'The school claims to care immensely about student mental health... yeah right! We decided to teach them a lesson.' : Veterinary Students Fed up With Toxic School System, Cue Malicious Compliance

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Feb 13, 2023 12:00 PM EST

School systems are known for hypocrisy; most students just suck it up until they graduate. I was definitely one of those students. Professors have such high expectations, justifying them according to past precedent. You'll often hear them say 'Well in my day, we had it so much worse. You're lucky that…'  while proceeding immediately to make you feel very unlucky.

You're not suffering enough! How dare you? This seems to be (ironically) even more accentuated in medical school. These students in question were told they had the 'option' to come to the lab early but it became rapidly clear that this was an expectation (not an 'option'), and that they had to skip lunch in order to achieve this. These veterinary students had had enough. They decided to 'teach the school a lesson', by complying with the written rules, rather than the unspoken agreement every class actually seems to have.

Scroll down to read about the infuriating toxic environment these students have to deal with as they learn to save lives. For more, click here to check out some sweet petty revenge a cosplayer took out on a dudette who insulted him on an online forum on Facebook. There are some people you don't want to mess with.

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  • 01
    Font - Posted by u/Meekly-Enthusiasm 11 hours ago Entire class skips optional early start to lab, we were given an hour for lunch and we're going to take all of our time M OC
    via u/Meekly-Enthusiasm
  • 02
    Font - I'm a second year veterinary student. This is the time when we start our live surgery labs. We work in teams of three students (a surgeon, an assistant, an anesthetist), and are obviously overseen by certified specialists (anesthesiologists and surgeons) and many experienced vet nurses as well.
    via u/Meekly-Enthusiasm
  • 03
    Font - We have lectures 7am to 11am. Lunch is 11-12. Our lab begins at 12pm sharp. However, we were told we have the "option" to come to lab early and begin. It became VERY clear after the first week this is an expectation (not an "option") that we will skip lunch, or eat during lecture, and come straight to the OR.
    via u/Meekly-Enthusiasm
  • 04
    Font - During one lab, at 11:50am the anesthesiologist yelled at a student for a few minutes in the pharmacy area, while getting dr for lab, for not having his patient ready and waiting in the induction room... 10 minutes for lab even begins. And this group was set to induce during the last wave (normally 1 to 1.5+ hours into lab). There's no reason to be an hour early when your group is final wave, being on time is sufficient, and they were actually still early.
    via u/Meekly-Enthusiasm
  • 05
    Font - Our class has been getting berated by this anesthesiologist as well as some of the surgeons in this lab. Just as one example, a student surgeon asked for help. A surgical resident came over from another patient to help, and she was now not sterile. The resident told the student she was holding her forceps wrong, proceeded to grab them from her hands, and then made the student leave her
    via u/Meekly-Enthusiasm
  • 06
    Font - patient on the table to re-scrub, re-gown, and re-glove, and open a new instrument pack. All because she wanted to ask a question. This is a common technique they will use on us when we've done something incorrect to "get us to remember it next time.”
    via u/Meekly-Enthusiasm
  • 07
    Font - Well, the entire class is fed up with this. Our class called a meeting about it, and we all decided we are all going to start showing up to lab at 11:50 to 11:55am. Only 5 to 10 minutes early. Not for petty reasons either, but it's a matter of patient safety as well. Several students have fainted from skipping lunch to go and operate instead. We were given 11-12 for lunch and we're going to take all of our time.
    via u/Meekly-Enthusiasm
  • 08
    Font - So, that's what we did. At 11:40am one of the surgeons came to our lecture hall, where the majority of us stay and eat lunch, and asked us why we're not in lab yet. A student at the front of the room said simply, “lab begins at 12 noon." The surgeon gave us a long spell about professionalism and how we are being inappropriate and putting our patients at risk, and she left. The OR is a 2 minute walk from the lecture hall, so we finished lunch and all showed up around 11:55.
    via u/Meekly-Enthusiasm
  • 09
    Font - The clinicians were very mad about it, and reported our class to the dean, and so the dean called a school wide meeting about it. Some of our classmates spoke eloquently about our reasons and our actual patient safety concern, turning it right back on the clinicians citing patient safety. And, the school claims to care immensely about student
    via u/Meekly-Enthusiasm
  • 10
    Font - mental health, since this profession has one of the highest su rates and our own class even suffered a loss, and cutting our break/lunch is no way to support us. Beyond that, the schedule says we begin at 12, and we are still showing up a few minutes early to ensure we can begin right at 12.
    via u/Meekly-Enthusiasm
  • 11
    Font - Ultimately, the dean just released a statement saying they cannot force us to begin lab an hour early, and we will start at 12 when the deans office scheduled lab to begin. It's a small win for us, certainly we will face backlash, but we have a break to eat at least. Our class is known for not putting up with bs from the school, we got a dinosaur of a professor fired
    via u/Meekly-Enthusiasm
  • 12
    Font - for racist comments she made to a student in the middle of lecture, after she had terrorized students at this school for decades, she forgot out lectures were automatically recorded on zoom during COVID. We're hated by the clinicians, but at least the classes behind us are having a slightly better time.
    via u/Meekly-Enthusiasm
  • 13
    Font - TLDR: surgeons wants us to come to a lab scheduled for 12 and hour early at 11. As a class, we decided to come at 12. Got reprimanded, then the dean backed us up.
    via u/Meekly-Enthusiasm
  • 14
    Font - RJack151 +3.10 hr. ago When you live by the clock, you enforce the activities to the clock. You were being professional by showing up a few minutes before 12. They were being unprofessional, demanding, and entitled. Vote Reply Share
    via u/RJack151
  • 15
    Font - dr enknight9 6 hr. ago I can't believe the surgeon culture is just as toxic in veterinary medicine as in human medicine. This sl has got to stop. People can be dedicated to their job and have a reasonable quality of life at the same time. Vote Reply Share
    via u/drenknight9
  • 16
    Font - SwanseaJack1.5 hr. ago It's sad that a field which thrives on evidence-based practice is subject to a working culture that is based on "this is how we've always done it" or, "I suffered when I was in training, you should too." Vote Reply Share
    via u/SwanseaJack1
  • 17
    Font - ZuttoAragi 7 hr. ago . Being professional would be showing up at 12. ✩ Vote Reply Share Shadowfalx +1.5 hr. ago Things harken even in a 2 minute walk. It's best to plan to show up a few minutes early, so any delay is covered.
    via u/ZuttoAragi, u/Shadowfalx
  • 18
    Font - An hour early is too much for a 2 minute walk, but 5 minutes is reasonable. Vote Reply Share RevolutionaryHead7 - 5 hr. ago I don't think there's anything professional about being late or early. A professional is on time. Vote Reply Share
    via u/Shadowfalx, u/RevolutionaryHead7
  • 19
    Font - Past_Ad_5629 - 10 hr. ago My aunt while in medical school: this treatment is not in patients' best interest, and the reason, "I went through it, so now you have to" isn't good enough. I'm going to change this once I'm the one making the rules. My aunt, once she finished: I went through it, so they have to, too. Reply Share Vote
    via u/Past_Ad_5f629

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Tags

humor horrible-professor malicious compliance veterinary-students medical school college students veterinarian petty revenge bossy-teacher unprofessional funny surgeon written-rules
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