A Medical Student Trope

You know how in movies you see the plot progressing in a particular direction, and you can guess what is going to happen? This is because of what is called a trope. A trope is a literary concept—it’s the repetitive use of a word, plot device, or theme. It’s what makes your stories so enjoyable, even when you know what will happen. There are a lot of tropes; you have the love triangle, the paragon heroes, the magical otherworld, the Mary Sue, and even magic is a trope. The point I am trying to make is that a trope is usually unavoidable in a story or movie. Can it be avoided? Yes. Will creators avoid it? Yes, but then they realize they have simply subverted that trope into a new one or created a new trope. That’s a nice way to segue into what I have termed the "Medical Student Trope."

The Medical Student Trope, like every other trope, is something that will inevitably happen, and unlike many other tropes, it happens in real life. The Medical Student Trope is not just one trope—it is a collection of numerous tropes that define what a medical student is, what a medical student will do, and understanding this trope will give you a better insight into the psyche of a medical student. It should be mentioned that the tropes discussed in this article are based on the realities of students at the College of Medicine, Ibadan. Let’s get into it.

The first one we will look at is the "Ben Carson Impostor." This trope is gradually dying out for the simple reason that children do not read books as they once used to. This trope is simple: it starts when a child “genius” reads Ben Carson’s Gifted Hands and delusionally believes that he has what it takes to be the next Ben Carson. Many Nigerians are victims of this trope. The slightly-more-than-intelligent student pushes himself through medical school without even realizing his motivation is a book he read while he was defecating. The trope is further strengthened when he mindlessly announces to his parents that he wants to be a doctor. This sets him on a path that very few escape from. The Ben Carson Impostor usually ends up being a doctor but doesn’t know why he is one and has never taken the time to find out if he has other talents yet to be explored.

That was a little depressing—let's continue. The next trope is the "Medico’s Madness Syndrome." This is a trope that every student faces and is rarely ever subverted. It is just as it is named—a syndrome. A syndrome is a collection of symptoms that occur together; in the same sense, this trope is a collection of events that will inevitably occur together. It always begins the same way: the student swears before all his mates that he will be serious with his academics. He then proceeds to honor this vow for 2-3 days and then, like an addict, falls off the wagon. Somehow, he doesn’t pick himself back up until it is the exam period, and then he swears to the gods he does not believe in for academic success. To his credit, he does put in the work, and this is just another checkpoint in this trope. The excessive energy drink intake, simply because he cannot afford caffeinated coffee, and sleepless nights to cover months of work in 2-3 days—and because he is a medical student, he does cover it. Then, after he passes the exam by the skin of his teeth, he swears before all his mates again that he will be serious with his academics, and repeat.

The next trope occurs when a medical student somehow subverts the Medico’s Madness Syndrome. This student becomes what is known as the "Hyperstuffy Patient." This medical student has avoided the unseriousness that all medical students are cursed with and has dedicated time to reading. He has consumed Ninja Nerd, Dr. Najeeb, Dr. Adel Bondok, and every textbook necessary to pass the course. The only fault of this student is that he did not consume his lecturer’s words and slides enough. He begins to expel all this knowledge at various tutorials but comes to a painful realization: while he and the Medico’s Madness Syndrome victim are saying the same thing, the victim makes more sense than the patient. He begins to doubt his knowledge and hard work and transitions into the IDKA/IHRA student. These students are called this because of their favorite sayings: "I Don’t Know Anything" or "I Haven’t Read Anything." A truly pitiful case.

The final trope we will discuss is one termed "Other Goals." This medical student is extremely talented in one thing or another. He is a computer guru, a businessman, a crypto king, a singer, or an athlete—the point is, he is good at something else besides studying. Usually, these medical students are better than their peers in the same field for one simple reason: they are medical students. So why do they abandon their passion for medical school? The reason is simple: the much-coveted MBBS/BDS degree. For this reason alone, they either become the Hyperstuffy Patient, if they put their passions on the back burner, or the Medico’s Madness Syndrome victim if they decide to somehow balance their passion with medical school. Either way, it has become a more common trope in medical school.

The thing is, all the Medical Student Tropes can be subverted. This is real life, after all, and we are the authors of our own fate. We can decide not to follow a known plot and pave new ways. Will medical students do this? No. How do I know? Because this writer is following the Medical Student Trope as well. Also, because why change a formula that works?

Olajide Olamide