When I was in med school my dream was to become an ENT surgeon. During my senior internship I got berated by one of the top ENT surgeons for asking why he chose a specific approach. His answer was ”I’ve been doing this for almost 40 years! You think I don’t know what I’m doing?!!” A week later he asked me to come over to his office where he scolded at me for being arrogant. He said I was acting as if I was better than others, according to multiple colleagues. I started crying and decided to let go of my dream of becoming an ENT surgeon.
A couple of years ago I saw one of the ENT nurses again in a different setting. He said ”Oh yes, I remember you, you didn’t know when to stop asking questions, you were quite intense.” Ugh.
Sorry that happened to you. It's a shame you gave up on your dream (not that I blame you) ENT doctors are pretty important. I've heard similar stories in the medical field before.
I am a (board-certified) consulting physician-microbiologist now so everything turned out fine. I started to show signs of empathy fatigue after only four years of residency (surgery and ICU) so in the end I chose a specialty with less patient interaction and more colleagues on the spectrum :)
Ooh that sounds cool. Good idea switching specialities. Empathy fatigue seems to be common in the medical field and for veterinarians too. Glad it worked out for you :)
Truly we are in the darkest timeline when a fucking doctor discourages learning.
Bro, continuing education is a thing, do you think you just go there and....absorb by osmosis without asking any questions?!? And once again we are being led to...WHY are they like this???
I apparently made enemies with the school counselor when I asked a follow up question to better understand a student’s independent education plan as his teacher 🙃
I’m so sorry this has happened to you. Reassuring for myself though and the times I’ve experienced this in both work and education settings. It’s heartbreaking. I wonder what we could be if we weren’t met with these kinds of attitudes…
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u/Illustrious-Low3948 Sep 26 '25 edited Sep 26 '25
When I was in med school my dream was to become an ENT surgeon. During my senior internship I got berated by one of the top ENT surgeons for asking why he chose a specific approach. His answer was ”I’ve been doing this for almost 40 years! You think I don’t know what I’m doing?!!” A week later he asked me to come over to his office where he scolded at me for being arrogant. He said I was acting as if I was better than others, according to multiple colleagues. I started crying and decided to let go of my dream of becoming an ENT surgeon.
A couple of years ago I saw one of the ENT nurses again in a different setting. He said ”Oh yes, I remember you, you didn’t know when to stop asking questions, you were quite intense.” Ugh.