This month, one of my rants managed to get into StudentBMA news, this rant wasn't very favourable towards my medical school and they had to ask a medical school representative to comment. Last time I complained about the same issue I was given an unofficial verbal warning that 'it would probably be best if I put the issue to rest and concentrate on my studies rather than complaining.' I wasn't about to let this shut me up.... Freedom of speech and all that. Maybe they're right, perhaps in future I should shut the fuck up and just ignore things which really piss me off, nobody really does much when you complain anyway.
I do wonder sometimes just how far I could push something before it would turn around and sink its teeth firmly into my arse! Would I get into trouble? How much trouble would I get into? I might yet face consequences for constantly bemoaning my medical school although I've never said anything which isn't true so I can't see what they'd do. I used to be paranoid and think that my exam results would mysteriously be fiddled to make sure that I failed. If I had it my way I'd kick up a huge fuss about various different things at my medical school but its getting to the stage where I just can't be arsed. You might say I should stop complaining and just get on with life but fuck that, if something is wrong then it needs to be complained about. I do think I get an unhealthy kick out of complaining, maybe I need a psych assessment!
Blogging is an excellent way to complain about things, especially when its anonymous (although some of you know who I am now!) Maybe I'll stick to that in future, after all HospitalPheonix and Dr Crippen seem to do it well enough.
Bit of a nothing post there but just for the record, people that steal parking spaces in car parks are really nast and all deserve to be impaled on sausages.
Well done to all those who've submitted their MTAS stuff!
Tuesday, 6 February 2007
When will complaining get me into trouble?
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11 comments:
Sorry to hear this crap, it sucks and if you need a rant to an anonymous third person my email's always open.
First, none of us is truly anonymous. I know who Dr Crippen is, and I've been rumbled by someone recently. Within the blogosphere we may well keep quiet about each others identities but in real life it doesn't work that way. So the best plan is to assume people read your stuff and have a good idea who you are.
Secondly - on the issue of (usually institutional) things which are wrong and piss us off - my opinion is that you need to balance it up. Will ranting bring about anything good? To implement change you need to have both power and influence (on your side if you don't possess them personally). If you don't have both power and influence, you probably won't change anything, and your complaints/rants will come back and bite you on the arse in some way or another.
Life stinks sometimes. My way of coping with the stinky bits is to accept that I've done my personal best and admit I can't change the world. Not yet, anyway.
Take care
In my second year of medical school, rather than do a "clinical experience" elective, I chose to do a "special topic." Having entered medical school out of an honors English lit degree, I wrote a Marxist-critique of medical education at my fine school decrying the "banking" model of education that dehumanizes us all. I wound up in an interview with the course coordinator in which I was called a zealot, and told that my paperr wasn't likely to be published ... or shouldn't be published *knowing look*.
And as soon as I'm graduated, the dust is comin' off and that paper is off to some fine radical left-wing journal...
I hear you, brother.
it all seems difficult now. but someday u'll be done with being a medical student.
till then hang in there. blogging sure does help!!
Thanks for the words of confidence.
Hospitalphoenix - a really useful comment. You're right, you need to balance up whether or not its worth kicking up a fuss. If some good is likely to come of it then yes but otherwise i'll just stick to blogging and hope not to be discovered too much.
bjorn - Good idea waiting till medical school is over, although i'm sure your rant could come back and bite you. I'll take a long hard look at stuff after medical school and will see if I have any energy left to make myself heard.
Indian Medic - I'm really looking forward to being done as a medical student, it can't come soon enough. *counts days*
Look, yeah, it'll come sooner than you think! Think of us poor third years!!
I'm curious as to what you complained about now...
Just got my sbmj I think I've got you sussed. Ach, I've been rumbled and yes I have to watch what I say, but in your case I think you definetly had a good case to complain.
Good luck pal, everything will turn out OK in the end. Yes it sucks that we have to hold our tongues but everyone of us bloggers has to.
dont worry about it, put in in your portfoliio as a learning point, thank the people who try to trample you down for their help, and tell them you've learnt a valuable lesson.
Complain as much as you like. If you piss off your med school enough they'll find some way to dump you even if they have to go through attitude and conduct committees to do it.
What exactly did you kick a fuss up about? (sorry if you said somewhere else)
I read your little (massive?) rant in the BMJ, and I feel for you... it's the same with some of the London medical schools too, and by God is it annoying.
Hey, my turn to congratulate YOU on the BritMeds mention! Thanks for the link, by the way, it helped my traffic more than a little.
What HP says about anonymity is right...there are always people out there who know who you are. Dr Crippen told me once that very good hackers can easily find you out (it's even been done to him) but they do it for the challenge and aren't really interested in outing anyone.
Don't get the SBMJ over here, but I have a pretty good idea about what your rant's about (since I do it so often myself). Hang in there mate, it'll get better. As long as you keep loving medicine, you'll pull through.
Blog's looking better and better each time I come back, btw! Hope you're getting along okay with the background, and that the link I sent helped.
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