CASE

“Who am I”

As medical students we were not discouraged from introducing ourselves by saying “Hello, I'm Dr. So and so,” as opposed to identifying ourselves as students. If we happened to be doing rounds with an intern or resident, the physician would introduce himself or herself as “Dr. X and over here is Dr. Y” – indicating a student. When I introduced myself as a medical student, I got the feeling people thought it was silly or unnecessary.

CASE

“Don't tell her you are a medical student”

As a medical student I overheard an intern tell a fellow third year student to get a history from a patient, “But, don't tell her you are a medical student because she won't talk to you.”

CASE

“Premature description”

As medical students we were given no instructions as to the proper way to identify ourselves to patients. I saw classmates introducing themselves as “Dr.” and one student even secured a credit card with “MD” after his name. I was uneasy about this less than honest self-description, but the practice was common and the perpetrators were never corrected by faculty.