(Not so) Fun Times In Med School

[highonyou]

Hi everyone,

 

So i made it to my penultimate year of med school, which is my last year where I will be taking lectured classes. Next year will be 100% hospital goodness, wherease right now its about 60-40 school and hospital exposure.

 

I absolutely love it.

 

But I, and my clinic groupmates, have an issue with one of our mentors. Each day we have classes in the morning, go to the hospital for a couple of hours, then back to school for more classes until the day ends. Each day in the hospital is under one of the 4 major departmenst, pediatrics, surgery, ob/gyne and internal med.

 

Our problem is with our ob/gyne mentor. Even our ob/gyne department head has made jokes that her doctors have reputations for being "witches" (i think she was being euphemistic).

 

Anywho, we did accidentally get off to bad bad start with our doctor, phone troubles so not entirely our fault. We texted her a day in advance to ask where we would be meeting her for clinics, and she text back when and where we would meet, but there was no need to send 5 messages asking the same thing, dear. We had no idea what she was talking about, but she showed us her phone that had the 5 messages, sent immediately one after the other. My groupmates phone only shows one outgoing text. Thats when she warned us she gets annoyed easily. Not a good start.

 

we have actually only been under her personally 4 times in the last 3 months, the rest of the time we have been substituted with other doctors in the department (in surgery, freaking amazing), where they quizzed us during surgical procedures and taught us really well about the ins and outs of ob/gyne surgical happenings.

 

But when we are under our mentor, its torture. She is malicious. All stick and no carrot. She explained that she uses this method of "teaching" to make us work harder, just like how her mentor treated her when she was in med school. I haven't learned anything from her, im surviving the practical side of this with youtube videos and talking to other groups who have a more informative doctor. Not everything is in the textbooks, and some things really need a demonstration to grasp properly.

 

Our last session with her was horrendous. We had previously talked to a patient and taken their history and physical exam, then presented our findings along with issues the patient had and what we had learned about her condition. Our mentor just picked out every little detail that was wrong, we were a disappointment and looked like idiots. Then she berrated us for not knowing how she wanted the discussion to be, that she wanted to have an in depth talk about our patients condition (hypertension) and that because we didn't all read the chapter in the book, our presentation was useless.

 

I know that I know nothing, thats why I am in freaking school. To learn medicine.

You want to tell me my work was subpar? Fine, but tell me how I can make it better for next time.

You want a discussion to go a certain way? Ok, give us a brief outline, there is no such thing as psychics.

 

Well, apprently she is like this for all students under her care, so at least she is consistent.

 

But how the frack do I survive this doctor? Do I complain to the school? Or do I just suck it up because there will be plenty of other doctors just like her to come? Why should I even have to put up with the circle of screaming?

 

This stupid all stick no carrot method does not work with me. I already disliked ob/gyne to begin with, and this just makes it even more unbearable.

 

So sorry for the length! Thanks for getting to the end!

[gebaird]

This probably won't be the only time in your career when you will be working with an intolerable personality. Use it as an opportunity to learn patience. I'm sure others have complained about her, yet she's still there. You can complain, but nothing may come of it.

 

Don't take her negativity and criticism personally. Check your ego at the door and be glad this situation is only temporary. In the future, you may end up with an overbearing colleague that you have to work with daily. This will help you prepare for situations like that.

 

They say you can learn a lot more from a bad boss than a good one. The same probably goes for teachers. You may think you're there to learn medicine, but you're really there to learn humility and resilience--both very valuable skills that will help you throughout your career. In that sense, she's the best teacher you've got.

[kbbcoop77]

Suck it up. In time you'll look back and probably see this doctor as one of your better teachers. I have a boss now that at first I was literally terrified of pissing off as he's a screamer and what not but after 8 months on the site with him I realize I am learning a lot from him and know this is just his way...you're not going to be happy with everyone. Congrats on your career.

[luminousone]

Don't take it personally. Be unflappable. Take it as a challenge to learn even more. Being a successful physician involves much more than learning facts from books, or even special techniques. It also has to do with staying cool and collected under a tremendous amount of pressure. It also involves having a great rapport with the patient, and yes- other (sometimes intolerable) staff members.

 

I have worked at a hospital, and I can tell you that many of the old school docs have very VERY large egos. It was how they were trained, and some are just naturally that way, and it sounds like your mentor is trying to pass on the tradition. It doesn't make it the best way to teach necessarily, but it is what you get.

 

Do NOT complain, by the way, unless there is unlawful harassment or a safety issue regarding a patient's care. Not worth the drama, nor will it help you get through school. Very likely the higher ups have been trained that way too, and will support their colleague over you.

 

My brother is a doc. He was very discouraged about his grades, and was about to quit. He shared that with his mentor, who told him that he was going to make a better doctor than the A students, because he had such a great rapport with his patients and was a great communicator.

 

He decided to stick with it, went on to have a great career (both clinically and in research) and is about to retire.

 

When my elderly dad had to have surgery at a hospital where my brother used to work (20 years before!), some staff remarked on our unusual last name and asked if he was related to my brother. When the answer was yes, they went on and on about how well respected my brother was, and how he had helped their family member. So I guess my brother made the right choice to stick with it, even when the going got tough.

 

Being a physician is not easy! But you can truly help people that need it.

 

You can do it! Just one foot at a time. You can get through this. Each angry outburst is a challenge for you to dig deeper into crucial knowledge that will serve you and your patients well in years to come. And, a challenge to learn how to handle adversity and criticism with strength, confidence, and grace.

[Wiseman2]

They appointed her so that obviously won't work. If she has a drill sergeant teaching style that doesn't work for you that is no a reason to complain about her. She's not incompetent is she?

 

I would just get used to the different personalities of the attending physicians and yup, you may have to suck up and be extra prepared to get a good grade/review for this particular clinical rotation.

 

Read "The House of God", a satirical novel by Samuel Shem. It is a hilarious account of med school, internship and residency. It will at least provide comic relief and insight into the absurdity of it all.

Do I complain to the school? Or do I just suck it up because there will be plenty of other doctors just like her to come? I already disliked ob/gyne to begin with, and this just makes it even more unbearable.

 

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[journeynow]

Our last session with her was horrendous. We had previously talked to a patient and taken their history and physical exam, then presented our findings along with issues the patient had and what we had learned about her condition. Our mentor just picked out every little detail that was wrong, we were a disappointment and looked like idiots. Then she berrated us for not knowing how she wanted the discussion to be, that she wanted to have an in depth talk about our patients condition (hypertension) and that because we didn't all read the chapter in the book, our presentation was useless.

 

I know that I know nothing, thats why I am in freaking school. To learn medicine.

You want to tell me my work was subpar? Fine, but tell me how I can make it better for next time.

You want a discussion to go a certain way? Ok, give us a brief outline, there is no such thing as psychics.

 

She did tell you how to make it better for next time, and she told you how she wants the discussion to go. From your description, she wants you to gather the patient information AND read the book AND be able to discuss the condition in depth. If that means you need to do additional research, so bit it, it's part of learning, and preparation for your futures as doctors. I think as doctors, you will need to be detectives. With this mentor, you need detective skills as well. She's not going to hand you what you want. Is she screaming, really, or raising her voice in frustration? (There is a difference.) Keep in mind, dealing with unreasonable people is also a good part of your preparation as a doctor, in that there will be times when you have people who are upset with you, frustrated, angry. Good luck.