A silly little blog for me to drop the excrement of my mind.
-or- to dream the dream
Published on January 11, 2005 By BlueDev In Misc
I am a medical student. I am well aware of that fact. I am about half way through my third year. I realize and understand I have not graduated from medical school, do not yet have the initials MD after my name, and am in no position of authority or power.

So stop trying to put me in my place.

I know where my place is, thank you very much. I do not need someone to remind me. Believe it or not, you don't get into med school without the ability to remember fairly simple, basic facts. So if you again feel the need to put me in my place or remind me that I am still a student I give you one final warning.

Shut your mouth. 'Cause I don't think you want me to help with that.

Last week the doctor I work with/for this year (doing research) asked me to assist with a study that his nurse simply is doing nothing. She is a worthless employee. I make no judgments as to her as a human being, but as far as carrying out her job she isn't worth the air she breathes. But now she is pissed. Pissed that her boss knows she can't do her job (why he doesn't just fire her sorry butt is beyond me). Pissed that he had to come to a student to get it done. Pissed that I actually know what I am doing.

Unlike her.

And so, every time she sees me she feels the need to make some condescending comment. I put together a spreadsheet to keep track of the patients we have enrolled in the study. I made it on my laptop then sent it to my the boss' computer and saved it there for him. Just like he asked me to. As I leave she asks where the file is and I tell her: Right where it is supposed to be. She responds with some idiotic comment about how she can't work on it on his computer (it was never designed for her to work on, just him and me), and that she wants it on hers. You know, her computer she has been sitting in front of all day. The one in the next room to the one I was working on. Instead of just asking me to send it to her as well (she was there when the Doc told me to put it on his computer), she decides to wait until I have logged out, packed my laptop up and am heading out the door. Great timing.

Today, after watching me work with patients all day in clinic, she tells me of something we need to do but haven't been doing. So why not just mention that yesterday? But I actually knew of the detail she was going to mention and had taken care of it. So after her snide remarks I simply looked at her and said "I knew that. I already did it".

Passive/aggressive to the max, she seems determined to remind me I am the student and she the nurse (ignoring the fact that I have about 3-4 more years of education under my belt than she does). Apparently she doesn't think I can handle this study, telling me yesterday that she hoped I was prepared to give up my life. I reminded her that that is what med school was about, so I figured I could handle it, even if she couldn't.

I am going to lose it. I had to just walk away to day as visions of beatings danced through my head.

*Whew* Big, deep breath man. Big, deep breath.

Comments
on Jan 11, 2005
hi there. i can understand where you are coming from with some nurses ( not all though, i must add ) do think that medical students and first year interns are worse than the scum at the bottom of the kitchen sink and deserve to be treated as such.

I did 4 years of biotechnology, graduated with a B.Sc. and then did 5 years of medical school for an M.D. because it was the only thing i could see myself ever doing ( other than my hobbies of photography, art and whatnot, but that's another story in itself ).

Anyway, in Malaysia, you do internship for a year and then you either get to stay in that tertiary hospital or you're sent off to a rural setting hospital till you're able to claw your way out again. And that was what happened to me. I was sent to one of the remotest places in Malaysia as far as the Peninsula was concerned, which everyone dreaded being sent off to. I had no strings i could pull and so i thought, what the heck, i'll just do my time there and get back to the mainstream and perhaps do a specialty in the mean time.

Well, while i was an intern, i had to go thru a lotta sh*t with some nurses too, who had been working for ages and here you are, a young doctor, learning how to do even the simplest things - but hey, everyone has to start somewhere.

then when i was sent off to the rural setting, there were just about 4 or 5 of us taking care of a community of 85,000! The nurses there really looked up to us and that boosted my self confidence a lot. We became friends and partners and it was a joy to work with others who actually worked WITH you.

ANYWAY, before my comment becomes a post in itself, what i am trying to say is, if this is your dream, as it was mine, just hang in there. There will be good days and bad days and frustratingly annoying days and superbly wonderful days. But it's all in a day's work and a path well chosen.

Last but not least, after working for 2 years as a Malaysian doctor, i met my fiance and have now moved to the states. I can't practise yet without a license and will have to sit through the whole USMLE again - that's right, going thru ALL THAT again - so that i can be a doctor again in this country.

But you know what? I know that there will be days when i feel like i wanna just murder someone, but at the end of the day, it would all have been worth it.

so hang in there, chin up and all the best

letti.blogspot.com
on Jan 11, 2005
Excellent post. Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your experiences. They are inspiring.
on Jan 11, 2005
She's just being a bitch. Some people at my workplace are like that, incompetent themselves and like to irritate other people (e.g. That Irritating Person). Just ignore her if you can. Pretend you didn't hear her. She's just a fly, buzzing round making a pest of herself. She is trying to frustrate and get to you, so don't give her the satisfaction of seeing you losing it. The cooler you are,the less affected you seem, the more it twists her insides I bet.
on Jan 11, 2005
Ahhh. You *are* human.

I thought so.

-A.
on Jan 12, 2005
Grrrr! I can understand how angry you must feel. I wont tell you to keep cool, cuz you already know you have to. I'll just cheer you from here: YAY BLUEDEV! YOU ROCK! DAMN THAT STUPID BEEOTCH!
on Jan 12, 2005
She's just being a bitch.


Yes, she is. And my, how I would like to tell her that. But I won't. I will keep my cool, just as you suggest.

Ahhh. You *are* human.


Far too human A. Far too human.

I'll just cheer you from here


I'll take it island_gurl. Thanks. I really appreciate it.
on Jan 13, 2005
There will always be incompetant, bitchy, jealous, evil, resentful people in every area of your life. It is a fact of life. How you react to them is your choice. I think you are making good choice. As you continue to do that, in the future those choices will become easier and easier to make and you will have developed great strength of character. Your future patients will appreciate that...for the most part...there will always be some that will be incompetant, bitchy...etc.
on Jan 13, 2005
I was working retail in high school. There was this one woman who had worked there longer than I and thought it made her better than me. She would criticize me for the same things she would do (talking to friends who came in, etc.), wouldn't listen to my suggestions, expected everyone who was hired after her to fill in for her if she needed an immediate day off, etc.

I think you made a good choice, too. I responded by doing my work, keeping quiet and then venting to my parents when I came home. I figured it would be better to vent to my parents then tell her off which would cause me to lose my job.

on Jan 13, 2005
I was working retail in high school. There was this one woman who had worked there longer than I and thought it made her better than me. She would criticize me for the same things she would do (talking to friends who came in, etc.), wouldn't listen to my suggestions, expected everyone who was hired after her to fill in for her if she needed an immediate day off, etc.

I think you made a good choice, too. I responded by doing my work, keeping quiet and then venting to my parents when I came home. I figured it would be better to vent to my parents then tell her off which would cause me to lose my job.

on Jan 13, 2005
Hey man, I can appreciate you're saying for sure. Having said that, I have also seen some interns where I work try to use their supposed 'status' as medicos to standover others. Of course, I am in a fairly unique position where I have to work with doctors, nurses and hospital administration staff, so I see good and bad on all sides.

I think you are making good choice


I agree. Keep up the good fight and don't let the bastards (or bitches for that matter) get you down.

Cheers,

Maso
on Jan 13, 2005
good post and thanx for the insite into what it takes to become a m.d.
on Jan 13, 2005
As you continue to do that, in the future those choices will become easier and easier to make and you will have developed great strength of character.


I'll keep at it oleteach. I'll keep at it. Thanks for your wise words.

Dusk411: I hear you. Some days you just wonder what happened to make some of these people so bitter. So you grin and bear it.

Keep up the good fight and don't let the bastards (or bitches for that matter) get you down.


I won't. I won't. And I really know what you mean about the abusive interns. It is a bad trickle down effect. They get dumped so now they want to do some dumping.

Moderateman: No problem. I am sure I will have some more.