Why people dislike pre-med students

The top five reasons to dislike pre-med students are listed in a recent Wired article. The most interesting part to me, however, were all the comments generated in the discussion. This was apparently the author's intent:

These are sweeping generalizations that are intended to provoke a heated debate, so try not to get too offended.

Ya think? Why in the world would any former pre-med student (including myself) get offended when we're globally accused of not having intellectual curiosity and running organizations into the ground.

I'm not going to lie and say I never came across pre-med people who fit these characterizations, but I think you could substitute any highly-competitive student here (engineering, law, poli-sci) and get the same result. While I agree that the medical student admissions process is a broken system, being a dilweed isn't something that's unique to those going into the medical profession.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention this little gem:

Perhaps, instead of separating the brightest students from the rest, pre-med programs weed out all but the few who are willing to give everything up -- hobbies, athletics, even their curiosity -- for the sake of a high-paying job as a body mechanic.

I've heard that "body mechanic" line quite a few times and every time it's gotten under my skin. Nothing against mechanics, but to simplify the art of medicine like this is just ignorant. I would challenge anyone with this belief to follow a local physician around for a day or two, then let's see you honestly say this.

Comments

[Leah]

I have to say that I dislike pre-med students as a general group (not individually, mind) because they are so damn focused on their exact grade, and they whine about any little point taken off on a test and/or paper. Never mind whether or not they actually wrote a good paper; for some reason, you're apparently only supposed to get an A or B on a paper for a science class. I guess I missed the memo, since my average paper grade is a C+. So I totally agree with #5.

I don't know if I agree with other points (I wasn't in undergrad with many pre-med folk, so I didn't have some of these problems), but I do say that I'm often frustrated with teaching pre-med students. A lot of them say crap like "Why should I bother to learn about global warming, food chains, invasive species, evolution, etc etc? I'm pre-med." I understand them being more interested in pre-med stuff; that's fine with me (and, honestly, a lot of my pre-med students show lots of curiosity and intellect in any of the human oriented stuff I teach). But to argue that general biology should not include things like ecology (for example) really vexes me. The class is not "biology for pre-meds." It is "introduction to biology," and we need to make sure that all students in the class are prepared for upper division classes, regardless of their ultimate destination.

[Tim]

Hey, have you ever followed a mechanic around for a day or two? They're job isn't as straightforward as you might think. It involves diagnostic capabilities every bit as much medicine does. They even have their own version of an H and P. "So, you're car's making a funny sound? Can you describe it? How long has it been going on? Do you hear it when the car is in motion, or just when idling?" Then, ,they open up the hood, take a look, maybe do some tests and figure it out. I think it's a great analogy.

[Izzy]

@Tim: Diagnosing is only one part of medicine. If people were inanimate objects with no feeling/emotions then maybe I'd concede that being a doctor is just like being a mechanic.

But there's so much more...

There's knowing when not to treat, knowing how to speak and deal with families of patients, breaking bad news, establishing rapport and trustworthy relationships with patients, seeing and experiencing heartache, thinking under stressful conditions, dealing diplomatically/professionally with consultants/colleagues, the risk of and living with mistakes that could have lead to death/bad outcomes, the constant threat of litigation looming overhead for one misstep...

I could go on all day. There's more than just the H&P and the treatment.

[Julie]

Well, and how about the fact that a human body is so infinitesimally more complex than a car. There's relatively little "mystery" to how a car works. Yet, there are so many parts of medicine that remain a mystery.

The human body is quite literally the most complex machine on the planet. It mechanics are composed of the most intricate chemical reactions and functions. Comparing a doctor to a mechanic is a lot like comparing Frank Lloyd Wright (or insert famous architect that resonates with you) to a kid with Legos.

How many of us can build with Legos? How many of us can design a cantilever system over a waterfall?

And for that reason, because it's such an ill comparison - such a ridiculous one - I can see how it would be quite offensive to the doctors who spend years in school, take on tons of loans and work for years in residency programs in order to be there for you when your mother is dying, when your kid falls out of a tree or when your best friend faces cancer.

Being a doctor is an unforgiving job. It takes your mind, your body and your emotional involvement to get the job done. And at the end of the day, there are people wandering around calling you a body mechanic.

Unforgiving.

[Johnny A. Ramirez]

I've TA'ed ethics classes taught in a health sciences university and I have to say it is true that med students actually do argue that if it isn't on the boards they shouldn't be taking a class. From my perspective the difficulty is convincing med students that people are more than machines they tinker with- that those things which make man whole is actually a central part of their training and practice.
-johnny your cousin the ethics grad student

[Dragonfly]

I have a family friend who is a mechanical engineer who used to run the generators at a tertiary/quarternary hospital. And you have never met anyone with a bigger complex about doctors. "I can fix an engine, they fix bodies, whats the difference, why are they paid more?" is what he always says. Answer....we spend 4-6 years of our life in medical school and have significantly less of a life outside than you do.