Friday, October 22, 2010

That's interesting, but you're not an MD!!!

So far, one of the issues I haven't had to deal with yet is being strenuously "challenged" when I make recommendations about the histopathological design of the projects I work on with PI's. And I say so far because I know it's coming, LOL!!!. But what I ALWAYS find interesting is when I communicate with MD's NOT, NOT, NOT involved in ANY way in research, they sometimes question my findings/observations when I mentioned something I either worked on or have read the literature extensively about. But what kills me, in a laughing at your uninformed ass kinda way, is when a MD in an area TOTALLY UNrelated to their area of expertise or even better a med student who likely has NEVER had a real job, much less done any real research, "challenges" a Scientist on something, well....., scientific!!! News flash to the uninformed, med school teaches you to be a clinician NOT a "scientist", and their's so much confusion that it's not only baffling but laughable!!!! My favorite line, STAY IN YOUR OWN LANE!!!!!

Why this seems so hard for some clinicians is beyond me but I often ask myself, how many preventable deaths are attributable to some Clinician dipping in someone's else's area of expertise? Kinda like the "recommended" surgeon I went to 6 years ago who figured because she was a trained in general areas, she could do breast too? And I have the scar to prove it!!! Personally, I try to "shut up and listen" when someone who knows more than I do is speaking and unlike other folks, I don't judge this by the letters behind a person's name.

Other news, I was again praised for my work, this time at our quarterly department meeting and like I've said before, it feels real good to not only have your hard work recognized but be paid well too! As for the job itself, I realized that I'm dealing with 2 opposite but equally annoying personality types in my Techs, one that's passive aggressive and the other who's much more "in your face". And like I said, BOTH equally annoying!!! Like other things in life which teaches us things, I realize that I need to really tighten up on my management "style" and in doing so, I came to a realization. MInority supervisors/managers can ill afford to not be taken seriously in their roles because doing so will invariable cause those who work under you to not take you as seriously as they should. NOW, I throughly understand why when I would come across one of the extremely small numbers of URM's in positions of leadership in Science and Research, they ALWAYS came across as stand offish. I realize now that their "attitude's" were more about their professional survival than representations of who they really were. So over the past few days, I've been pulling up on the friendly/ reasonably talkative person, in exchange for the "I'm here to get a job done", and leave the personal stuff at home!!

Finally, I did some MCAT review this week, Ct. 2 of the Chemistry book and only scored an "8", so I'll need to go over the problems I got wrong over the weekend. In this case, the problem wasn't changing answers or not understanding the problems, these were math errors, one of the silliest of all!! And luckily, one of the easiest to fix!

7 comments:

  1. One of my professors in college always referred to MDs simply as vocational technical types! His point being, that real doctors were PhDs! It was hilarious! He has a point, though...

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  2. Well of course I have no issue with that statement! If it weren't for Scientists, the field of medicine wouldn't be where it is today!

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  3. Hello Path201X
    I have recently become a reader on the nontrad site and your blog. May I say you are truly inspiring, amazing, and sharp as a whip. I admire your courage and persistence. I'd like to ask why you didn't go to medical school when you were first admitted? How old were you? Was this an MDPhD program? Also I think you've done excellent in your pathology job. It is obvious how talented and intelligent you are. Keep going to those departmental seminars! I too hope to go to medical school. It has been a long circuitous journey for me as well. Nice to feel the kinship!

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  4. Medreader, Thanks so much for the encouraging post! I was previously accepted to an MD/PhD program (3rd tier program) and originally deferred admissions when my father became ill with cancer. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with a different, stave IV cancer the following year so I decided to give up my spot. Honestly, it's a decision that I've never regret because we had some fun times despite this circumstances during the last 2 years of his life!

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  5. Dear Path201X
    I'm so sorry your Dad was so ill with cancer. I'm sure he appreciated the time you two were able to share! You were selfless and loved your Father. Thank you for the wisdom, encouragement, and inspiration you bring to others through your blog and posts. You are already a healer!
    Many blessings to you now and when you become an MDPhD! Again it's so nice to have the feeling of kinship on this journey as a nontrad premed. Thank you!

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  7. From you lips to God's ear, Mereader about the MD/PhD!! And thanks for your kind words and for visiting!!!!

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