Awkward Moments in Medical School?

[Aloe paleo]

Hey guys I'm a premed applying this cycle. Do any of you current medical students classify yourself as slightly awkward/shy? Is medicine not for me if I am a bit on the quiet side? I really have enjoyed some of my encounters with people while volunteering, but sometimes I just think that some things must be awkward!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Espressso]

plenty of kids in our class are quiet/shy. That should not be a reason to deter you from pursuing the field.

 

[Goro]

Hey guys I'm a premed applying this cycle. Do any of you current medical students classify yourself as slightly awkward/shy? Is medicine not for me if I am a bit on the quiet side? I really have enjoyed some of my encounters with people while volunteering, but sometimes I just think that some things must be awkward!

Wait until you do your first digital exam.

 

[Aloe paleo]

Wait until you do your first digital exam.

hahaahaha okay..... do many students find it awkward at first?

 

[jurassicpark]

Wait until you do your first digital exam.

We had this nice but awkward med student when I was a resident once. Sent him in to do his first rectal, he came out and immediately started rinsing his mouth out. We were like.. what the.. WHY ARE YOU WASHING YOUR MOUTH AND NOT YOUR HANDS?!!

My intern was this innocent little boy from the Middle East, I made him go do a gyn exam on a patient. I was wondering what was taking so long and why there was crying going on in the room, both him and the patient. He had the speculum in his hands and was saying, "I'm hurting her!" The patient to her credit was only crying because he was crying. I pushed him aside and did it quickly and painlessly. My intern later went on to become quite the casanova and slept around quite a bit.. I felt proud.

 

[Aloe paleo]

We had this nice but awkward med student when I was a resident once. Sent him in to do his first rectal, he came out and immediately started rinsing his mouth out. We were like.. what the.. WHY ARE YOU WASHING YOUR MOUTH AND NOT YOUR HANDS?!!

My intern was this innocent little boy from the Middle East, I made him go do a gyn exam on a patient. I was wondering what was taking so long and why there was crying going on in the room, both him and the patient. He had the speculum in his hands and was saying, "I'm hurting her!" The patient to her credit was only crying because he was crying. I pushed him aside and did it quickly and painlessly. My intern later went on to become quite the casanova and slept around quite a bit.. I felt proud.

hahahahahaha this is so funny

 

[rg2o3]

Plenty of quiet/shy kids in my class. No issue with it at all. Honestly almost better to stay away from most of the class anyway imo.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

We had this nice but awkward med student when I was a resident once. Sent him in to do his first rectal, he came out and immediately started rinsing his mouth out. We were like.. what the.. WHY ARE YOU WASHING YOUR MOUTH AND NOT YOUR HANDS?!!

My intern was this innocent little boy from the Middle East, I made him go do a gyn exam on a patient. I was wondering what was taking so long and why there was crying going on in the room, both him and the patient. He had the speculum in his hands and was saying, "I'm hurting her!" The patient to her credit was only crying because he was crying. I pushed him aside and did it quickly and painlessly. My intern later went on to become quite the casanova and slept around quite a bit.. I felt proud.

This is gold.

 

[Aloe paleo]

Plenty of quiet/shy kids in my class. No issue with it at all. Honestly almost better to stay away from most of the class anyway imo.

thanks for answering

 

[Aloe paleo]

This is gold.

I know! I want to hear more stories now!

 

[slowthai]

We had this nice but awkward med student when I was a resident once. Sent him in to do his first rectal, he came out and immediately started rinsing his mouth out. We were like.. what the.. WHY ARE YOU WASHING YOUR MOUTH AND NOT YOUR HANDS?!!

So you mean to tell me that this individual placed their mouth hole on a pts bumhole???

 

[EmilKraepelin55]

We had this nice but awkward med student when I was a resident once. Sent him in to do his first rectal, he came out and immediately started rinsing his mouth out. We were like.. what the.. WHY ARE YOU WASHING YOUR MOUTH AND NOT YOUR HANDS?!!

My intern was this innocent little boy from the Middle East, I made him go do a gyn exam on a patient. I was wondering what was taking so long and why there was crying going on in the room, both him and the patient. He had the speculum in his hands and was saying, "I'm hurting her!" The patient to her credit was only crying because he was crying. I pushed him aside and did it quickly and painlessly. My intern later went on to become quite the casanova and slept around quite a bit.. I felt proud.

I’m getting some House of God vibes up in here.

 

[EmilKraepelin55]

I’m pretty awkward and socially anxious myself OP. It just takes time and effort to develop a proper system to help you compartmentalize some of that emotion. Learn some mindfulness techniques, they really go a long way.

I found it really difficult to speak up in TBL sessions during my first semester of medical school. It depends on the group though. Some personalities I just can’t take (those “I have to prove myself as a leader” people who talk over you and think they know it all). If there’s a few of them in a group I just have to remind myself that not all med students are this way, and that some of them ACTUALLY want to be team players. Anxiety makes me intuit false generalizations sometimes, to the point of a form of solipsism (I’m the only one in med school, nobody else functionally exists). This is obviously false, but I feel that way when most people I talk to in a day are the people without a soul.

 

[Sephirakra]

So you mean to tell me that this individual placed their mouth hole on a pts bumhole???

You have to pay extra for that now.

 

[Ho0v-man]

So you mean to tell me that this individual placed their mouth hole on a pts bumhole???

Surely said student vomited in their mouth and we’re just trying to rinse out that taste, no?

 

[slowthai]

Surely said student vomited in their mouth and we’re just trying to rinse out that taste, no?

I hope so. Please let that be it.

 

[hungrydoc710]

Med school forces you to break down this barrier

 

[pawprint]

Oh this is a fun thread, I've got so many stories of personally embarrassing/awkward moments.

This one is my favorite:

I was on my third year surgery clerkship and one of the requirements during that clerkship was to place a certain amount of Foley's. I had never placed a foley before so this would be a useful skill to learn how to do. Anyway, during my first foley placement, I was in the OR with my attending and chief resident prepping the patient for whatever surgery he was about to undergo. This massively overweight man needed a foley placed so the chief resident was going to walk me through placing it properly. When we pulled back the sheet that was covering the man's genitals, I saw the largest penis I have ever seen in my entire life. I accidentally verbally acknowledged this by stating "Woah!". Of course, my chief and attending (who was my clerkship advisor) never let me live this down for the next 7 weeks. On my final evaluation for the rotation, my attending wrote a very nice evaluation but ended it with: "If I could describe this medical student in one word, it would be "Woah!" ". This comment ended up on my MSPE.

 

[jurassicpark]

But to go back to the OP original question. Tons of embarrassing moments to be had, so don't worry. But remember, you're going to be a doctor. No place has to be off-limits to you, you cannot leave any stone unturned. You are the captain of the ship, and you have to stand tall and decisive when giving orders or doing whatever you need to do. If anything for the sake of your patient who at times are literally putting their life in your hands.

Med school should quickly burn away all shame, that fig leaf you carry around and there will not be one place your finger hasn't gone into!

 

[redsox93]

Hey guys I'm a premed applying this cycle. Do any of you current medical students classify yourself as slightly awkward/shy? Is medicine not for me if I am a bit on the quiet side? I really have enjoyed some of my encounters with people while volunteering, but sometimes I just think that some things must be awkward!

I think I’m pretty awkward. Going into rads so I guess it makes sense

 

[slowthai]

No place has to be off-limits to you, you cannot leave any pannus unturned.

Fixed that--never mind

 

[Aloe paleo]

Oh this is a fun thread, I've got so many stories of personally embarrassing/awkward moments.

This one is my favorite:

I was on my third year surgery clerkship and one of the requirements during that clerkship was to place a certain amount of Foley's. I had never placed a foley before so this would be a useful skill to learn how to do. Anyway, during my first foley placement, I was in the OR with my attending and chief resident prepping the patient for whatever surgery he was about to undergo. This massively overweight man needed a foley placed so the chief resident was going to walk me through placing it properly. When we pulled back the sheet that was covering the man's genitals, I saw the largest penis I have ever seen in my entire life. I accidentally verbally acknowledged this by stating "Woah!". Of course, my chief and attending (who was my clerkship advisor) never let me live this down for the next 7 weeks. On my final evaluation for the rotation, my attending wrote a very nice evaluation but ended it with: "If I could describe this medical student in one word, it would be "Woah!" ". This comment ended up on my MSPE.

Omg hahahaha ! Love this ! Hope to hear more stories because they are amazing

 

[jurassicpark]

During my surgery rotation, was going an away rotation with another student at a private office and hospital. Was actually quite fun, got to do a LOT of hands on experience, almost like first-assistance, suturing/stapling, etc. The surgeon also did breast reconstructions, so he gave it a silicon and a saline filled breast implant to my partner, who was a little high strung and asked him which one felt better.

My partner felt the two implants and after some consideration said, "This one" indicating the saline implant. The surgeon gets this crossed look on his, yanks the implants away from him, leans into him and yells, "YOU'RE A ROOKIE AREN'T YOU?!!" Everyone but those two burst out laughing, I was in stitches.

 

[Cardboard101]

Our anatomy practicals are typically asking about muscle function and attachments. I figured "hey I have the same muscles, if I just palpate them I'll have a leg up on the exam!". Being the goody-two shoes young first year I was, I wanted to make sure this wouldn't be counted as cheating.

So, I go up to one of the course directors during lab and ask:

"Am I allowed to touch myself during the anatomy practical?"

 

[Aloe paleo]

Our anatomy practicals are typically asking about muscle function and attachments. I figured "hey I have the same muscles, if I just palpate them I'll have a leg up on the exam!". Being the goody-two shoes young first year I was, I wanted to make sure this wouldn't be counted as cheating.

So, I go up to one of the course directors during lab and ask:

"Am I allowed to touch myself during the anatomy practical?"

hahahhaah

 

[Roxas]

M3 ED rotation, first time I was asked to do a rectal. Pt was a ninety-something, and already had some feces on the exterior before I started the exam. I wish I knew how, but somehow I ended up getting feces all over the patient's blankets and sheets. Some even got on the floor. And when I went to deglove and wash, despite doing it right 100 times before that day I somehow got it all over my hands during the degloving process. Nurse had to come in and change the patient's sheets and clean the floor. The look on her face while she was scowling at me had the fury of a thousand suns.



A comprehensive summary of my time as a student, and honestly even still as a PGY-1:
I

 

[Aloe paleo]

M3 ED rotation, first time I was asked to do a rectal. Pt was a ninety-something, and already had some feces on the exterior before I started the exam. I wish I knew how, but somehow I ended up getting feces all over the patient's blankets and sheets. Some even got on the floor. And when I went to deglove and wash, despite doing it right 100 times before that day I somehow got it all over my hands during the degloving process. Nurse had to come in and change the patient's sheets and clean the floor. The look on her face while she was scowling at me had the fury of a thousand suns.



A comprehensive summary of my time as a student, and honestly even still as a PGY-1:
IView attachment 285820

LOL

 

[paradoxic_toxic]

Oh this is a fun thread, I've got so many stories of personally embarrassing/awkward moments.

This one is my favorite:

I was on my third year surgery clerkship and one of the requirements during that clerkship was to place a certain amount of Foley's. I had never placed a foley before so this would be a useful skill to learn how to do. Anyway, during my first foley placement, I was in the OR with my attending and chief resident prepping the patient for whatever surgery he was about to undergo. This massively overweight man needed a foley placed so the chief resident was going to walk me through placing it properly. When we pulled back the sheet that was covering the man's genitals, I saw the largest penis I have ever seen in my entire life. I accidentally verbally acknowledged this by stating "Woah!". Of course, my chief and attending (who was my clerkship advisor) never let me live this down for the next 7 weeks. On my final evaluation for the rotation, my attending wrote a very nice evaluation but ended it with: "If I could describe this medical student in one word, it would be "Woah!" ". This comment ended up on my MSPE.

 

[mwsapphire]

This is gold.

" I'm hurting her" haha awww.
This guy must have been like " " when left alone with the ptn.

 

[Cornfed101]

My intern was this innocent little boy from the Middle East, I made him go do a gyn exam on a patient. I was wondering what was taking so long and why there was crying going on in the room, both him and the patient. He had the speculum in his hands and was saying, "I'm hurting her!" The patient to her credit was only crying because he was crying. I pushed him aside and did it quickly and painlessly. My intern later went on to become quite the casanova and slept around quite a bit.. I felt proud.

Personal story: my wife was was having pregnancy complications and they had a junior resident checking things out. First of all, he was super awkward and wouldn’t make eye contact with either of us. He had a nervous tick where he would rub his chest... then when he gets the speculum in he’s like “oh there is going to be a little pressure,” my wife subsequently yelps in pain, after which he says, “there is going to be more pressure.” And continues to widen the speculum... Luckily, the attending was a normal guy. Moral of the story, don’t be awkward when you are down in my wife’s business. Especially as a resident you should have that figured out if you are going to be an OB for the rest of your life.

 

[DO_or_Die]

Hey guys I'm a premed applying this cycle. Do any of you current medical students classify yourself as slightly awkward/shy? Is medicine not for me if I am a bit on the quiet side? I really have enjoyed some of my encounters with people while volunteering, but sometimes I just think that some things must be awkward!

You'll get used to it. I'm a nurse and used to feel awkward talking to patients when I was in nursing school. You get over that really quickly, especially when you have to lift up their gown to properly assess their skin or help clean them after they have gone to the restroom. There's really nothing that phases me now when it comes to patient care and I feel that it's the same for the docs I work with.

 

[paradoxic_toxic]

You'll get used to it. I'm a nurse and used to feel awkward talking to patients when I was in nursing school. You get over that really quickly, especially when you have to lift up their gown to properly assess their skin or help clean them after they have gone to the restroom. There's really nothing that phases me now when it comes to patient care and I feel that it's the same for the docs I work with.

Yep, everything in life has a learning curve and an adjustment period. The first day of college was probably nerve wracking, now we probably burp and fart in class without thinking twice. Med school and residency will be the same.

 

[mwsapphire]

Yep, everything in life has a learning curve and an adjustment period. The first day of college was probably nerve wracking, now we probably burp and fart in class without thinking twice. Med school and residency will be the same.

Way better than first day of HS actually I felt like I could breathe much more easily in college ( and srsly does anybody notice burping or passing gas?)

 

[paradoxic_toxic]

Way better than first day of HS actually I felt like I could breathe much more easily in college ( and srsly does anybody notice burping or passing gas?)

I definitely notice. There are some nasty people in my college.

 

[austintr]

A guy I used to work with mentioned priapism in his physical exam findings, and someone jokingly told him the treatment for priapism is "therapeutic manual release". He looked kind of puzzled for a second, then nodded in confirmation and was knocking on the door when he was told it was just a joke.

That encounter was about to get a lot more awkward.