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Reducing this “gunner” problem so curtly is
naïve. The underlying issue of even why many
of us feel so put off by the “gunners” is set in
a larger epidemic—one that rises above the
pressures of checking off boxes or crafting a
meticulous resumé—that pervades college
campuses across America. So, how can we
address what I call the “Pre-Med Mentality”—
this gunner mindset?
Before everyone is up in arms about my
critical analysis, I confess that I too am a premed
student. I’ve been guilty of all the things
I’m going to investigate, and I have struggled
to address them myself. I know full well the
burden of preparing for medical school. This
road is not easy, and working to correct the
mindset can be equally challenging. I get it.
But if we are dedicating ourselves to such a
noble profession, I would argue its
preparation must uphold an equally stringent
integrity. I also know pre-med students hail
from all corners of higher education, and I will
operate under the assumption that most of
these students are concentrated in the
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Other
majors and colleges contain pre-med
students, and the following lessons may also
apply to you, though more indirectly.
My encounters with the Pre-Med Mentality
(PMM) began as early as freshman year at
UConn. Growing up as the son of two
immigrants, I learned that a getting an
education—more importantly, a well-rounded
education—was as important as eating,
breathing, and sleeping. So, as a first-year
student I charted a course in liberal arts
education. English literature, economics,
psychology, anthropology, and philosophy
peppered my class schedule between biology,
chemistry, and physics. However, what I
envisioned as “breaks” among my
typical science courses quickly devolved into
“I-don’t-have-time- to-learn-that.” More often
than not, I resented completing my Logic
assignments in lieu of studying for organic
chemistry, which made (funnily enough)
more sense. Sophomore year blurred into
junior year as I struggled to balance my time
examining the scientific world with thinking
about the reasons why it even matters at all.
And, slowly, I realized that my desire to flesh
out my understanding of the world aside
from molecules and proteins had dwindled.
"a liberal arts education builds a
strong foundation for students
to become far better leaders"
I can hear you already saying, “But Matt, I
expect my doctor to be an exquisitely
trained professional. I couldn’t give two
hoots about her ability to understand Plato!”
And to a certain extent, you are right.
Shouldn’t we expect our exorbitantly-paid,
strung-out, supremely educated doctors to
perform at the highest level of clinical care?
I’m not arguing that they shouldn’t be. In
fact, I am arguing precisely in favor of your
sentiment. Medical institutions in other
countries believe in this model so much so
that they take their students straight from
high school. But I believe that a liberal arts
education builds a strong foundation for
students to become far better leaders in
medicine precisely because America prides
itself on a higher education system that
allows its students to formulate a vision of
the world and prepare them to be productive
members in it. To this end, the value of an
education in liberal arts prior to a highly
specialized training in medicine shapes us
into better practitioners, researchers, and
life-long learners.
To better illustrate, consider aspects of a
medical career that don’t immediately come
to mind. Take economics. Medicine in
America is a business, no matter how
obstinately we insist it ‘isn’t about the
money.’ Rather than burying our heads into
the sand, discerning how to run a business