I hate students

I hate dealing with students as part of my DD's medical team. I really wish that I could be the bigger person and say that its our responsibility to participate in training new nurses and doctors. But I'm not and I don't.

Whoever said that there's no such thing as a stupid question has obviously never dealt with a medical student.

Medical students are the first ones sent in to talk with you when your child is admitted to the hospital. They ask you around 300 questions, 10 of which may actually pertain to your child. An hour later they leave to report their findings to the resident, who enters the picture later to allow you to correct everything the student messed up.

Medical students travel in packs. They tend to have matching hair, accessories, and bags/backpacks--I suppose to help convince the rest of us that they really fit in and are important. They crowd into the elevator and have noisy discussions about the surgery they observed last week, the current state of medicine in the Dominican Republic, or the neurotic mother they encountered this morning.

Ultimately, my dislike of medical students boils down to two things. First, the fact that all the extra bodies in the room stress out DD at a time when no additional stress is needed. If your doctor has something important or sensitive to discuss, 3 -6 students try to tag along to observe the delivery of that news. Second, we're fiercely private people who dislike the notion of being put on display. DH and I on one side of DD's bed, the doctor flanked by his posse on the other who will later be encouraged to discuss "us".

During our early days in Holland, the floor social worker visited us shortly after we had recieved some very disheartening news from 3 doctors with a total of 10 medical students in tow. We were so overwhelmed by all the bodies and so distressed by the doctors' announcements, DD was screaming and we were a mess. She told us that we had the right to refuse to participate in the training of students and new staff. She placed a lovely and polite sign on the door stating our wishes not to work with students. Now we routinely make our request within the first 15 mintutes of admission.