Medics AREN'T Nat Scis!
I repeat, medics aren't nat scis! This post is not against all medics, but it is a reminder to medics who are so arrogant that they think they are 'more' than nat scis or they can be more than nat scis!
I have encountered many medics who have got no scientific passion at all. All they care about is to scoop scientific knowledge for their own businesses. "You actually like pathology practicals?" Imagine a medic saying this. Pathology is the study of disease. If a medic is not interested in pathology, I wonder what he wants to study. Well, of course there are many other subjects in the medical course. But I doubt this kind of medics will have any interest in the other subjects. This year, I am taking two SIMILAR subjects as the medics : Pathology and Pharmacology. Note that I use the word 'similar' because we are indeed not totally the same.
For pathology, we do share the same lectures for the first two thirds of the course. However, I noticed that our attitude towards the practicals are totally different. Guess what? A demonstrator even told me that the medics weren't handling well when we were doing the parasitology practicals. In other words, the medics were scared of worms. This did not come from me, a demonstrator told me that. Most medics don't like histology too. I can tell you I love the slides under the microscope and although I don't love the worms, I am not scared... Therefore, we are different.
Pharmacology, we have different lectures and labs altogether. THANK GOD! For our practicals, we have got a mini project for us to learn to design experiments, the aim of learning to be a nat sci. Medics obviously are not doing that, because they are NOT nat scis. I don't actually know what they do in labs. It is not surprising if they are just memorising which drug does what and what are the doses stated in the manual. Of course not! Cambridge will try to teach them proper pharmacology, but I doubt these arrogant medics can really appreciate science if they have got this unappreciative attitude.
Well, if any of you wonder what infuriated me. The answer is arrogant medics and this statement by a Cambridge medic (you know who) from The Cambridge Student (a student newspaper):
"A lot of medics apply to Cambridge for the prestige and the big fat crest on their degrees. But they are completely unaware that for the first 3 years they are nothing more than glorified NatScis."
Well, this person might just meant that medics in Cambridge aren't good enough. But, without realising(benefit of the doubt), there is a condescending tone towards Nat Scis in his statement.
Of course, there are many medics who are actually true nat scis by having the right attitude towards science. Unlike some medics who think they know more or at least know as much compared to nat scis just because they learnt biochemistry or physiology for a few months. I would say what really distinguishes a nat sci from a medic is the attitude towards science. A true nat sci has got the desire to discover new knowledge (Discover new drugs, new viruses, reasons for disease development... so that medics can learn them to help patients).
Therefore, medics are not nat scis even though they did similar subjects as nat scis. Hence, medics are not superior compared to nat scis. Give some respect to the people who have been working behind the scene for the advancement of medical sciences.
posted by Wei Shen @ 8:31 AM
2 Comments:
Not all medics think that of natscis!!! (I thought I should point that out at the start) I know some who do, and some who don't. Oh well..
The truth is that medics are a little cliqueish. It's more obvious in other unis maybe, where there's relatively little mingling between the medics and other undergrads, but yeah, it does exist here too. >_< And yes, we do get exposed to the opinion that we're superior very often.
Another sad fact. It doesn't really stop after university. I know doctors who forbid their children from studying anything else (disclaimer, I came to medicine of my own free choice =P). The entire medical community has a tendency to encourage a superior attitude, really.
For my part, I hope to remember that healthcare individuals are servants to those they are trying to help. And, of course, that in a broader sense, our community includes the people behind the scenes, who contribute so much to what modern medicine is like today. (If I forget this in the future, Wei Shen, you're welcome to knock my head haha)
inspired by your post...
For Prejudice
Shall I compare thee to an infectious disease?
Thou art more malicious than the helminthes
That scared some sorry medics out of their skin
And I mean no offence in pointing out that
Even nat scis shake from the morbidity of thee
Sometimes too much the work in Cambridge feels,
And oft' is the England’s Sun dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometimes declines,
By chance or nature they’ve fallen under thy reign
But they know not that there is a remedy
Dear medics and nat scis,
A true passion for knowledge shall never fade
And a humble heart is all you’d need for immunity
Otherwise a solid knock on the head shall suffice.
for your laughing pleasure:)
jc
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