Any doctors or medical students that frequent the AR-15 site out there?  I am a 4th year medical student.  Do any of your colleagues give you grief about owning "assault" style rifles?  hunting?  shooting sports?  Just curious.

drjakeb, my sister and brother-in-law graduated from KU med, I assume that is where you are attending (I'm a Jayhawk myself, was premed at one time).  To answer your question, they are both pretty anti-gun, along with their colleagues.

However, their house was robbed this year (luckily they weren't home), and I think they are starting to change their tune.

The actually asked me advice about a gun purchase.

I'm a Second year Podiatric Med. student.  I don't talk guns much with the other students.  A few of them know I own some guns (have to store them outside the city, though).  A few know I own some guns.  A few are active hunters.

I would love to get out sometime, but between work and school and family, there isn't much time left.

AFARR

(Besides, when I get out and into practice, I intend to really build a nice collection!!)

Nobody has ever given me any grief. One colleague asked alot of intelligent questions about home defense with a firearm. I answered as best as I could, then gave him a spare copy of Ayoob's book "In the Gravest Extreme".

Most seem interested when I start talking about IPSC, and most start talking about their hunter-relatives when I start talking about hunting.

Of course, this is rural PA, not some urban hell-hole like "Philthy-delphia". YMMV.

I am a pre-med student.  So far I have been interviewed at LSU Shreveport School of Medicine and have an inteview at LSU New Orleans next month.  I am on the "Acceptable List" at Shreveport and the admissions people tell me that this means my chances are excellent of getting a letter of acceptance.

I am a non-traditional student, by the way, being 36 years old, married with two kids, and a Registered Professional Civil Engineer.

Louisiana is a pretty gun-friendly state.  One of the faculty who interviewed me at Shreveport was an avid hunter.

I am a 4th year student.  There are several in my class that shoot and several in my class that can't stand to hear us talk about our "evil guns".  I have gotten into several heated discussions in Community and Behavioral Medicine (CBM) last year.  The Prof. of CBM is very very very Anti-Gun. About 5 months ago I was on my Family Med rotation and was attending a Journal Club presentation where a third year resident was giving a presentation on "Guns and Child: A Bad Combination!".  She reported all of those #s, "a child is killed every 39 seconds in the USA" and the many other HCI info reports. So, being a good student[}:D]I did the math for her.  And asked if 808615.33 children are killed a year.  That did not go over very well with the resident and attendings.  I did not say much after the looks of SCUT[}:(]came down on me.  But, I did not need to say any more because another third year let here have it with both barrels.  Came to find out later that he (the other third year resident) has always been very pro-rights and an avid shooter.  He and I are now shooting buddies.

drjakeb, you got your residence in the bag yet?

See Ya,
Iso              

Gus,

Good luck!!  I'm in about the same position you are.  I have a wife and a 4 an 5 year old.  I worked for years as a Blood Bank Technologist before I quit to go back to school.  I tried for several years to get into Allopathic school, but my 2.75 Undergrad. GPA wasn't high enough (I was told off the record by a member of the admissions committee  where I worked that I would have to either get a Masters degree OR declare myself as a minority to get in with that GPA).  My 31 MCAT score wasn't quite enough to get me in (I re-took it in 1999 and got a 30).  I met a Podiatrist who suggested going that route, and decided to give it a try.  

It has been tough on occasion, but it's going OK now.  

AFARR

AFFAR,

My GPA was about 3.0 which is pretty low, too.  Fortunantly this was the result of some youthful indiscretion in the early 80's, so obviously both the admission commitees were willing to give me a pass.  (I have about a 3.4 if you don't count the grades from the 80's.)

Your MCAT score is pretty freaking good.  I got a 29 myself (VR 12, PS 9, BS 8) What schools did you apply to where a 31 wasn't considered a good score?  

Because I was a Marine and am a currently an engineer (and I own my own engineering firm) I must have had an interesting application.  LSU is apparently very friendly to non-traditional students.

Dude, if you can get in under affirmative action you should do it.  Pride is a good thing, but it can be carried too far.

I am an NREMT registered and state certified Emergency Medical Technician, so that helped.  At least I have dealt with patients.  I volunteered with an ambulance company for about five months (riding a few shifts a month) until they changed there policy and no longer took "riders."  If I don't get in this time, I might take a paramedic course to improve my application.

I am finishing my 4th year at KU med in Wichita.  (Although I did my my undergrad at Kansas State and still bleed purple!)  I am planning to go into surgery and am waiting for match day on March 22.  I have had a few heated discussions with classmates as well.  In fact, during one of my surgery interviews an older attending stared pimping me about hunting/shooting.  He kept asking me if killing "innocent" animals made me feel bad since I am going into the business of healing.  I basically just told him that my dad taught me to treat animals with respect, to follow hunting regulations, and to kill humanely.   I pointed out that I do not shoot anything that I do not intend to put in the freezer. (I didn't tell the guy about my intense love of prarie dog hunting or crow hunting!)  I think he got the picture.  I am finding that I really enjoy trauma surgery as it is interesting to apply my knowledge of firearms and ballistics to patients.  It's good to hear from the rest of you.

Iso -

To quote U2, "don't let the b@stards drag you down."

If you speak up about the Truth regarding firearms, your profs will very likely grade you down. But you can fight this with the school.

I'm glad you "did the math." Its one thing I love about numbers. they don't lie. Gun control advocates do, however, and I just love catching them in their lies.

Good job, man. I guarantee what you said made an impression with your classmates.

Glad no one was hurt or endangered.

But I 'm glad when anti-gun types getting a dose of reality. And especially love watching them change their tune.

[b]Gun Control:[/b] The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.

My brother just got accepted to Maryland and my sister in law to Texas Tech.  Afeter talking with them, it seems interviewers are looking for politically correct answers, trying to filter in "their type" of doctor.  Mentioning firearms is probably not a wise thing to do.  Your best bet for Med school is to be a gay minority female who chains herself to the closest sperm whale while splashing blood on some old ladys fur coat.  Dont forget to kick the nearest BMW and yell "corporate opressor!"

I just decided during the interview process that I was not going to hide "the real me."  And to be truthful, like many of you, shooting and hunting is a big interest of mine and a big part of my personality.  I included this in my personal statement for my interviews.  With the exception of one attending (in Arizona of all places) that gave me grief about hunting, I found that in every one of my interview sites that this was an excellent topic of conversation.  When the interviewer may be struggling with the next question to ask, they would often see that I was into hunting/shooting and this would begin a whole new conversation.  In fact, at one of my interviews, I had a chance to meet and visit with Dr. Red Duke for about an hour.  Most of our visit revolved around hunting and shooting sports.  I must admit that I interviewed esclusively at midwestern schools where attitudes about guns are more traditional, but I found that it was a really handy thing to talk about during my interviews.

Drjakeb,

A Wildcat, you're killing me here!  Oh well, we can't all be perfect.[;)]  I grew up in Wichita, then went to KU, and moved to CO after school.  

Garandman,

I agree with you, reality really does change antis' beliefs.  I would like to rephrase myself, my sister and her husband were not strongly antigun, they just were definitely not pro-gun.  We'd never argue about the issue, but I could tell they were uncomfortable when I brought up gun control, etc.  

I'm glad to see them start to look at things my way, but not happy with how it happened.

Gus,

I am a real minority now, White, Irish-German descent Catholic who owns guns.  But that really doesn't qualify me as a minority for application purposes.  I'm a little too far along to try to switch from Pod. Med to Allopathic Med--and it is interesting stuff (as a 2nd year, we are already starting to learn OR protocols, etc.--as 3rd and 4th years, we will do externships and be expected to scrub in in the OR).  

I basically applied to the in-state schools (Virginia at the time), but they wanted higher undergrad grades.  My grades seriously suffered because I managed a pizza place starting my Soph. year (kind of hard to make it to classes when you are working 55-65 hr weeks).  

I got 11 VR, 11 PS, and 9 BS on the first MCATS, 11, 10, 9 on the second (I took the first set in about 1990, the second in 1999).  

I have been told by a few family (my parent's) friends (Dermatologist, GP and Endocrinologist) that I made a good choice with Pod. Med--If I want to put in the time, I will make as much as they do, and without the emergency/on-call stuff that they have.  If I can get through Radiology ("Mr. XXX, your performance on the last test was below passing, I suggest you meet with me... was the letter I just got from the instructor--although I admit it was my own fault--I lost a packet of notes, and didn't realize it until the night before the exam).  

Ed, Sr.--I just got done with my Pathology class (Dr. Dupont was the instructor of record), got an A by the skin of my teeth, but it was an interesting class. (I knew a little of the stuff from working in hospital blood banks for several years).

Just wanted to let you all know that we had Match Day this past Thursday.  I matched in General Surgery, and got my #1 choice.  Looks like I will be staying here in Wichita for 5 more years.  

At the Range where I work as a R.O., we have a group of doctors that have been shooting together for over five years.

I guess if I was a trauma doctor at Ben Taub, I'd carry too. That place is a zoo.

I think that in general guns have become non-PC, but that will change. As crime gets worse and people become victims, then they will reconsider.

I like to see fathers bring their children out to the range and teach them how to handle firearms, it seems that is becoming taboo these days.

oh yeah, I'm here--- Family Practice in Michigan, went to University of Kentucky!!!

If you practice in rural locations, sometimes you end up talking guns more than you do medicine....

I am a paramedic, they call me Doc. Does that count too? [:)]. After having worked as a R.N. before in several hospitals(the last four years in the E.R.).

Most of my collegues know I am a shooter, they keep the opinions to theirselves. Never lost a discussion over firearms on the workplace.

Besides owning them, I am in the R.O. group at my local range.

I enjoy the look on my colleague’s face when I tell them about my latest firearm purchase.  Of course I also ride a motorcycle and fly, so they think I'm certifiable anyway.

Don't buy into the PC crap coming out of the preventive medicine community.  That's the source for the medical anti-gun bias.

Good luck in Surgery.  To cut is to cure, never let the skin get in the way of a diagnosis, the descending colon was made to be removed, and don't f*** with the pancreas.  Rules to live by.

SO.......when shooting to defend yourself,
you shoot the pancreas?
[:)]

Absolutely.  It causes autodigestion of their internal organs.  Nasty.

Also remember, all bleeding stops.

Damn,
ya learn sumthin new every day

Just remember Murphy's law of emergency medicine

1) Asystole is a very stable rhythm
2) All bleeding stops eventually
3) Be scared of the child that doesnt cry
4) CYA(cover your ass)
5) Dont drop a newborn baby, is so see rule #4
6) It's only the big fat whales that drive yugo's
7) the rule of two, two o'clock two flights of stairs and no elevator.
8) Tell death you cheat and you have 360 joules of kickass to prove it.
9) A gastric tube always goes tracheal, a tracheal tube always goes gastric when you need it the most.
10) An oxygen mask is not a source of entertainment.
11) Murphy is a Paramedic