Love, Acne, and Year Two of Med School
3 Sept 2025 · 37 min
Stephanie talks with her mother, Dr. Sarah Davis, about med school culture, viral TikTok stories, and why professionalism matters in medicine. They discuss a psychiatrist romance that went viral and the real pressures of clinical rotations.
Do you think he needs some kind of stimulants?
Oh, my gosh, no. Do not give my cat stimulants. Speaking of cats on stimulants, though. Hi, everybody, and welcome to the podcast. This is Generations md. My name is Stephanie, and I'm joined here by my colleague, Dr. Sarah Davis, who's also my mother. And we're also joined by Mr. Bruce the celebrity.
Hi, Bruce, can you hear me? How are you? Now, Bruce, let's talk about the Krebs cycle. He has such a nice, bored expression. For those of you who don't know quite what we're talking about, Stephanie's cat named Bruce, and she had a TikTok that did quite well recently where she was helping Bruce study for step one. And I don't know, we're a little bit worried about Bruce.
Well, yeah, you can go look at my TikTok at Generations MD. But, yeah, I, I, he always sits in this little box on my desk, and he always curls up in it. And I'm always just, like, doing Anki, and sometimes I'm, you know, talking out loud as I study a little bit. And then I was like, okay, I'm just gonna film this. And then I did, and I, I posted, and I was like, this is gonna get, like 200 views. Like, nobody's gonna care about this and that. People are loving him. They're like, bruce, you gotta lock in. You gotta, you gotta do better.
And the thing is pretty funny because as you're talking to him, he's looking, like, right at you. You know, he's kind of like, yeah, look, man, I'm doing my best. I'm just trying. So it's, his expression is funny. And at one point, he does. He shakes his tail, like, three times. And somebody commented like, oh, you know, did you see Bruce? You would need to, you'd need to be four. Four, not three.
Yeah, but I don't know if he's gonna do great on step because he's, you know, he's not a great study partner, honestly.
Really, really. Not really bringing a lot to the table.
He's not bringing much to the table at all. Yeah, he's just sitting on the table.
He does bring his cuteness, though.
Yeah, he does. Yeah.
So he really just sits there in the box?
Yes, he's, he curls up in my box and the box on the table. Yeah, all day.
Just, Just perfectly happy to do that.
Yep.
Doesn't get antsy. No need to walk around.
Sometimes he'll get up and I'll walk around a Little bit. And then, but then he comes back. Well, that's, it's a part of his routine. And I was talking to him about this. I was like, Bruce, like, I know self care is important, but you can't just nap all day every day if you're gonna, if you're studying for step, it's in eight months, you know, we gotta get on it because he'll. He get, he wakes up and then he goes in the morning, he sleeps in the, in my closet on my shoes and he sleeps all morning and then in the afternoon he comes and then he, he sits in the box all afternoon and naps on the box. So. Yeah, I don't know about the step prep. We might have to change the nap schedule.
Huh. Do you think he needs some kind of stimulants?
Oh, my gosh, no. Do not give my cats stimulants. Speaking of cats on stimulants, though, someone was, I was talking to someone at one point and they had to take their dog to the vet er and they said that there was an Adderall cat there, that apparently someone's cat got into their Adderall and it was just like bouncing up and down everywhere. And they just said that they, they were like, well, what do you do for that? And we're like, we're just going to monitor him. So they just put the cat in a room and then the cat was just running all around and that cat.
Needs to be studying for steps, put.
Them to workouts, ready to lock in.
That's right. Oh, I feel bad for the person also who lost their Adderall to their cat. Somebody's calling their doctor like, I need a new prescription for my Adderall. My cat ate it. And the doctor's like, yeah, sure, your catal.
Well, that's a great transition, actually to the topic that I wanted to bring up today, which is, did you hear about the girl who fell in love with her psychiatrist?
Oh my gosh. Okay. Yes. This is all over TikTok. Although I didn't actually see the actual TikTok. I just saw a bunch of tiktoks about the TikTok.
Kind of. Yeah, I didn't really. I, I like looked at her page because. And why this also reminded me of it is because the girl just had ADHD and was just going to get her Adderall prescription from the psychiatrist. So. Because the discourse originally, when I was looking at it, for those of you who don't know, essentially this Woman made this 50 part series about how she fell in Love with her psychiatrist. And the discourse about it was like, okay, girl. Like, no, this guy was just doing his job. You're the one who was showing up. But the way that even when I was hearing about the discourse about it, I was like, okay, are they saying psychiatrist? But mean that maybe he's actually a therapist. You know, maybe these were long sessions. Because if you don't know when you go see a psychiatrist, when you're getting just a meta, meta refill, it's just like a, it's like a 10 minute conversation. It's not a big. Just like, how are you doing on.
The mat dive psychotherapy type thing.
Yeah, it's just like seeing a doctor for your blood pressure medicine. It's the same thing. It's like, okay, is this working for you? Is it not? And that's it. So it's just so crazy that it wasn't even like a th. Like it was a psychiatrist.
Yeah, yeah, I thought so too because I, well, I didn't know what she was seeing him for and I thought, oh, well, you know, maybe she's going because she has like bipolar disorder or something where it, it was, I mean, because psycho. Some psychiatrists do some psychotherapy along with medication management. But I also just thought, oh, you know, she's, you know, she's just got a lot of issues and she's talking about all these deeply personal things and that's kind of how this came. But. But yeah, then somebody, you know, people were doing the math and they're like, he spent like a total of maybe like two hours with her over the course of how, like however many years. Like, how could, how could any of that be true?
Well, also, what's so funny is this woman is an ADHD life coach. That was her business on, on TikTok or whatever. That was her thing. So then, and then she went to go, she said she was off her medicine and then she decided that she wanted to start taking her like ADHD medicine again and then went and found the psychiatrist. So in total, yeah, it was an intake session. And then she talks about how. Well then he wanted to see her weekly and she was like, then he's, you know, that is just manipulation. He wants to, you know, hold me. But it's like, okay, he saw you for the intake and then you're making this change. He wanted to see you for follow up for a couple of weeks and then see how you were doing with the medicine.
Yeah.
So, yeah, it was just. All of it was just like, I.
Mean, just a total relationship in her head, like, because didn't she also. I mean, she was putting a whole lot of stuff on him that he was doing this and that and then. But he really was just doing his job.
Yeah, the delusion is crazy. That's what. Yeah, I didn't want. It was like a 50 part series. I didn't watch all of it, but I watched a couple. And yeah, one of the things that she claimed that he was doing was. Yeah. Making him. Making her go see him for her prescription refill, which that's what you do.
Literally. The law. The law.
Yeah. And then also she said it was manipulation because during their sessions, sometimes he would ask more questions and be more, like, happy. And then other times he was more cold to her and he. And she was like, it was manipulation. Sometimes he would be really happy to see me and he would be in a good mood and other times he was in a bad mood. Like, that's just being a person.
Right? Wow. And that. It is just. It's so. It kind of reminds me of like how teenagers are sometimes. It's like whatever anybody does, it's all related to you, you know, it's all about you. It's all reacting to you. It's like, it's not that they have their own life and their own problems and anything else. Surely, knowing the world of the Internet, have people tracked down who this doctor is and given him grief? I mean, you have to.
I mean, I don't. I mean, I assume so probably. I mean, most of the Internet is on the side of the doctor just being like, he was just doing his job. But I'm sure there's people out there. This was such a big story. I'm sure there's people out there that.
Are probably like, well, yeah, because there's other people that are like, me too. That as well. Right. And. And like, oh, he did this or that. Like, oh my gosh. That's. Yeah, that is, that's. That's painful.
But also in the, in the first video, she talks about how she went into the psychiatry meeting. She walks in and it was a guy her age. And I couldn't help but notice, but he was kind of attractive. And it's like, that is. It's just so like someone's my age, she's attractive, like, they're in love with me and I'm in love with them. And that's just how it is.
It would be really hard though. Like, I mean, not as much in psychiatry, but like as a, as a psychologist or a therapist. I mean, you know, they say that happens like all the time, that people like fall in love with their therapist.
Really?
Yeah. You know, I mean, just think about it. It's somebody who you are like telling all of your deepest, darkest secrets to. You have like this, this in depth connection, but you don't.
It's one sided.
Yeah, but that's perfect for people.
I guess that's such a certain type of person. Right? Because yeah, you don't like, you don't know anything about them. And that's why I think that's a big point too is I think a difference between, I mean, well, you would think like being a doctor versus being someone like a therapist. We talk about, we've talked about this before about the boundaries of not wanting to let your patients so much into your life. Um, and I think like that's even, I think that's really important for a therapist. So to try to prevent stuff like that happening. You don't because this is a professional relationship. It's not a connection that you're making with somebody.
Yeah, but you know, again if, if the person doesn't know that much about the therapist, like they can just imagine all kinds of things then.
Right.
Or you know, well, gosh. And in this day and age you could probably some stuff about the person. I mean you can find out things, you know, by social media. I don't know, maybe as a therapist you have to like, I don't know, I don't know how that would work but I can just imagine people having this whole relationship in their head with the therapist that's just completely one sided.
Pose the question, what if you had a patient that fell in love with you? How would you handle it? I need some advice because I think this is going to happen to me a lot.
It is good to be prepared for that. You know, I wouldn't say, you know, I don't, I don't think I've had patients like fall in love with me.
The.
It is weird though, like you do sometimes have patients be very flirtatious with you. It happens particularly with like old men and it is like super creepy.
Especially like I'm sure like in your early as a resident or doing, you know, when you're younger.
Yeah. Hey, this happened to me not that long ago, so.
Well, I'm just saying because you're in a more vulnerable situation, you know what I'm saying? Rather than now you're established, you have this practice. Like you're like, I, I don't know, you have more power versus maybe you know, if you're not the attending.
Yeah.
And it's like, you. You know, it is.
It's. No, it. It is kind of painful. And there, you know, there's just sort of this, like. And it's. It feels. It, you know, in that situation can feel very demeaning, and that's sort of part of it. But I guess if you were taking that out and you know what if you're taking care of a patient that's, you know, your age and, you know, and he's like, hey, man, you're pretty cute.
I don't know. Just seems super uncomfortable. I think it's interesting. There is a generational difference between how people handle that, though. And I. We noticed that when I was working for you, just the. The when.
Oh, yeah.
Old creepy men are just, like, making jokes and trying to, like, poke fun at you. And, you know, maybe it's not even necessarily in a flirtatious way or whatever, but it's like, I don't put up with that. I'm just like, no, I'm like, I'm not going to laugh at your jokes. I'm not going to give into the flirtation to make you feel comfortable. That's not what. Because that. That's breaking the professional, like, the professional boundary there. Of course I want to. In. In the case of talking to patients and stuff, you know, of course I want to make my patient feel comfortable. Like, that's. But that's. To a line of being professional. I'm not going to entertain you trying to flirt with me. And that's. That's not what this is. I'm your doctor, you know.
Y. Yeah, no, I think that's good. And it's. And it's good to, like, be having none of it and just shut it down immediately. Because just like any other. Just like any interaction, you know, people test the boundaries of these things. You know, they start off with something that's kind of innocent and see how that works. And then they just. See if they can kind of keep going with that. But, yeah, no, I noticed you do that even when it's not flirtatious. If it's just. I don't know, there's some salesmen and they come in and they kind of make some joke, and you're just like, total straight face, not laughing.
Yeah, I mean, I never. I'm not. I don't want to be rude to people, of course, but, like, if you're. It's about respect and like, if you're, you know, taking my time and not being Respectful, then I'm not going to give you that respect back.
Yeah, no, I think it's, I think it's good.
I think that's, it's probably also super frustrating for that doctor. If he was younger, I mean, I don't know how old the lady was, but if she was like, oh, he was my age and he was younger and he's just starting up his practice and stuff and then you know, he's excited to have a patient and whatever and then she professes his love and he's like, okay, I can't do this anymore.
Yeah, I mean how mortifying would that be though that then somebody does this tick tock about you and all of these things. Like, I mean that really of is your nightmare as a doctor. We were talking with Dr. Bartos on our last podcast about patients leaving like negative reviews and how that can be difficult and like, you know, what if somebody makes a 50 part TikTok series about you? Yeah, that's kind of hard to ignore.
Yeah, I think it's interesting, the reviews thing, I mean that's a newer thing. People didn't used to be able to just write reviews on their doctors. But I mean, I think like part of it is important because there are some doctors that aren't good so or like don't have great bedside manner. And so I think it is important, but I do. It is frustrating if one person does have a bad experience, but just the same as any business, right? Like there's going to be people who write bad reviews. So. Yeah.
Yeah. The problem with the review thing too is that, well, and every business has this happen as well. You have to solicit reviews so that if you do get a negative review you can overcome that with just more reviews. And so it's happened to me. I try to sometimes get my patients to give me a Google review, but it's such an awkward thing. It feels so like, it just feels like you have such a, you know, negative self esteem when you're just like, can you write me a Google review? I've been practicing for 23 years here. But I need you to say it on Google so that I feel good. And you know, it did happen to me where somebody called my office, we told them the price, they didn't like the price, they'd never met me. And so then they left me a one star review on Google because they said I was too expensive and I only had like three reviews. So that hurts you a bunch. And it's somebody that like never even saw you as A patient. And that's what I think is really unfair is you're like, okay, you have to have some sort of verification process. They have to at least seen me in order to bag on me.
Yeah, no, that's really true. I do think that I was thinking about this recently. I was like looking at, going and seeing a dermatologist and I was looking around and some specialties like dermatology, the reviews are so important, like, especially just looking at like they all. Marketing is so important in those sort of specialties. So I think that's also interesting when people are thinking about what specialty they're going to go into and like building their own practice. You don't have to just be a good doctor. Like, you have to be a good marketer. Like good at marketing too, because that's a big thing. Because I was looking. There's so many. There's so many. And it's like, yeah, which one is the fanciest and which one? But like still has a good price. And then you're like, it's just even. Yeah. As a patient, I was like, wow, like that is. And they're all competing against each other and it's just.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, same thing with plastic surgery, for sure.
Yeah, yeah, same thing.
And they, you know, I just don't know that people really think about that when they decide to go into plastic surgery. Yeah, they're like, you know, and a lot of times they start off doing surgeries that are like, you know, fixing, you know, children's faces or like, you know, stuff like that. And then they may be morph more into aesthetic type surgeries and oh my gosh, their website has to be just beautiful. They have to have all of these, you know, before and after pictures on there. They have to just have this really great reputation and, and they do. They have to have a good personality. Even though, you know, you want somebody with really good hands. But it's. They end up having to have a good personality. Otherwise people aren't going to like them. They're not going to give them good reviews and they're not going to be successful in their practice. So it's. People got to think about all that stuff when they choose those specialties.
Yeah, I mean, for sure. And it's just so different than going to, I don't know, even primary care doctor, you still have that. But still it's not, it's the, the marketing aspect. I'm just thinking as a patient, I care more about the doctor, the actual person. When I'm trying to go find, you know, what primary care doctor I want to go see. But yeah, if I'm gonna go get something aesthetic, then it's like, yeah, I want, I want the place to be aesthetic. I want the marketing to be aesthetic. I want the website to be aesthetic. Like. And yeah, you gotta have, you gotta have all of that. Especially you want to build something on your own. I think a lot of people that want to do plastics, not everybody but it, they want to be able to like build something on their own. And you have to, you have to want to do that work too.
Yeah, it's a whole part of it. Okay, so that morphs into. Did you see the dermatology resident who made a TikTok telling med students that on their dermatology rotation they needed to make sure their acne is under control or something like that.
I saw some backlash about it and I saw like one TikTok of someone being like, that is so ridiculous for you to say that about having, you know, if you have a medical condition like acne. I didn't see the original video. I assumed it was a joke, but I don't, I don't know. Did you watch the original video?
I don't think it was. No. I. Yeah, again, all this second hand information, I did not see the original video either. But I saw some like doctors that I, that are not foolish and like they should have understand that if it was a joke and they were kind of criticizing the resident. So I felt like it wasn't, it wasn't a joke. But you know, I think her point now. So that's. So I think that is true if you are a dermatologist and people are coming in. Yeah, you got to have good looking skin.
Yeah.
You know, I mean that's, I think that that's true when you're going in now, that's different from doing your clinical dermatology rotation. You've got. Okay, everybody's got to start accut like six months before their derm rotation so that they look really good. I mean that's. That to me is bizarre. But again, that kind of just goes into that whole thing of like when you're doing one of those specialties, like you are going to be judged by your patients. You know, if you're a dermatologist, man, that skin's got to look good.
Yeah. Yeah. That is crazy though. The idea that you can't have acne if you're going and doing a dermatology rotation at the same time. Okay. One devil's advocate I will give is that you don't do a dermatology rotation. That's something that you have to go seek out. So that would be during an elective period. So if you're going and doing a derm rotation, you probably are interested in going into derm, which means you're trying to build a connection with people, which means you're doing this rotation to potentially get a residency spot and make connections with people. So if you want to be a.
Dermatologist, get that acne under control.
I was just thinking like, I. Yeah, but I mean, you. You can't get graded because of your skin, so.
Well, apparently you can.
Yeah. That's crazy.
Yeah, that's as if you don't have enough to worry about as a medical student before your rotation. You're just like, I was so nervous and then I got this big pimple and then I was like walking around like this, holding with my hand over it the whole time, so. Well, can we tell talk a little bit about how second year of medical school is going so far?
Yeah. So I'm in my second year of medical school now. It's nice because it's the same as last. As my last semester. So I did like my second semester of my first year and then we had a summer break and then I came back and it's. The flow of everything is the same as it was in my second semester, first year. No dramatic changes. So that was honestly really nice. I'm looking at the first years now and like, oh my God, I am so glad that I'm not in their shoes. Yeah.
Because they just do. They look like deer in the headlights.
Yeah. And just. It's just first nosers just a lot. And you don't realize how bad it is until after we. The way that my school does it is first semester it's just kind of a hodgepodge of things and you have anatomy lab and all this other stuff. And then once you get into second semester, you start module learning. So like right now we're in our GI module, so we're learning everything gi. So it's just. It's just a lot more. It's a lot more independent learning. We don't have to be on campus as much. And we're just really. Now it's like we're getting ready for. To take step one. Um, so a lot of that is just making sure, like we can have the knowledge and we take a test every couple months. But it's a lot more routine. I was telling the first years that they were just asking me about like, what your day to day look like. And I was just like, you're every day is going to look different. It's just you, you don't ever get into a routine because you have anatomy lab and that affects your, your hair washing schedule, which goes into your workout schedule. It's true. It's true.
That is true, actually, because you got to wash your hair after being in anatomy lab because it stinks like that formaldehyde. I felt like I had to like soak in a tub to get rid of that stench.
That's gross. You sat in a tub after being in the formalda Hyde.
Yeah, and then I rinsed off.
Okay, all right. But yeah, I also think that just seeing all the first years and then I'm just also watching these, all these conversations happen of the second years, just giving, shooting all this advice at the first years and I just like, I'm just, I feel so bad for them because they're just, yeah, like, you're like saying acronyms. Oh, you got to do the vsr, you got to do the. You got a ANKI done spend, blah, blah. Like, and they're all just like, what are you talking? And I'm sitting there watching it. I'm like, just stop. Don't. They don't need it. They'll figure it out. They'll figure it out.
People do that. Do you think that they're. Do you. That they're honestly trying to give them that information or do you think they're trying to like, show off how much further they are? What, why is that?
I think they're trying to be helpful. And it depends on the person. Right. Like some people, that's what I've been going to like Run Club. And there's been a lot of first years that are there at Run Club. And I'm trying to specifically not ask them about school and how things are going because I don't want to be that person. And but if some of them ask me for advice, they're like, oh, do you do have you done for this class? Or whatever, did you do this thing? And I would tell them most of the time I say don't do the thing or don't spend time on that thing is mostly the answer to things.
Even if it's good advice, which most of the time it's really not. But even if it's good advice when it's just all coming at you, all it does is stress you out.
Oh, yeah. And also the thing of like, yeah, like you'll get through it. Like, you'll, like, it'll be okay.
It's not going to be that bad.
It's not going to be that. Yeah. And you're just like, why are you saying that? Like, just don't just stop. Like, and that's different. If somebody is coming to me and saying, like, oh, man. Like, that was, you know, with anatomy lab and everything. This is really. This is really hard. And I'll be like, no, yeah, I totally understand. You know, you're gonna get through it. That's, you know, dissection days are. Are really hard, but it gets better. But if someone's not coming to me and saying that, like, they haven't, especially in that first week, they hadn't done anything yet. There was nothing that they were complaining about. Like, why are you telling them that? It's going to be so hard and like, but it's going to be okay. It was so frustrating just watching these conversations.
Like, yeah, you know, that is such a universal thing. Yeah. And I remember just talking with some of your. Your friends and they had. They were already worked up about third year because everybody had told them, like, oh, you know, third year so hard and blah, blah. I'm like, no, it's not. It's. I think it just keeps getting better and better. But I hate it when people tell you that, like, the. Oh, yeah, well, you think it's hard now, it's going to get so much worse. And that's just like that, that pattern over and over again, which they love to do that with. Having a baby too, you know, you're like eight months pregnant and you're just, like, so tired. And I remember saying, like, I would just like to set this baby down once in a while. And somebody's like, well, you're not going to be able to set them down much. And it's just going to be really. Once you have that baby in there, you're going to be up all night, blah, blah, blah. And then you have the newborn. And then people say, well, what you realize is having a newborn is a piece of cake. When they're a toddler, that's when it's really hard. And people do that, like, the entire time. And you're like, okay, why are we even having these kids? They're so terrible.
Yeah. I'm not falling for the third year's awful propaganda. I'm not falling for that. I'm excited. Excited to get in the hospital whenever I go to my preceptorship. Yeah. It takes a lot of time and Yes. I have to study afterwards, and that's hard. But, like, I am so ready to get in the hospital and learn. That's why I came to medical school. That's literally why I came to medical school. I can't stand on. People are like, well, third year is the worst. It's like, why did you come to med school? Why did you come.
You should not be a doctor if you don't like clinical rotations.
Exactly. I'm like, and you're not gonna like, everything, obviously, and days are gonna be hard, and I understand that it's not gonna be perfect. But, like, I came to medical school to go in the hospital and learn how to be a doctor. So why are. Like, I didn't come to met. I. Sitting here all day and sitting at my desk is not why I came to medical school. So I'm like, okay. But yeah. And even people are. That's what the third years are saying now. They're like, oh, well, like, in second year, you have so much time. Like, you need to take, like, the time and do all this stuff. And I think it's just reframing that and being. Rather than being like, but it's so awful now. I think reframing that and being like, this semester is a great opportunity for you to. Because you have more flexibility to take some time and do some trips or do, like, go see people. Because you might not have that in third year and not that, oh, everything is so terrible right now. And like. Like, it was so great back then. You know.
It'S. It's like, okay, yeah, yeah. I think the rotations are. It's good. I mean, it's. It's fun and interesting, and, you know, that's what you're doing. And each step along the way, you're getting more and more responsibility. Then people will complain about that, too.
Well, that's what I'm. I'm most excited for, doing rotations and not having responsibility. Like, I don't know if that's bad to say, but, like, that is. You literally just get to show up.
And learn the responsibility thing, actually, you know, because you're ready for it. At each stage, you're getting as much responsibility as you're ready for. So, you know, when you're an intern, you have a certain amount of responsibility, but you still have other people that are supervising you and that. You can ask things too. But you get to. You get to do stuff. You get to make the decisions. And so that's fun. It's like, you're writing the Orders. And that's exciting to be able to do that. And then you become a supervising resident. And that's fun, too. Cause you get to teach other people, and you're ready for that amount of responsibility. And you have an attending, and then by the time you're attending or, you know, person in private practice, you're like, okay, I've been practicing this thing for years and years. I don't know what I'm doing.
Yeah, they have it set up like that. I just like this perspective a lot more than just the complaining at every step along the way.
Yeah.
One thing about. On this same topic that I was thinking a lot about, and again, I might get in trouble for saying this, but I just think that just going back to the. Being a third year in clinical rotations, and you're just showing up to learn, and you don't have any real responsibility. You know, it's not like being a resident. You're not employed. You're not, you know, the attending isn't your boss. You're a third year. You're showing up to learn. And the attending and the doctors on the team are your teachers. Part of their job is to teach you.
Right.
And I haven't had any negative experiences with attendings, but I just hear about it and, like, about how there's really mean attendings to med students. And that's so weird. Like, that's so weird to be mean to a med student. Like. Like you, this person is literally just showing up to learn. You're employed by this big institution. Part of your job is to teach. And I understand med students do dumb things, and it's okay to get frustrated. We're all human. You don't even have to be nice. Like, it's fine to give, you know, I'm here to learn constructive criticism all day. I'll take it, whatever. Pimp me, ask me questions. That's the point. I'm supposed to learn. But, like, to be. You have to like everybody. Either you're not going to like them, but, like, I don't even asking them to be nice. It's just like, yeah, why would you be mean to a med student?
Yeah. Because you're just a very small person. You know, it's. I think. I mean, I do. I think back about some of those attendings that were so mean. And, you know, a lot of them were just, you know, I don't know what kind of trauma they had in their life. They obviously had a lot. And I. I can't understand why somebody would stand there in the OR and belittle somebody that they don't even know and call them nasty names and all kinds of things. When you're literally just standing there, you're not saying one word, but.
And you're trying to learn.
You're trying to learn. You're just standing there trying to learn. And. But like, again, it's always the people. I mean, when that happened in surgery, it was always by the surgeons who were not very good surgeons. And they knew it and everybody else knew it and they felt, you know, insecure. And that's the way that bullies work. You know, they feel bad about themselves and so they pick on somebody else. Which just is like, of all people to pick on, like the poor med student who is literally paying to be there.
Paying to be there. That's the other thing.
Paying money to be there. Just standing there and you're picking on them. I mean, it's like picking on a child. It's just.
It's so weird. And being a full. And just being an adult and being.
A doctor and doing that, it's.
It's just so weird.
It's so weird. I know. I really. Man, I just.
Just.
I'd love to go back in time and say all kinds of things.
There's a difference between giving constructive criticism and even, like, harsh feedback. I don't. I'm not even putting it in that box. Like, that's okay. Like, or whatever. Whatever they're gonna do. But it's just the idea that, like, well, this is how it was back in my day. And it was really hard. And it's really hard to be a doctor. And you need to know how hard it is to be a doctor. So I'm going to be mean to you. So, you know, it's like, okay, dude. Like, okay. Like, I don't. How I'm literally just here to learn.
And. Yeah, and I just. I hate that philosophy. That. And again, the whole process is hard enough. We don't have to make it harder. And everybody knows that. That's why, like, you abuse children so that that will make them better people. Right? I mean, we've all learned that if you start yelling at kids when they're like, age four, they're going know. Because, you know, the world is tough. Like, you gotta start early and just keep doing that.
Right?
Like, it. It's a completely ridiculous logic. Like, that somehow if you're mean to people and you traumatize them, that that's somehow going to, like, help them in some way. It doesn't help anybody. Ever.
Yeah.
All it does is turn that person into a bully that bullies more people and keeps the whole cycle going. So. Yeah, yeah. But I don't know. There is that, you know, again, and particularly in some specialties more than others. Doesn't happen like in peds. I don't think people are pretty nice in peds.
But yeah, yeah.
Don't be a bully. Don't be a bully. Right, Bruce? Is Bruce sleeping?
Yeah. Oh, Bruce, you gotta get up and study for step.
Well, it's the end of the day. He's tired.
He's always tired. Well, if you want to see more of me and Bruce, follow us on TikTok @Generations MD and you can find us on Instagram @Generations MD as well. And if you have any questions or interested in being a guest on the podcast, you can email us ataskgenerations MD gmail.com and we will talk to you next week. Bye, guys.
