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shoehornhands's avatar

I've become increasingly interested in this topic in recent years-there is a lot here. Overachievement, grade inflation, and ever more warped metrics of success are not confined to medicine, though I imagine they are magnified in your field. I work in the Federal government and have noticed our hiring trends aligning with this mindset as well. My agency now hires only those with advanced degrees who have spent their teens and early 20's focused on the types of jobs that sound great on paper but provide no real world experience. (I'm trying to think of an example but it's early and my brain is moving slowly.) I would argue they are even *less* qualified than the kid that grew up working in food service or on the family farm or who joined the military. As a result, we're becoming staffed with people who write poorly, have no practical life experience, and tend to craft unworkable or even nonsensical public policy.

Wait, am I ranting? I'll try to rein it in. Point is, yes, I do think we are focused on the wrong things and are rewarding unhealthy behavior...and failing this younger generation (I'm a Gen-Xer, too). What to do? Grit, humility, work ethic, morality, kindness, and other qualities one wants (needs?) in a doctor aren't developed by encouraging prospective applicants to hyper-focus on how others see them. Teaching kids to grow up and get over themselves seems like the better goal. Food service. The military. Being a mechanic. I used to work with a guy who grew up on a dairy farm and had to get up at 0400 to help milk the cows every day. And so on. The cows don't care about your GPA. And the rest of us shouldn't so much, either.

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Maria Schroeder's avatar

“Ruining people’s childhoods”….yes. Exactly. So many of the most mature and stable adults I know went to non competitive high schools and average colleges and went on to have satisfying and balanced lives and careers. That’s what I want for my children.

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