Where Do We Get Off

Where do we get off. When did medical students start thinking that they run the show? Has disrespectful behavior always been a problem at schools of graduate education? Is it because we all have a bachelor's degree in something and we think that qualifies us to complain nonstop?


One of the most disturbing trends that I have witnessed while at medical school is the drastic increase in the amount of complaining and improper conduct towards professors. During the class time, a student once raised his hand to ask a professor a question, here's how it went:



Student: Doesn't that enzyme do the opposite in the presence of insulin

Professor: Well, I don't think that is correct

Student: No, that is correct



Since when is this considered acceptable behavior? Since when have we decided that that is appropriate for future professionals?

I think it goes back to how many in my generation were raised. A lot of people have mentioned that our generation was the first "you can do anything!" generation. What I mean by that is that most of my generation had parents that told them they could do anything. Never mind that they have no singing ability, you are the worst parent in the world if you don't make them feel like they are the next Pavaratti.

I've always thought my parents did it well. When I was a kid, I wanted to play professional basketball. Rather than just say, "Sure you will someday, you can do anything you set your mind to," he was very pragmatic about it. He said things like, "If that is something that you want to do, than you will have to make big sacrifices to get better at the sport." And I did, for awhile--but then my friends wanted to play with GI Joes, or there was a new movie out at the theater, and I gradually realized that professional basketball wasn't in my future.

I think the best thing that parents can do is encourage their children that many things in life are attainable through hard work, but without having certain innante physical or mental gifts, not everything is possible. If I am 4'7" I'm probably not going to play center for the Piston's someday. If I don't have anything resembling a singing voice, I probably won't be a world famous singer. This doesn't mean that I shouldn't work hard, but I should have parents who can see the gifts that I have and steer me in the right direction.

Another reason that I think that there is so much trouble with respect and discipline is the Political Correctness wave of the 90s-2000s. Don't get me wrong, there are aspects of PC that seem reasonable, such as eliminating the terminology of phrases such as "you people," e.g. "you people are all the same... But one of the downsides of the PC movement is the idea that there is nothing that is right or wrong.

Heaven forbid a teacher uses red ink to grade a paper! Who knows what might result from that! The child's fragile psyche could be forever damaged as a result from the 70% that they got on a test. It's pure ridiculousness and I think that it has contributed to the mentality that many of my peers have that they are always right. Not to mention the fact that they are probably angered that medical school grades are on a strict curve, and that 2/3rds of the students don't get scores above 90% anymore.

In summary, it's very frustrating to be surrounded with so many smart yet rude medical students, especially when the few obnoxiously vocal will be thought of as representative of the entire class.