Everybody loves to hate those "driven, obsessed, competitive, narrowly focused" pre-meds. Yes we do; I think for good reason. I read Carol Baffi-Dugan's March 27 Viewpoint, "We're proud of you, pre-med," and I really feel like Baffi-Dugan was duped by the competitive pre-medical students', or c-pres (pronounced see-prees) as I like to call them, magical gift: parental charm. Not to insult Baffi-Dugan in any way - you've been fooled by the best.
They're swindlers, charlatans, frauds, phonies and con artists of the greatest magnitude. Obviously not all of them are like this, but God, there are too many to count that are. Their black magic (parental charm) casts a spell on certain adults. Generally administrators at the high school and university levels, some susceptible teachers and parents are all very responsive to this type of magic. They're tricked into believing that these children are not the spawns of Satan, but rather diligent, hardworking youngsters trying to improve the world. But in all seriousness, they aren't.
Many people hate them for many different reasons, and it's important to distinguish why I distrust c-pres. I don't care about their 4.0 GPAs. I don't care what schools they got into. I don't care what university I didn't get into because of them (I got into three of the four I applied to, so at most they denied me a position at one school). That kind of hatred stems from jealousy.
I'm not jealous they get good grades; grades aren't of much importance to me. I'm not jealous that they beat me on the SATs; SATs are not a measure of character. I'm not jealous they're in an Ivy League school; I'm very happy here at Tufts, thank you. No, my distrust of c-pres doesn't come from jealousy. It comes from their character, or lack thereof.
They're self-interested people. And it happens in phases throughout their life. In high school, their self-interest drives c-pres to work the hardest of any student. It's true. They sacrifice hanging out with other kids for doing inane assignments with the drive of perfectionism that can only be inspired by overbearing parents. Others are usually unwilling or lack the willpower to put as much effort into these same tasks, and end up with a lower grade. Jealousy ensues.
But c-pres also have another special talent: r?©sum?© padding. They lead Model U.N., French Honors Society, Spanish Honors Society, Honors Society, Science club, Math Club, etc. Then they proceed to volunteer at the nearby lower-income community (thank you America for providing ample amounts of these types of communities for suburban kids to use in order to gain entrance into college).
Do they really care about the plight of the poor? No. The uneducated? No. The homeless? No. They volunteer for selfish reasons and feign sympathy with the conviction of a pathological liar. How convinced they are that they're doing it for everybody else is almost scary. Over the summer they spend their time at Governor's schools, or symposiums or wherever. They make sure their college applications will be filled to the brim.
If you think this isn't a problem, then we've got problems. Nationally, it works negatively to make schools more competitive and less effective at helping children learn. Every other kid that isn't all about doing their homework is forced to take letter grades more seriously.
These c-pres ace the APs because they're awesome at rote fact memorization, and then everybody else is now expected to get 5s. Then all of sudden, APs somehow represent intelligence. Teachers have to teach to the test, and the students end up missing out on actual learning (the whole process is more complicated but give me a break; I have 1,000 words and I'm already going to be over the limit). They have to go from test to test, worried only about the outcome of the test and not the subject material. Our basic skills fail us because we put so much faith in these tests. C-pres help drive this craze.
But it doesn't stop in high school. They make it to the college level, and all of a sudden it turns into real r?©sum?© padding. Summer internships become extremely sought-after jobs to occupy time over vacation. Do they really want to work there because of what they might learn on the job? Nope, they know it's a prestigious job, so that's why they're going after it.
They go to symposiums and annual American Medical Student Association conferences in Washington, D.C. (to which only the wealthiest people can afford to send their children). It's as if they just buy some of this experience. They spend hours in the library studying for test after test. Their study habits and overbearing parents are apparent in their social behavior. By this I mean that they're annoying when they're drunk or high or any form of inebriation short of crystal meth (I only say this cause I have yet to meet a c-pre on crystal meth).
They probably drink a lot of coffee or Red Bull (it gives you wingssss, and probably cancerrrrr). But again, I stress that it's all self-interest that drives them to do what they do, never concern for others. And the problem is that this continues all throughout their life.
Then why is this such a huge problem for everybody else? Because it lowers the quality of medical care in the United States. When these c-pres become doctors, they're poor doctors. And what I define as a good doctor is a doctor whocares for his or her patients and does whatever can be done for them. C-pres are not good doctors. C-pres and their motivation will cause them to try as hard as possible to "rise to the top" of whatever unlucky hospital they reside in. They love to specialize and make the most money.
They become cardiologists, and brain surgeons and kidney doctors (if they exist, I'm just guessing). And how can I claim they aren't good doctors? Simple. In the medical community today, there are a high number of surgeons who refuse to perform operations on certain people because it's too "risky." As if they're worried about the patient actually perishing. But really, they won't perform the surgery because it's likely the patient will die, and that will mess up the surgeon's statistics which in turn will decrease the likelihood of them becoming chief of surgery or getting some prestigious new job or private practice offer.
Now, what group of people have we been talking about that like to act like they care about another person's well-being while actually protecting or providing for their own ass? Since we're not talking about lawyers today, I'd guess c-pres! Yeah! Instead of trying to save a patient with a risky surgery, they often opt to do surgery only if it's in their best interest. Talk about caring! Only Care Bears could care more than c-pres. And this is our medical system.
But it doesn't stop there. Pharmaceutical companies also help ruin our health care system. They actually pay doctors extra to prescribe certain drugs to their patients. Let me tell you, c-pres are just the kind of people that would love to get some extra money for prescribing pills to their patients. They worked ever so hard throughout their lives (and people let them know they've been working hard ... c-pres have some of the largest egos I know of) to get to this doctor position, and they "deserve" that extra money. Even if it isn't in their patients' best interest, it surely is in theirs. And now it looks like doctors across the nation are over-prescribing medication like sleeping pills and what have you. It's bad medicine for our health.
Don't get me wrong, c-pres have their purposes. They drive the medical industry. They're responsible for large breakthroughs in medicine. New types of heart surgery, brain surgery and (again) kidney surgery were probably the brainchildren of many c-pres. They move the industries along with their self-interest and large amounts of competition.
But at what cost? Ask your parents how hard it is to find a competent doctor who actually cares about his or her patients. It's a challenge if you don't know a good family doctor. Too many doctors are looking out only for their careers and not their patients. It lessens the entire medical industry as a whole when the doctors we have just don't care about our health.
I have to mention that obviously there are good doctors out there, doctors that give a damn about the health of their patients. Take for instance the doctor that's written about in "Mountains Beyond Mountains." That doctor writes books to draw attention to the plight of his patients, not to himself.
It seems like that guy practically gave his life to his patients, and doesn't demand that people bow down to him and admire him for his work. That's a good doctor. But the majority of people at the annual American Medical Student Association conferences will probably NOT be good doctors. I mean, can you grasp the irony? We sacrifice having good doctors by demanding our doctors be the best.
Applaud them, Carol Baffi-Dugan? Hardly. I think they congratulate themselves enough.
Paul A. Szerlip is a freshman who has not yet declared a major.
