Friday, November 20, 2009

Inter-Specialty Rivalry is Alive and Well and Impacting our Medical Students

The Lancet Student takes a hard look at 'inter-specialty rivalry' in all it's manifestations, and how it has and does effect the career choices of each new generation of physicians.
"Sweeping generalisations such as 'the medics are the clever geeks and the surgeons are the cool heroes’ may masquerade in jest but both health professionals and the media have a huge obligation to project a positive image of their own specialty rather than badmouthing others ... it is through an attitude of arrogance and disregard for others choices ... that a universal hierarchy of specialties has been allowed to persist... such a chain of command may eventually influence the priority level of various specialties within healthcare and thus impinge upon patient treatment."
Click on the title to read the full article "Why does everyone love a brain surgeon?" by Priya Garg, 5th year medical student at Imperial College, London.

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