MS and Alcoholism
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
During the study break, I've had the opportunity to procrastinate in many ways. One such way is to consider my time at med school so far. This is the sort of delusional study/not-study type of procrastination.
My key (peer-based) frustrations are two-fold:
1. 'Mature' Students (MS)
Given that Medicine is post-grad, this technically accounts for everyone in the course, and with a bit of actual work/life experience, I too would in most instances be in this category. However, there's two kinds of 'mature' student; the kind who blends into the regular student population by virtue of appearing to be in their mid-late- twenties and the other kind; who'd rather pretend that they were 40 than 20.
These students rely heavily on their life experience. That is, they think that the most important thing about Medicine is show you know. Whilst this statement may be true for, say, a high-school English essay, it's just a pain in the arse when showing you know happens to mean asking a moronic question in a 400-person lecture. Seriously. Better than that though, is the MS who feels the need to 'paraphrase' their question with a good 4 minutes of assumptions, only to answer their own question, at least three times, before fully asking it. The consultant's reply is invariably, "Hmmm, that's a good assertion you've made there."
Or the other kind of MS whom refutes everything the Pathology tutor says. This is most commonly done by highlighting exceptions to a point the tutor has made. The student knows full well that the next slide contains the explanation of the exception, but simply must get in first. To the detriment of everyone else who previously gave a shit, and have now switched off thanks to MS' irritating voice.
The short of it is, that in my life experience, the kind of person who feels the need to 'show they know' is missing the point 9 times out of ten. Lectures are the last vestige of socialising in this individualistic course, so sit back, listen to the professors and consultants up the front, maybe take some notes if that'll help.. and just shut the hell up.
2. Unashamedly Alcoholic Med Students.
1. 'Mature' Students (MS)
Given that Medicine is post-grad, this technically accounts for everyone in the course, and with a bit of actual work/life experience, I too would in most instances be in this category. However, there's two kinds of 'mature' student; the kind who blends into the regular student population by virtue of appearing to be in their mid-late- twenties and the other kind; who'd rather pretend that they were 40 than 20.
These students rely heavily on their life experience. That is, they think that the most important thing about Medicine is show you know. Whilst this statement may be true for, say, a high-school English essay, it's just a pain in the arse when showing you know happens to mean asking a moronic question in a 400-person lecture. Seriously. Better than that though, is the MS who feels the need to 'paraphrase' their question with a good 4 minutes of assumptions, only to answer their own question, at least three times, before fully asking it. The consultant's reply is invariably, "Hmmm, that's a good assertion you've made there."
Or the other kind of MS whom refutes everything the Pathology tutor says. This is most commonly done by highlighting exceptions to a point the tutor has made. The student knows full well that the next slide contains the explanation of the exception, but simply must get in first. To the detriment of everyone else who previously gave a shit, and have now switched off thanks to MS' irritating voice.
The short of it is, that in my life experience, the kind of person who feels the need to 'show they know' is missing the point 9 times out of ten. Lectures are the last vestige of socialising in this individualistic course, so sit back, listen to the professors and consultants up the front, maybe take some notes if that'll help.. and just shut the hell up.
2. Unashamedly Alcoholic Med Students.
I had planned a scorching diatribe upon my alcohol-loving classmates. Meantime, however, I had a long procracted discussion with one classmate who holds opposite views to mine, and she made several rational arguments in opposition to my accusations. Hence, I've opted to knock it back a notch, (that's one notch, not twenty). And yes, it's still a rant.
Appreciably, medicine is an apparently quite stressful course. I am frequently told this by my younger classmate, particularly those who haven't ever worked fulltime. It's hard, all this learning. So hard, in fact, that the only appropriate way to deal with all the study-induced stress is to get blotto 2+ nights each week. Interestingly, I've also witnessed people who've worked full-time and return to study, get really 'sucked in' to Medicine's cultrue of drinking.
Don't get me wrong, I drink alcohol. Sometimes I drink too much. In fact, I endorse the notion of alcohol being provided at medicine events and so on, but here's what gets me; some events are about the alcohol. There are several examples of events that are not, for sure. Races day and Sports day in particular are notoriously boozy, but that's not the way they're marketed.
By comparison, the annual national conference, which was started as a way for med students to network and attend education sessions and generally find out what studying medicine is like in other places in Australia and New Zealand. Officially, it's still marketed as such, but in addition, every promotions officer is chanting the mantra of 'week long party'.
Like most 20-something aged cohorts, medical glorifies binge drinking. It's this culture that leads to so many doctors having serious alcohol problems. But, I reckon there's a solution; a culture change.
Most medical schools teach the accepted outcomes of deleterious behaviour, such as smoking and drug abuse from both sides of the coin. That is, what to expect to find in patients who have smoked/used IV drugs etc for many years, as well as how use of these substances leads to increased risks of particular diesaes. Alcohol abuse, however, is taught almost entirely from a retrospective viewpoint. There's no negative social pressure on binge drinking from within the school itself.
Medical students are taught (read informed about) a lot of 'touchy-feely' stuff about patients, how to break bad news, how to communicate effectively. What's missing here, is that there's no strong guide for Med students on how to look after themselves, manage stress and avoid burnout. The current accepted form of this is to drink yourself to a standstill at least fortnightly, certainly twice a term and sometimes weekly++.
Thus, Medical School needs to make stronger efforts to discourage the drinking culture. This can best be done via education which will, in turn, be reflected in these students' attitudes to alcohol, stress management and future medical practice.
Over time, Medicos will have some credibility when they tell you to lay off the booze...
