One would think that the third year of medical school would be a crowning achievement—the donning of the white coat, the grasping of the golden ring after many years of striving. And in some ways it is. The learning curve is voraciously steep as students soak up clinical knowledge at an impressive rate.Yes, take a bunch of manic perfectionists who have clearly always succeeded because otherwise they wouldn't be there and put them into a situation where they are bound to fail. Excellent plan.
However, there is a darker side of this transition to clinical medicine. Many of the qualities that students entered medical school with—altruism, empathy, generosity of spirit, love of learning, high ethical standards—are eroded by the end of medical training. Newly minted doctors can begin their careers jaded, self-doubting, even embittered (not to mention six figures in debt).
It's supposed to weed out the ones who can't handle the stress. The maniacs on the edge.
Using real people- sick vulnerable people- as their "curriculum".
Despite the carefully crafted official medical curriculum, it is the “hidden curriculum” that drives the take-home messages. The students astutely note how their superiors comport themselves, how they interact with patients, how they treat other staff members. The students are keen observers of how their supervisors dress—and how they may dress down those around them. They figure out which groups of patients can be the object of sarcasm or humor, and which cannot.Obese? Yes. Mentally Ill? Yes. Herpes? Yes. AIDS? No. Cancer of the mouth? Yes. Cancer of the prostate? Oh definitely not.
It's a system set up by self-righteous, self-serving sadists. And that's what it selects and produces.
And the rejects become psychs.
