students are stupid, too...

the head anatomy instructor came in before the thoracic lecture this morning and mentioned that there had been a lot of coughing during the practical exam yesterday. this coughing, he said, corresponded to the answers on the test. Morse code coughing, he called it. he said that if he caught anybody cheating he'd ensure that that person never practiced medicine.

i feel a bit dumbfounded by this news. i didn't hear any coughing. then again, we were split into two groups--one group in each lecture hall. so perhaps whatever he noticed was happening in the other room. but more to the point: what kind of idiot cheats in medical school?

then again, this class is a lot younger than last year's. [<--one of the downsides to a school getting older/becoming recognized is that the applicant pool shifts; more and more of those straight-A right out of college 21 year-olds end up in these seats versus those of us who were "old pre-meds" struggling to do things like work or raise children while taking classes and might not look as good on paper as a result.] the class is academically/paper smarter, but socially? well...the group is a bit lacking. i'm not saying these students are undeserving of being here. they've worked hard, too. but many of them still have that work hard party hard attitude that they've carried over from undergrad. they haven't had the immaturity beaten out of them by a job, family, grad school, etc. they still think it's cool to go out and get drunk after an exam.

[interior monologue: *ugh* get over it already!]

so i guess, given this sometimes immature attitude, i shouldn't be shocked at the notion that there are students who are cheating--but, goodness, you'd think they'd know better. it's not merely an incredibly bad idea. it's also something that took them time to cook up. time they could've spent learning the material straight up.

stupid students.