Privileged Med Students Behaving Badly
April 21, 2011 7:49 PM Subscribe
Medical students face disciplinary action for campus performance mocking their uninsured patients. This happened at my medical school. One of the three girls is a classmate of mine who will be starting OB/GYN residency in June. Another is the daughter of a prominent psychiatrist on faculty, who, last I heard, intends to follow in her father's footsteps. The third is a PA student. The cheering crowd? At least 200 med students, many of whom are classmates of mine. These are your future surgeons, pediatricians, internists, obstetricians, and psychiatrists. These are the people who will very soon be entrusted with the lives of you and everyone you love. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
This post was deleted for the following reason: this is a single link editorial to a fox news article. -- jessamyn
Isn't this sort of bloggy, catty message better posted to, say, Facebook?
posted by five fresh fish at 8:00 PM on April 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by five fresh fish at 8:00 PM on April 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
Kind of dislike the editorializing going on in the post, it's never a good idea. Combined with the personal contact with some of (all of?) the people involved, it's a little weird.
posted by empyrean at 8:00 PM on April 21, 2011
posted by empyrean at 8:00 PM on April 21, 2011
Cynicism, I get. But directing it at patients? Low blow.
posted by nasayre at 8:01 PM on April 21, 2011
posted by nasayre at 8:01 PM on April 21, 2011
Hell, I'm glad they're having fun. If they don't know how to live, they can't appreciate the value of life.
posted by holterbarbour at 8:01 PM on April 21, 2011
posted by holterbarbour at 8:01 PM on April 21, 2011
"Tradition" makes everything ok, does it?
posted by fernabelle at 8:02 PM on April 21, 2011
posted by fernabelle at 8:02 PM on April 21, 2011
"HEY LOOK AT THESE ASSHOLES THAT I KNOW! HEY INTERNET! THESE PEOPLE I KNOW ARE ASSHOLES!"
posted by Joey Michaels at 8:03 PM on April 21, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by Joey Michaels at 8:03 PM on April 21, 2011 [6 favorites]
People are always surprised by the contempt that (some) rich people sometimes have for poor people, but if they didn't have it, how would they justify their behavior, in the larger socio-economic system, I mean.
posted by delmoi at 8:04 PM on April 21, 2011
posted by delmoi at 8:04 PM on April 21, 2011
The poster is editorializing but those med students are revolting.
posted by Anonymous at 8:04 PM on April 21, 2011
posted by Anonymous at 8:04 PM on April 21, 2011
Oh my God! Is this what Metafilter is for? You guys I know SO MANY assholes!
posted by ND¢ at 8:04 PM on April 21, 2011 [7 favorites]
posted by ND¢ at 8:04 PM on April 21, 2011 [7 favorites]
Smart kids do dumb things? It's kinda what college is for.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:05 PM on April 21, 2011
posted by cjorgensen at 8:05 PM on April 21, 2011
This would be an okay post without everything after the link.
posted by tumid dahlia at 8:05 PM on April 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by tumid dahlia at 8:05 PM on April 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
I think it's a good post. I also think this space is for commentary on the post, not meta-commentary. Why is editorializing bad? So flag it and move on derailers.
posted by orthogonality at 8:07 PM on April 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by orthogonality at 8:07 PM on April 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
This is an interesting post, and I'm glad (if that's the right word) to know about this, but it's hard to get past the weirdness of the framing.
posted by Scientist at 8:07 PM on April 21, 2011
posted by Scientist at 8:07 PM on April 21, 2011
This would be an okay post without everything after the link.
Agreed. Fernabelle, since you're pretty new: The reason you're getting this response is that it's pretty highly frowned upon to editorialize your post like this.
posted by rollbiz at 8:08 PM on April 21, 2011
Agreed. Fernabelle, since you're pretty new: The reason you're getting this response is that it's pretty highly frowned upon to editorialize your post like this.
posted by rollbiz at 8:08 PM on April 21, 2011
Most med students I had the acquaintance of were so busy learning medical stuff that their brains had no room for *anything* else - how to change a flat, who that Shakespeare fellow was, basic empathy...
Man, that skit sure was ugly. And the dancing sucked, too.
posted by notsnot at 8:10 PM on April 21, 2011
Man, that skit sure was ugly. And the dancing sucked, too.
posted by notsnot at 8:10 PM on April 21, 2011
Apologies to those who dislike the editorializing. I'm just so disgusted by the culture of my supposedly noble profession. Four years in, I am still shocked on a regular basis by the level of contempt so many physicians have for their patients. Perhaps it is just another example of ordinary assholery. But maybe it's not.
posted by fernabelle at 8:11 PM on April 21, 2011
posted by fernabelle at 8:11 PM on April 21, 2011
Yeah, how dare those kids have fun at a graduation night skit show by thumbing their nose at the system's rough edges. Do I agree with the content? No. When I was 24, did I say and do a lot of things I regret, that mercifully did not get captured and distributed to the global snarkpool? Yes.
The framing on this is just gross. It reads like a disgruntled bit of hate mail. If that can get to the FP now, hold on, I've got about a decade worth of material on jerky colleagues to unload...
posted by mrdaneri at 8:12 PM on April 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
The framing on this is just gross. It reads like a disgruntled bit of hate mail. If that can get to the FP now, hold on, I've got about a decade worth of material on jerky colleagues to unload...
posted by mrdaneri at 8:12 PM on April 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
As this is framed, it's outragefilter, and the editorializing pushes it over the edge. This is GYOB material and presentation.
posted by rtha at 8:13 PM on April 21, 2011
posted by rtha at 8:13 PM on April 21, 2011
The video is TWO YEARS OLD!!! Baylor is just covering their ass at the expense of these students.
As an FPP, this stinks, too. fernabelle, if you are still shocked, then you have a lifetime of shocks awaiting you.
posted by Ardiril at 8:14 PM on April 21, 2011
As an FPP, this stinks, too. fernabelle, if you are still shocked, then you have a lifetime of shocks awaiting you.
posted by Ardiril at 8:14 PM on April 21, 2011
I'm just so disgusted by the culture of my supposedly noble profession.
You are in a position to do something about that. I wish you much strength.
posted by peeedro at 8:15 PM on April 21, 2011
You are in a position to do something about that. I wish you much strength.
posted by peeedro at 8:15 PM on April 21, 2011
Sorry to hear you're disillusioned fernabelle. The best thing you can do is to be an awesome doctor and advocate for patients. My experience with med school students (personal, anecdotal) is that some got into it because they value money and some got into it because they value life.
There's an opportunity for a good FPP here, but you did go about it wrong.
posted by polyhedron at 8:15 PM on April 21, 2011
There's an opportunity for a good FPP here, but you did go about it wrong.
posted by polyhedron at 8:15 PM on April 21, 2011
Wait, you mean these highly-educated professionals - People who've put themselves $150-200k in debt so they can save our poor asses - Actually expect to get paid for their skills?
What a bunch of greedy rat-bastards!
People use humor to deal with situations over which they have little control... Death. Taxes. Your employer expecting you to help people who can't pay for your services.
By all means, though, I fully encourage everyone they made fun of to stop using their services.
posted by pla at 8:16 PM on April 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
What a bunch of greedy rat-bastards!
People use humor to deal with situations over which they have little control... Death. Taxes. Your employer expecting you to help people who can't pay for your services.
By all means, though, I fully encourage everyone they made fun of to stop using their services.
posted by pla at 8:16 PM on April 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Four years in, I am still shocked on a regular basis by the level of contempt so many physicians have for their patients
Slow learner, eh?
posted by c13 at 8:17 PM on April 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Slow learner, eh?
posted by c13 at 8:17 PM on April 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Man, this makes me feel so much better about our was-totally-super-rad-I-promise-two-years-ago college shenanigans
posted by Slackermagee at 8:18 PM on April 21, 2011
posted by Slackermagee at 8:18 PM on April 21, 2011
Well, since this is still here: I can only say that during my days as an EMT, we made jokes about patients and situations that would've seemed pretty terrible if they were ever voiced to the outside world. It's part of how we dealt with an extremely stressful and taxing occupation. Dark humor today keeps burnout at bay...
I don't know how directly that applies to medical students, but there you have it.
posted by rollbiz at 8:20 PM on April 21, 2011
I don't know how directly that applies to medical students, but there you have it.
posted by rollbiz at 8:20 PM on April 21, 2011
Wait, you mean these highly-educated professionals - People who've put themselves $150-200k in debt so they can save our poor asses - Actually expect to get paid for their skills?
I think doctors should be well compensated for their profession. My issue is those doctors who do it solely for the money. If that is the motivating factor, I can't trust that a doctor has my best interest at heart.
posted by nasayre at 8:20 PM on April 21, 2011
I think doctors should be well compensated for their profession. My issue is those doctors who do it solely for the money. If that is the motivating factor, I can't trust that a doctor has my best interest at heart.
posted by nasayre at 8:20 PM on April 21, 2011
Also, Pla, there's a difference between making fun of the wretched slob who orders that crazy specific sandwich you hate making and people who need your help but cannot pay. Having fun at their expense makes for a tasteless as a joke. They could have instead addressed the many reasons why they're locked out of most of the health system but that would not have fit into a soul crushing one liner repeated endlessly to bad music.
posted by Slackermagee at 8:21 PM on April 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Slackermagee at 8:21 PM on April 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
"If you don't like it then you should have gotten insurance" is kind of funny, poking fun at the "rough edges of the system", whatever. The pokes about not speaking English, having a third kid at 18, grandma's 33, not so much. But yeah, not good framing.
posted by availablelight at 8:23 PM on April 21, 2011
posted by availablelight at 8:23 PM on April 21, 2011
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posted by orthogonality at 7:56 PM on April 21, 2011