I am writing this Viewpoint in response to Paul Szerlip's article, "Applaud the pre-meds ... applaud the problems," which was printed in the Daily on March 29. However, since all us pre-meds do is sit in the library and study to screw up the curves, I'll try to keep this short (I've got work to do).
When I read the article, I was at first infuriated that someone considers pre-med students as "swindlers, charlatans [HUH?], frauds, phonies and con artists." But, then I saw that Szerlip was a freshman and felt a little bit better about the situation.
Paul, you have a lot to learn about life. First, if you are going to publish inflammatory things about pre-meds, do not back down and be politically correct by saying, "obviously not all of them are like this ...." Stand by your opinion. Second, stop being so ignorant and making claims about people based on stereotypes.
When you do say something about a group of people make sure it can hold. You say "c-pres" lack character. Tell me, all-knowing freshman, where do you get the basis of this observation? Is it because we work hard in the classroom or because we do volunteer at nearby communities where people are not as well off as we are? When did working hard and volunteering become a bad thing? Just because you did not want to do it does not mean that everyone did not want to.
Your discussion about our r?©sum?© padding and working to get high scores was also fantastic. You really encompassed who I am. I sit around the library with my fellow pre-med kids and talk about what r?©sum?©-padding thing we can do next. Give me a break, pal. Oh yeah, by the way: Becoming a doctor isn't supposed to be easy. Think about it. Do you want your "kidney doctor" to be a "C" student in college and med school? It is apparently okay for our President to be a "C" student in college, but I know it is not okay with me if my doctor wasn't at the top of his class.
The last thing that was troublesome to me was that you said doctors are the reason for the low quality of health care in America; that they don't care about their patients. How can you honestly say this? Did your doc not pay attention to you enough? If so, I'm sorry that happened to you, but all of the doctors I know give their life to the medical field just like the "guy" you talked about.
See, that is the difference between a doctor and the average businessman. Being a doctor is a way of life; you don't get to take off your business suit and forget about the day. You still think about Mrs. Smith, who is still at the hospital dying from cancer, trying to figure out a way to make her last days as best as they can be. But, hey you seem to know what you are talking about ... keep up the good work, pal.
The last thing I want to say is shame on you, Paul, for bashing Carol Baffi-Dugan, who works tirelessly at helping the many pre-med students here at Tufts. She was merely giving her pre-med students a compliment for the hard work they put into being pre-med students, and you come and rip her apart like you own the place.
Do you really know that much about this school already that you can make the assumptions that you made in your viewpoint? I know I didn't as a freshman. I recommend you relax a bit, enjoy your time at Tufts, stop worrying about the compliments people give to someone other than yourself because they don't affect you, and try to fix the bridges you burned with all the pre-meds here at Tufts. Oh, one more thing: I'd love to drink with you whenever you'd like so I can show you how "annoying" I am when I'm drunk. I'll even fit you into my busy library schedule. Here's my number: 857-829-1098.
