Unexpected Failure, Impacts of Changes in Society and Selections on Students, and more
Several faculty were discussing the recent sudden and unexpected collapse of medical careers in some students at a variety of levels. This led me to ponder the possible reasons.
These occurred in the absence of mental or emotional or relationship issues
and despite good
counseling services and watchful faculty and administration.
We also discussed the declines in male students that may have great impact in
the future, developed more by me at Mooks and the
Disappearing American Male
Possibilities regarding student sudden collapses, some doing quite well
into year 3 and then quit, others overwhelmed in year 1 or 2, more with
some fairly severe mental and emotional issues, questions about medicine. Some
of this is to be expected, it is the unexpected that is scary.
It is possible that this trend is in our minds only and not true
· Faculty certainly might have changed and aged and live in distorted
reality
· Changes might also be localized to a few schools
· Changes might be due to admissions
· Changes might be due to societal impacts
Real changes are possible - A. B. and C below:
A. Changes in society or B. Changes in medical student population (done together)
· Kids from richer more professional parents, oldest or only children,
more protected lives (not as bad as China or Europe but bad enough,
reference from Edward T on docs as parents of med students here) see also
Character, Color, Admissions, and
Physicians
· Kids under age 12 have mom working outside the home 82 ? 85% of the
time in our state and suspect it is worse in other states, video hours for
kids, especially males have eclipsed even time elapsed in sleep
· Less kids from lower socioeconomics who have had to face adversity
· Less spiritual aspects, less to turn to in crisis, God is a foreign
concept so no support in failure or crisis - 80% of teens fear failure more than
any other area according to Bill Bright
· Drug, alcohol, sex, video/instant gratification generation with
decreases in interpersonal relationships, also easier to turn to these
outlets to get relief from stress, but then stress even more overwhelming
for med students
· Might as well add Fatherlessness impacts here
Statistics of a Fatherless America You
might also note that Fatherlessness does not only impact the immediate family.
Girls from fatherless homes sleep with your son and fatherless teens are
influencing other teens to join them in damaging behaviors. If you don't believe
this you don't live in America.
· Unrealistic expectations of medical training and career ( resident
work hours issues may also be a supporting piece for this area ) How are
you gonna learn to be a surgeon unless you get maximal chances to decided
and do? The number of men who complain that work conflicts
with their family responsibilities rose from 12 percent in 1977 to
72 percent in 1989. Meanwhile, 74 percent of men prefer a
"daddy track" job to a "fast track" job.
Source: James Levine, The Fatherhood Project.
http://www.dads4kids.com/facts_on_fatherless_kids.htm
· More gifted students might be graduating that never had to do much in
high school and college in ideal environments. Now they are in medical
school and are facing reality of having to work much harder and more
material and challenges in multiple dimensions in medical school years
instead of a decade earlier when students had most of these crises in
college or high school
· Earlier focus on careers for all students, perhaps too much so,
examples also in athletics, etc. ? all eggs in one basket and no fall back
position if failure seems a possibility - also would explain the increases
in legal actions for reverse discrimination. Some 80% of teens put fear of failure at the top of their fears list (Bill
Bright) Fears impact learning also
http://www.unmc.edu/mmi/learn/pdf/perceivedorreal.pdf Moving into higher and
higher learning situations and educational debt can only make anxiety and fear
levels raise.
If kids have never learned that when an authority says no, it means no,
then there is no stopping them ever, as a parent, as a teacher, as a
counselor, as a dean, or as a spouse. When the usual whining turns to legal
action.....
C. Changes in Medical student environment
Millennium Conference on the
Clinical Education of Medical Students
· Massive increases in debt magnify risk of failure, pressures on
students and increased pressure from families
· Huge bonus baby recruitment funds available to admissions offices and
deans leading to a new class of prima donna students who are above the
rules, similar to athletes in college sports. At stake are millions in NIH
dollar lotteries for the right students trained just the right way.
· Research priorities influencing who is selected, intellectual focus
continues to dominate selections and curricula instead of service or
relationship focus (also would explain why more and more intellectual
GPA/MCAT applying with zero interpersonal stuff as seen in some schools and
preadmissions programs)
· Students with the interpersonal stuff may be perceptive enough
to see the game played in med school and avoid it, thus making the
situation even worse, or they may be the ones with sudden collapse when
they see something bad about what they have gotten themselves in and begin
to question.
Not enough developed to offer suggestions such as picking more mature students,
ones who have been tested by adversity and time a bit more. Still pondering the
overwhelming impacts of fatherlessness and family structure
Robert C. Bowman, M.D.
rbowman@unmc.edu
www.ruralmedicaleducation.org
