medicine.

No, it might not be that hard for you. In fact, I hope that it ISN'T that hard for you, if you ever make it past the pre-med stage. But I also hope that you don't become one of those relentlessly happy, cheerful people, and then get angry at your classmates for not being relentlessly happy and cheerful too.

And there are many good moments too. But they don't totally erase the bad ones.

So, no, you're correct that it's not all smiles and rainbows. But I wonder if you have any idea just how hard it can be. And it's something that you need to think about, before even starting to wonder about the downsides of surgery or ortho.

I'm sorry if I sound angry. And I know that this is probably not what you want to hear. (And I know that I'm spilling pessimism over an otherwise light-hearted thread. Sorry.) But...this is stuff that pre-meds need to hear. I know a lot of people who really should have heard it before applying to med school, and learned a lot of the stuff that I talked about above too late.
Click to expand...

I want to give you a hug.

I also have grand marnier bonbons if you're interested.
 
smq123 said:
Why are you already so worried about the downsides of ortho? :confused:

You're a pre-med, for the love of Jeebus! Your primary concern at this point should be about the downsides of the med school application process, the downsides of MS1 and MS2, the crap that you'll have to put up with as a third year, and the downsides about the practice of medicine in general.

I'm sorry if I sound frustrated, but I am. Medical school has taken more out of me than I would have ever imagined, and I'm not even done yet!

I don't like talking about it, particularly not on SDN (where the cheerful patrol always seems to be lurking around the corner, ready to pounce on any moment of pessimistic weakness), but the first two years of medical school S-U-C-K-E-D. If I considered quitting only once that week, that was a pretty damn good week. I usually thought about quitting once a day.

I have never had moments of such terrible sadness and depression as I've had in med school. There have been times when I've felt really alone, and there's no one to talk to. The friends who would understand are too busy (and you don't want to burden them) and the rest just don't quite get it.

The stress has been out of this world sometimes. The sleep deprivation has been awful. The frustration of dealing with administration has made me not just want to punch walls, but has actually made me punch them. (I'm sorry, but I am NOT going to be able to get that paperwork in today, seeing as I'm on a rotation in ANOTHER F'ING STATE. Jesus Christ.)

People that are close to you move on, too fast it seems. Or else you get close to someone, and then you have to leave while they stay. Or else you find someone that you'd like to get close to, but your schedules just never synch up. It's hard, sometimes.

And the work plays a toll on your relationships. Ask any third year medical student, and I guarantee you that they all know someone who got divorced/broke up because of medicine.

No, it might not be that hard for you. In fact, I hope that it ISN'T that hard for you, if you ever make it past the pre-med stage. But I also hope that you don't become one of those relentlessly happy, cheerful people, and then get angry at your classmates for not being relentlessly happy and cheerful too.

And there are many good moments too. But they don't totally erase the bad ones.

So, no, you're correct that it's not all smiles and rainbows. But I wonder if you have any idea just how hard it can be. And it's something that you need to think about, before even starting to wonder about the downsides of surgery or ortho.

I'm sorry if I sound angry. And I know that this is probably not what you want to hear. (And I know that I'm spilling pessimism over an otherwise light-hearted thread. Sorry.) But...this is stuff that pre-meds need to hear. I know a lot of people who really should have heard it before applying to med school, and learned a lot of the stuff that I talked about above too late.
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First of....why in the HELL are you apologizing?????!!!! This is what I wanted. This is what I need to hear. As a pre-med, don't you think you would have wanted someone like you to let you in on these things so that you wouldn't assume you were the only one experiencing the crash?

Secondly, I know it's going to be hard. I KNOW that. When someone asked me what I thought med school was going to be like that, I said exhausting and more rigorous than I could ever imagine. But, you know what? I grew up a hardknock child. I have lived, seen, and experienced things no one should have to. Life in the ghetto, you know? There are parts of my life that only ONE person knows about because I don't have the strength to tell it more times than I need to. I don't regret it; I'm incredibly strong now.

And you know what? So. Are. You. This may sound irrelevent coming from "just a pre-med", but look at all that you've accomplished! The people that you say just can't understand are ignorant of your struggles for a reason--they couldn't hack it. Grip it and rip it, baby. This is medicine, no one said it would be easy. But it's people like you who keep the system going.
 
smq123 said:
Why are you already so worried about the downsides of ortho? :confused:

You're a pre-med, for the love of Jeebus! Your primary concern at this point should be about the downsides of the med school application process, the downsides of MS1 and MS2, the crap that you'll have to put up with as a third year, and the downsides about the practice of medicine in general.

I'm sorry if I sound frustrated, but I am. Medical school has taken more out of me than I would have ever imagined, and I'm not even done yet!

I don't like talking about it, particularly not on SDN (where the cheerful patrol always seems to be lurking around the corner, ready to pounce on any moment of pessimistic weakness), but the first two years of medical school S-U-C-K-E-D. If I considered quitting only once that week, that was a pretty damn good week. I usually thought about quitting once a day.

I have never had moments of such terrible sadness and depression as I've had in med school. There have been times when I've felt really alone, and there's no one to talk to. The friends who would understand are too busy (and you don't want to burden them) and the rest just don't quite get it.

The stress has been out of this world sometimes. The sleep deprivation has been awful. The frustration of dealing with administration has made me not just want to punch walls, but has actually made me punch them. (I'm sorry, but I am NOT going to be able to get that paperwork in today, seeing as I'm on a rotation in ANOTHER F'ING STATE. Jesus Christ.)

People that are close to you move on, too fast it seems. Or else you get close to someone, and then you have to leave while they stay. Or else you find someone that you'd like to get close to, but your schedules just never synch up. It's hard, sometimes.

And the work plays a toll on your relationships. Ask any third year medical student, and I guarantee you that they all know someone who got divorced/broke up because of medicine.

No, it might not be that hard for you. In fact, I hope that it ISN'T that hard for you, if you ever make it past the pre-med stage. But I also hope that you don't become one of those relentlessly happy, cheerful people, and then get angry at your classmates for not being relentlessly happy and cheerful too.

And there are many good moments too. But they don't totally erase the bad ones.

So, no, you're correct that it's not all smiles and rainbows. But I wonder if you have any idea just how hard it can be. And it's something that you need to think about, before even starting to wonder about the downsides of surgery or ortho.

I'm sorry if I sound angry. And I know that this is probably not what you want to hear. (And I know that I'm spilling pessimism over an otherwise light-hearted thread. Sorry.) But...this is stuff that pre-meds need to hear. I know a lot of people who really should have heard it before applying to med school, and learned a lot of the stuff that I talked about above too late.
Click to expand...

Damn, homey...it ain't that bad.
 
BeachBlondie said:
First of....why in the HELL are you apologizing?????!!!! This is what I wanted. This is what I need to hear. As a pre-med, don't you think you would have wanted someone like you to let you in on these things so that you wouldn't assume you were the only one experiencing the crash?
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:D Awesome.

So many of the pre-meds in pre-allo just don't want to hear it. They want to hear that "Yeah, it'll be hard, but it'll all be worth it in the end!!" And if you try to speak your mind, you get the online equivalent of people sticking their fingers in their ears, humming loudly, and saying, "I can't HEAR you!"

BeachBlondie said:
Secondly, I know it's going to be hard. I KNOW that. When someone asked me what I thought med school was going to be like that, I said exhausting and more rigorous than I could ever imagine. But, you know what? I grew up a hardknock child. I have lived, seen, and experienced things no one should have to. Life in the ghetto, you know? There are parts of my life that only ONE person knows about because I don't have the strength to tell it more times than I need to. I don't regret it; I'm incredibly strong now.
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I think it's great whenever anyone has overcome so much stuff in their life, and come out a better person - so you SHOULD be proud of yourself.

To be honest, though, I don't think that those experiences help you survive med school and residency any better than the rest of us. You might just whine less, that's about it.

BeachBlondie said:
And you know what? So. Are. You. This may sound irrelevent coming from "just a pre-med", but look at all that you've accomplished! The people that you say just can't understand are ignorant of your struggles for a reason--they couldn't hack it.
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:) Thanks for your support.

My friends who can't understand...it isn't their fault, and I'm not angry at them for that. It's not that they couldn't hack it....it just isn't always easy for them to understand.

I mean, if you haven't been there, it's hard to explain why certain things bother you. Or they might intellectually understand it, but not really KNOW why you're upset.

It's hard to explain.
 
smq123 said:
Some day (many days), it was.

Let's just leave it at that.
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I won't argue with you and I'm sorry that you've had some bad experiences in med school, but allow me to present an alternate viewpoint.

I didn't think medical school was that hard. Sure, I worked a lot and studied a lot, and there were times when I wished I could go out drinking or see a movie or something but couldn't; but I really didn't think it was all that tough. Probably the worst part of medical school for me was wondering whether or not I was going to match, and dealing with my school's annoying bureaucracy (plus our massive over-abundance of required medicine rotations).

But I never considered quitting--not once did it cross my mind that I can recall. I don't sleep much and I don't really mind being at the hospital (unless I'm bored) and it just wasn't as tough for me as it evidently is for some people.

I definitely had a lot more moments of satisfaction/excitement than "Oh God, shoot me now" moments (and most of those came on OB).
 
DrDre311 said:
I won't argue with you and I'm sorry that you've had some bad experiences in med school, but allow me to present an alternate viewpoint.
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No, I agree - and I said that everyone's experience is different.

But what I think that pre-meds need to realize (and very few of them do) is that there is a wide spectrum of experiences in med school and residency, that ranges from fantastic/best years of my life all the way down to horrible/I was practically suicidal for most of it.

And the thing is - no one knows where on that spectrum you'll fall until you actually go through it. Most likely, you'll be in the middle. But not everyone is.

For the record, third year has been vastly better than 1st and 2nd year (although this is for a variety of reasons). But damn...1st year was just a blur of misery, bitterness, and depression. I'm not even sure, looking back, at how I survived without an SSRI or two.
 
I hope things continue to improve for you. Maybe Blondie will get a better picture of what things are like by comparing differing experiences.

BTW, thanks for sticking up for me on that other thread when I got called oout. I think that's the first time I've ever been called "boy" on the internet (does it seem kinda racist considering my avatar?).
 
DrDre311 said:
I hope things continue to improve for you.
Click to expand...

:) Thanks. I think they will...especially because I'll be doing 4th year electives soon (i.e. things that are related to what I actually want to do in life).

DrDre311 said:
I think that's the first time I've ever been called "boy" on the internet (does it seem kinda racist considering my avatar?).
Click to expand...

Yeah, that thought did cross my mind.... But he called you "sonny" or something like that as well, so I don't think he necessarily meant anything racist by it. (I hope, anyway.)
 
smq123 said:
Yeah, that thought did cross my mind.... But he called you "sonny" or something like that as well, so I don't think he necessarily meant anything racist by it. (I hope, anyway.)
Click to expand...

I think that could still have racist overtones. That doesn't mean the person meant it that way, though. The same words with the same intent applied to two separate situations can have vastly different implications. Sad but true.

DrDre311 said:
I didn't think medical school was that hard. Sure, I worked a lot and studied a lot, and there were times when I wished I could go out drinking or see a movie or something but couldn't; but I really didn't think it was all that tough.
Click to expand...

Med school wasn't hard???

Aren't you an integrated plastics resident!? :eek: :confused:

Are you just some kind of T-1000 of studying?
 
dienekes88 said:
Med school wasn't hard???

Aren't you an integrated plastics resident!? :eek: :confused:
Click to expand...

Exactly. If he's the kind of person who can match into Integrated Plastics, he's obviously pretty damn smart. :)

Are you just some kind of T-1000 of studying?
Click to expand...

Are you even old enough to remember that movie? Weren't you only 5 years old when it came out (in 1991)? ;)
 
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