I thought people were exaggerating, but MSI is really just like going back to high school!
We have 134 people in our class and about 50 of them are on one student government committee or another.
Our class is busy organizing a canned food drive, a charity run, and trying to get the alumni to fund an on-site fitness center (although we have a 24-Hour Fitness AND a Bally’s about a mile away). They are even planning a winter formal.
Meanwhile, we have near-zero student services, one of the worst web sites in the med school world, and all kinds of major ongoing issues that have been identified by the LCME but are still unresolved. None of these are topics of attention.
I feel pretty frustrated, but I’m not sure what I can do. Everyone is entitled to focus on what’s important to them; I just feel that as a group we waste vast amounts of energy and money on projects that are really low-yield, and we ignore the important stuff.
Is it just me being an old geezer? Please advise!
Meowmix,
Wow, it is sooooo nice to hear another person who feels the same way!! I thought it was just me 
I have entrenched myself in the professionalism committee (much longer formal name, run by one of the asst. deans) because I felt like I had to do something to help refocus our school on the “profession” of medicine.
Thanks again for your thoughts. It makes me feel like less of an old-geezer myself 
Tara
Heck no it is not just you! it is like freaking HS all over again! I do NOT volunteer for anything unless I know that there is some true benefit in it. At my school there are also a lot of touchy feelie stuff that some MS1’s want to do but I stay out of it. Heck we have enough medical school wide stuff to attend and participate w/o having to add more 
I was shocked.
When I was asking older students about their schools during the time I was making a choice between two, one of them at the school I eventually attended said, “Well, I go to some of the social events, like I went to the formal.”
“The formal?” I asked, incredulously. I had been living in San Francisco for 10 years. “You mean like, prom?”
“Yeah, I guess, like dressing up in tuxes and gowns.”
“But it’s ironic, right?”
“Mm, no.”
“They’re serious about it?”
“Yeah.”
"Huh. The only people who dress up like that in my life are drag queens."
And so began the difficult cultural readjustment that came with going across the country to medical school.
cheers
joe
I’m not even a medical student and even I have noticed what you’re talking about! Thank you so much for mentioning it! During my interviews I can already tell that there seems to be a cheerleader aspect to medical school. Ok, I noticed this long before I got to the interview stage, actually…
The hardest thing for me as a premed has been feeling like I was supposed to check my sense of irony at the door as soon as I entered the pre-med “profession.” God forbid if we admitted how useless 99.9999999999999999999% of extra-curricular activities are. And those secondary essays were proof positive that only cheerful affirmative attitudes are allowed in medical school. All that stuff is in the same boat as the homecoming royalty contest if you ask me.
Which I was really annoyed not to win…
By the way, can you letter in med school?
Our 2nd year formal was called “Prom” last year and every time a class officer (who saw their primary and pretty much only duty as setting up social events) went in front of the class to make an announcement about the “Prom” it made me cringe. Needless to say, I didn’t go just out of principle.
There has been a big stink in the class behind mine about how virtually all of the school’s social functions are centered around alcohol and being almost “drunk fests”. It’s been interesting to see it playing out.
My school has a Miss Meharry contest every year. We also have a Miss Medical School, a Miss Dental School and a Miss Graduate School. They are all crowned at the formal. (Really. I am not kidding.) At first I was kind of suprised but now it just seems like something people enjoy doing and running for. Another med school activity.
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My school has a Miss Meharry contest every year. We also have a Miss Medical School, a Miss Dental School and a Miss Graduate School. They are all crowned at the formal. (Really. I am not kidding.) At first I was kind of suprised but now it just seems like something people enjoy doing and running for. Another med school activity.
Having previously competed in Miss America preliminary pageants in Florida and North Carolina, I find pageants to be a GREAT way to finance an education. As a matter of fact, I plan to compete in Mrs. America preliminary pageants one day too!
Oh well, I learned the hard way from SDN that pageants and premeds/meds don’t go hand in hand!
Hey everyone,
This thread is now starting to make me sad! Pageants in medical school?? I hope no one will take offence, it’s just not something I want to face these days. I was on the Prom Committee once, and that was enough.
This relates to what is possibly the primary reason I am not sure I want to go to medical school here in the states, but rather in the UK. Yeah, I know there’s a humorous element to this cheesy aspect of med school, but it’s also freakin’ weird. I mean, this sounds like America at its most bizarre. Here I thought medical school was about a profession…
I sure admire all of you who are abstaining from your respective “proms,” etc. on principle!
Ok, please tell me “motivational speakers” are not brought in at any time during the four years or I’ll bolt.
WOW! That’s the great thing about this place. I would have NEVER thought about pageants or formals or proms in regard to medical school. I can tell you I won’t be wasting time with these. Community programs…healthcare for the poor or something along those lines but proms? No thank you. Heck I didn’t go to my own prom. It didn’t make sense to me in high school and definitely not now. We have a healthcare problem here in the US and the new up and coming doctors are worried about proms??? 
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I can tell you I won’t be wasting time with these. Community programs…healthcare for the poor or something along those lines but proms? No thank you.
Maybe if more premeds/doctor types did something to relax and chill out from time to time like attend a formal and dance the night away, MAYBE this profession wouldn’t suffer the highest rates of ANY profession of drug abuse, suicide, and divorce. And since I didn’t go to my high school prom, I’ll be sure to go when I get to med school if they have one!
Gee,some of you guys really put the OLD in oldpremeds!!!
If my school has one and if my husband ever gets his neck arranged so that all his nerves come out of it unimpeded, I may go myself. Who gets to fox-trot and tango at prom?
I’m a country dancer; I have the ballgowns and I know how to use them. At the same time, I can see how surreal prom announcements can seem in med school.
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Who gets to fox-trot and tango at prom?
I’m a country dancer; I have the ballgowns and I know how to use them.
While I LOVE the tango, I’m a litlle more partial to the "electric slide, myself. And the last formal I was invited to last year was also attended by the Mayor of DC and other DC notables.
You know,perhaps I’m pursung the wrong profession. Those politicians and lawyers, REALLY know how to have fun!!
Well hey everyone, I love a good party too. It isn’t the “formal” aspect of the “prom” that bugs me, it’s the way those things are organized.
I totally agree that a lot of premeds need to lighten up. But if memory serves me correctly, the pageants (and I was in one, gasp) and prom stuff from high school was not light hearted AT ALL. It was fiercely competitive. What’s that horrible Kirsti Alley movie where she’s director of some pageant? It’s a dreadful movie but they got the backstabbing and faux enthusiasm down pretty good.
Med students are competitive too, and like my high school classmates, all evidence suggests that many of them are completely lacking in appreciation for irony, satire, or fun. My Kaplan instructors drove me crazy because they were so dang full of themselves. I shiver to think what kind of party they’d actually put on.
Now I am not in any way meaning to insult the majority of past or present med students who are NOT like this, particularly non trads who don’t even fall into the category I’m talking about. However, even small social cliques tend to radiate their fakey cheer so far and wide it smothers everyone.
Lest anyone think otherwise however, I will go to a school party IF it sounds fun, and the more dancing the better!
And as far as the subject of events like “formals” reducing stress and contributing to healthy lifestyles for people, well, I’d be a lot more impressed if the same groups of people were banding together to fight for better residency hours. I mean, while a prom might be fun for some, I don’t think it’s the answer to the problem of seriously ingrained, stressful working conditions.
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And as far as the subject of events like “formals” reducing stress and contributing to healthy lifestyles for people, well, I’d be a lot more impressed if the same groups of people were banding together to fight for better residency hours. I mean, while a prom might be fun for some, I don’t think it’s the answer to the problem of seriously ingrained, stressful working conditions.
Everyone has to choose their “battles” in life, and live accordingly. I do cancer research,run a little web site for minority scientists and physicians at my own expense, mentor undergrads, and volunteer at the clinical center at the NIH. Oh yeah and I’m a divorced parent of one to boot!
So for me, a few moments of doing the bootylicious at a formal event every now and then is just what I need and hopefully doesn’t abrogate my dedication to the medical profession.
So interesting to hear from everyone! The “Miss Medical School” pageant idea is fascinating.
You know, it’s not the idea of the formal or the pageant or whatever that raises my hackles. Everyone is entitled to do what he or she enjoys. I would love to have a prom that is truly inclusive and lets everyone have fun, rather than the wrist-corsage high-school event which ends up with girls weeping in the bathroom and someone crashing their parents’ car.
My objection is that our class as a whole devotes time and (scarce) money and energy to things like this, while accepting as inevitable the truly inadequate “student services”, the miserable teaching in half our courses, and the incompetence of the financial aid office, for example. In addition, the social events that are organized for the class usually are alcohol-centered weekend parties that start at about 9 pm. This pretty much excludes commuters, people with kids, and non-drinkers. There’s not much dancing, just a lot of drinking.
I do believe that the purpose of student government is to identify and attend to issues that are important to students. However, with such limited resources, I think those issues should be prioritized - and organizing a charity run or a canned-food drive (ignoring other perfectly well-organized local efforts) is not good use of resources. The same goes for any social event that is not inclusive. We’ve got parents in our class who are spending about 6 hours a day at home and hardly see their young kids; social events that don’t include the kids just make life more difficult for them. And, if we’re going to have a fitness center, we should have child-care facilities too.
What the flying flip is relaxing about a prom? You’re pretty assuming in your post. I’m about the most relaxed person you will probably never meet. I’ve seen the way these prom/formal committtees get and attending one versus spending your energies organizing one are a different story.
I’m involved in tranplant research, train self-defense, volunteer at the firestation and am working on an invention to resolve world peace…ok not the last one.
I find people like you “funny”. As if going to one of these is really such a stress relief. Fight your good fight of growing old. You go and have enough fun for all of us old fohggies. If being old is wanting to spend my time with wife and family and not going to some drunk fest for bootylicious dancing then I’m old. I get all the bootyliciousness I need at home. My time would be better spent bailando salsa con mi esposa y no con ninos malcriados.
You seem to forget we’re not traditional students which for the most part translates into we’ve had our fun with years of dancing, bar fights, skipped classes, multiple “study” partners…drugs, sex and fast cars… Give the old “stressed” crap a rest. Babysitting a bunch of drunken, horny 20 somethings is not my idea of a good time. hell of a generalization but you started it.
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You seem to forget we’re not traditional students which for the most part translates into we’ve had our fun with years of dancing, bar fights, skipped classes, multiple “study” partners…drugs, sex and fast cars… Give the old “stressed” crap a rest.
Is this what traditional student means? Talk about stereotyping! I didn’t do 99.99999999% of the things on your “traditional” list. So what does being a nontrad mean, mortages, children, 20 door station wagons and viagra?
I’m almost 40 years old, I drive a 350Z (yes, it’s much faster than a vette’ and since my Mom’s drove the 280Z until she turned 45, I guess it’s a family thing
)and I wear low rise jeans. I guess I just got kicked out of the “old fart” club. Gee, thanks!Quote:
You go and have enough fun for all of us old fohggies
Did I stricke a nerve here? Wait, I’d better say that louder, <<<>>>>>
Back on topic now, I guess I’d be preturbed if more money was spent of formal events and not other more meaningful causes. However, I still think if folks want to have a little fun every now and then, it’s a good thing!
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I do believe that the purpose of student government is to identify and attend to issues that are important to students. However, with such limited resources, I think those issues should be prioritized - and organizing a charity run or a canned-food drive (ignoring other perfectly well-organized local efforts) is not good use of resources. The same goes for any social event that is not inclusive. We’ve got parents in our class who are spending about 6 hours a day at home and hardly see their young kids; social events that don’t include the kids just make life more difficult for them. And, if we’re going to have a fitness center, we should have child-care facilities too.
I’ve never been the type of person to wait around for someting I need and others could benefit from to get done. It sounds like there are a lot of parents at your school so why don’t you guys organize something family friendly? When I was in grad school(chapel Hill), student/parents did this type of thing (always involving food) fairly regularily. It’s funny though, the med students at the school I attended rarely did these things. Could it be that they were concerned about drawing too much attention to their “nontrad” status"? When I was there I remember talking to the very few parents I knew in the med school,and they said they didn’t feel very supported by the admisistration in regards to their nontrad status, hence the reason this school has NEVER been on my list of schools to consider applying to.
This topic is getting to be pretty funny, actually. I started out thinking, “What kind of grownup needs a prom?” and then went to, “Hey, it might be kind of fun to go to a prom now that I don’t care,” to, "Well, as a matter of fact, I can imagine a prom committee made up of med students getting uptight and losing perspective over their little proms and pageants."
Look how excited we’re getting, just talking about it.
I do think sometimes student governments get hung up on doing the same kinds of things their high school or college student governments did, without sitting down and carefully thinking about whether their needs are different now. But it’s their privilege. I have to admit I doubt I’ll take the time to get involved when my time comes.
But you never know. If they go for pink decorations for prom, I’ll have to step in.