Well, I just completed my second "first week" of medical school.
Because I am extended, this semester, and really this year, is a blend of Block I and Block II classes. It's been a little hairy this week, trying to figure out exactly what classes I have to go to and which classes am I auditing and exactly which of these "required" events do I actually have to sign in for. The joys of the real world, I suppose.
My class load for this semester is:
Biochemistry (which I'm going to Master just to spite Mr. A)
SCCD (Basically, ethics)
Epidemiology II
**Auditing Physiology
**Auditing Genetics
I'm also (most likely) presenting a couple of lectures at Teslacon this year on Victorian Medicine and The Science and Sociology of Victorian 'Freak Shows'. I'm pretty excited about it - still waiting to hear back for the official schedule, but it would be a great way for me to legitimize all of this steampunk stuff I've been doing. One of my advisers also wants me to present these at the History of Medicine Interest Group.
I'm also *slowly* working on my paper from my internship this summer. If all goes as planned, I'll have another publication before the school year is out. Oh! I'm also taking a medical business elective, just for kicks and giggles.
It's both good and weird to be back. I really missed my classmates - more than I think I even realized. And now that I live closer to the school, it's easier to get up and walk to class in the morning. But dealing with some of the aforementioned bureaucracy triggered some of my depressions issues, so I almost feel like I've relapsed a bit.
We'll see.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Sexism in the Workplace
This may be the first time I'm writing about this on my medical blog, but I'm sure it won't be the last.
Dr. Orthochick just wrote up an experience with a patient of hers on A Cartoon Guide to Becoming a Doctor. For those that don't want to read it, she has an encounter with a patient who asks her multiple times to have sex. She ignores it, and the patient is discharged. However, when she complains to a male co-worker, his response is "I'm jealous - my patients never want to have sex with me!"
...
Really? One of your coworkers was just sexually harassed by a patient, and instead of sympathizing with with YOUR FELLOW DOCTOR, you validate the sexual harassment?! The privilege and ignorance in that response just confounds me, and I know it happens all the time.
Men Everyone: when your coworker says that s/he was put into an uncomfortable position, your response should always be along the lines of "Wow, what a jerk. Are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help you or the situation?"
This is why I sometimes hate that I want to go into orthopaedics. Medicine in general is becoming more woman-friendly, but there are still some specialties that are stuck in the good ol' boys' club. The worst part of it is that most of the sexism (at least from what I've seen) comes from the medical community itself. You're always going to have to deal with "idiot" patients who don't know any better, but when the sexism and harassment comes from supposedly highly educated compassionate professionals? It stings.
For example...one of the interns this summer was very....patronizing. I kept quiet about it for a while, because I couldn't quite determine if he was only doing it with me (I was the only female medical intern), or if he was doing with everybody. Part of the problem was I started about 3 weeks later than him, so I did have to come to him with a lot of questions about where we were supposed to be and the protocols for each of the different hospitals we scrubbed in at. Some people are just naturally patronizing, so I tried not to overreact.
Unfortunately, it seemed that he was one of the dreaded combinations: a "well-meaning" sexist.
My first week there, I was asking about the wet lab (for cadaver demonstrations). Instead of answering any of the questions I asked, he turned to the other intern and said "Oh, don't tell her about the bodies, we don't want to scare the little woman!"
Dude, I'm in medical school, just like you. I literally JUST told you yesterday how much I loved my anatomy lab.
It wasn't just medically related things either. A few weeks in, I was telling one of the other interns that I went and saw The Conjuring and how much I loved it. He butted in, asking me what movie I had seen.
Me: "The Conjuring."
Him: You mean the Wolverine?
Me: No, I went and saw The Conjuring.
Him: No, you mean the Wolverine.
Me: Uh, no, I mean the Conjuring.
Him: The Wolverine?
Me: No, DUDE, I saw the Conjuring. You know, the scary movie? I'm going to see the Wolverine next week but -
Him: Haha, I know, I just think you should have seen the Wolverine first.
Many of our interactions were like this. Frustrating beyond belief, and what was even more frustrating was that the rest of the office loved him.
"Oh, he's such a sweetheart!"
"Oh he's so nice!"
"Oh, he's just joking around."
The attending physician loved him too. Thankfully there wasn't any blatant favoritism, but you could definitely tell he was the golden child.
Ugh. Thankfully, him starting earlier than me meant he left earlier than me, so the last few weeks without him around have been great.
Dr. Orthochick just wrote up an experience with a patient of hers on A Cartoon Guide to Becoming a Doctor. For those that don't want to read it, she has an encounter with a patient who asks her multiple times to have sex. She ignores it, and the patient is discharged. However, when she complains to a male co-worker, his response is "I'm jealous - my patients never want to have sex with me!"
...
Really? One of your coworkers was just sexually harassed by a patient, and instead of sympathizing with with YOUR FELLOW DOCTOR, you validate the sexual harassment?! The privilege and ignorance in that response just confounds me, and I know it happens all the time.
This is why I sometimes hate that I want to go into orthopaedics. Medicine in general is becoming more woman-friendly, but there are still some specialties that are stuck in the good ol' boys' club. The worst part of it is that most of the sexism (at least from what I've seen) comes from the medical community itself. You're always going to have to deal with "idiot" patients who don't know any better, but when the sexism and harassment comes from supposedly highly educated compassionate professionals? It stings.
For example...one of the interns this summer was very....patronizing. I kept quiet about it for a while, because I couldn't quite determine if he was only doing it with me (I was the only female medical intern), or if he was doing with everybody. Part of the problem was I started about 3 weeks later than him, so I did have to come to him with a lot of questions about where we were supposed to be and the protocols for each of the different hospitals we scrubbed in at. Some people are just naturally patronizing, so I tried not to overreact.
Unfortunately, it seemed that he was one of the dreaded combinations: a "well-meaning" sexist.
My first week there, I was asking about the wet lab (for cadaver demonstrations). Instead of answering any of the questions I asked, he turned to the other intern and said "Oh, don't tell her about the bodies, we don't want to scare the little woman!"
Dude, I'm in medical school, just like you. I literally JUST told you yesterday how much I loved my anatomy lab.
It wasn't just medically related things either. A few weeks in, I was telling one of the other interns that I went and saw The Conjuring and how much I loved it. He butted in, asking me what movie I had seen.
Me: "The Conjuring."
Him: You mean the Wolverine?
Me: No, I went and saw The Conjuring.
Him: No, you mean the Wolverine.
Me: Uh, no, I mean the Conjuring.
Him: The Wolverine?
Me: No, DUDE, I saw the Conjuring. You know, the scary movie? I'm going to see the Wolverine next week but -
Him: Haha, I know, I just think you should have seen the Wolverine first.
Many of our interactions were like this. Frustrating beyond belief, and what was even more frustrating was that the rest of the office loved him.
"Oh, he's such a sweetheart!"
"Oh he's so nice!"
"Oh, he's just joking around."
The attending physician loved him too. Thankfully there wasn't any blatant favoritism, but you could definitely tell he was the golden child.
Ugh. Thankfully, him starting earlier than me meant he left earlier than me, so the last few weeks without him around have been great.
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