Too quiet = Fail? Acting fake = pass?

[melancholic]

Ok, so although I'm studying vet med I thought this would still be a relevant place to ask since rotations are pretty similar.

I'm starting rotations soon, and i'm concerned that my lack of communication will be my downfall. Now it's not that I can't be social, I have handpicked people that I call friends. It's just that it's a lot of effort to talk to random people and it bores me. Depending on who i've been around, i've been called rude, arrogant, aloof, shy, and apparently I treat people with disdain? The annoying thing is that I can't really argue against this, because the truth would probably cause more problems. Also, I know that I know the answers and If I don't then I'll ask or go and find out, but I find the concept of having to fight with your peers for the attention to prove it beneath me.

If I told the truth it would sound like this: "I only speak when I feel that I have something interesting to say, or I can add something to the conversation. To be honest I don't really care about your life, or the client's annoying stories about their life. Apart from some minor variations I've heard it all before. It is torture to have to pretend otherwise. It is not my fault that you are uncomfortable with silence and so project your insecurities onto me. It's fine if other people want to drone on about mindless drivel, but why do I have to get involved? I guess a big problem is that I exist in a near constant state of apathy, and so I don't really care about talking to people or much else to be honest."

Now if I said that, it wouldn't go down very well. I can act, but to me it sounds very insincere and I don't see why I should have to just for the benefit of others. Of course I will answer questions if I get asked them and things like that, but when you have people who just talk and talk and talk, I'm going to sound like the shy and quiet one, and it is really annoying that people think that. Because then I have to pretend to listen to their BS life coaching and be grateful for their 'words of wisdom'. I admit I have a slight superiority complex and I do look down on unintelligent people. It's a shame that the majority of the human race are in fact unintelligent and therefore highly irritating.

So what do I do? I'm fine with being myself but if it's going to cause me to fail rotations it's obviously a problem for me. But seriously if one more person says I'm too quiet i'm going to just say "No honey, Your just not that interesting, I don't want to talk to you, deal with it."

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[QuizzicalApe]

You don't have to be a chatterbox, but if you can't function as a contributing and communicative member of the team, you're not going to get an amazing evaluation. You'll need to be able interact with and establish positive relationships with your patients (or, I suppose in your case, the owners of your patients). If you can't do that, you make your supervisor and your institution look bad, and your grades will suffer for it.

Being smart is good, but there is more to it at this stage. You should try to be an OK human being.

You've already recognized that you seem to have your head up your ass, so disimpacting yourself should be a goal.

 

[ruralsurg4now]

You won't fail a rotation for being quiet. You may not honors it, but nobody would fail you. That may not sound great, either, but that's reality and most likely you won't be able to change who you are anyways. If you were the type of person who was into "faking being social," you'd just do it rather than ask anyone about it. You'll see there are people who do fake it and they don't even blink an eye at it. That's because they're fake people to begin with.

Unfortunately, you are right -- there are some people who interpret silence as arrogance because they think you're being aloof because they're not "worth" talking to. You'll just have to decide whether you want to accommodate their insecurities by faking it. Like I said, in general, that's hard to keep up if you aren't into it.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Ok, so although I'm studying vet med I thought this would still be a relevant place to ask since rotations are pretty similar.

I'm starting rotations soon, and i'm concerned that my lack of communication will be my downfall. Now it's not that I can't be social, I have handpicked people that I call friends. It's just that it's a lot of effort to talk to random people and it bores me. Depending on who i've been around, i've been called rude, arrogant, aloof, shy, and apparently I treat people with disdain? The annoying thing is that I can't really argue against this, because the truth would probably cause more problems. Also, I know that I know the answers and If I don't then I'll ask or go and find out, but I find the concept of having to fight with your peers for the attention to prove it beneath me.

If I told the truth it would sound like this: "I only speak when I feel that I have something interesting to say, or I can add something to the conversation. To be honest I don't really care about your life, or the client's annoying stories about their life. Apart from some minor variations I've heard it all before. It is torture to have to pretend otherwise. It is not my fault that you are uncomfortable with silence and so project your insecurities onto me. It's fine if other people want to drone on about mindless drivel, but why do I have to get involved? I guess a big problem is that I exist in a near constant state of apathy, and so I don't really care about talking to people or much else to be honest."

Now if I said that, it wouldn't go down very well. I can act, but to me it sounds very insincere and I don't see why I should have to just for the benefit of others. Of course I will answer questions if I get asked them and things like that, but when you have people who just talk and talk and talk, I'm going to sound like the shy and quiet one, and it is really annoying that people think that. Because then I have to pretend to listen to their BS life coaching and be grateful for their 'words of wisdom'. I admit I have a slight superiority complex and I do look down on unintelligent people. It's a shame that the majority of the human race are in fact unintelligent and therefore highly irritating.

So what do I do? I'm fine with being myself but if it's going to cause me to fail rotations it's obviously a problem for me. But seriously if one more person says I'm too quiet i'm going to just say "No honey, Your just not that interesting, I don't want to talk to you, deal with it."

Going by this post, you are kind of an arrogant @ss, so I think you will be evaluated very fairly, all things considered.

 

[melancholic]

You don't have to be a chatterbox, but if you can't function as a contributing and communicative member of the team, you're not going to get an amazing evaluation. You'll need to be able interact with and establish positive relationships with your patients (or, I suppose in your case, the owners of your patients). If you can't do that, you make your supervisor and your institution look bad, and your grades will suffer for it.

Being smart is good, but there is more to it at this stage. You should try to be an OK human being.

You've already recognized that you seem to have your head up your ass, so disimpacting yourself should be a goal.

Funnily enough a clinician has said this to me before. But what constitutes acting like a human being? The majority of people act worse than apes, so basically people expect me to dumb myself down to their level? I already had to fake it during school, and to be fair it worked pretty well. But now that i'm 22 and I guess an adult, people should be secure enough to be individuals, and not act in such a herd mentality. This is the reason I had to become a vet and not a doctor, because I'm just not a humanist. I asked myself; why did I want to be a doctor? And the answer was not to help people, but instead gain the prestige and do interesting things. I actually care about animals so I thought being a vet would be better, but instead the majority of it is dealing with the egos of colleagues and the stupidness of clients. Although on the plus side a cow rectal is much better than doing a rectal on a 300lb human/whale hybrid.

Going by this post, you are kind of an arrogant @ss, so I think you will be evaluated very fairly, all things considered.

But the point is that i'm not being evaluated fairly. I work to get top grade marks in my exams, so why should I get mediocre evaluations just because I don't play kiss-@ss. I don't see myself as arrogant, I see myself as honest. I guess for rotations i'll just have to play the game. Again.

 

[ruralsurg4now]

I can't tell if you're being more honest than most people on this forum or if you're trolling.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Funnily enough a clinician has said this to me before. But what constitutes acting like a human being? The majority of people act worse than apes, so basically people expect me to dumb myself down to their level? I already had to fake it during school, and to be fair it worked pretty well. But now that i'm 22 and I guess an adult, people should be secure enough to be individuals, and not act in such a herd mentality. This is the reason I had to become a vet and not a doctor, because I'm just not a humanist. I asked myself; why did I want to be a doctor? And the answer was not to help people, but instead gain the prestige and do interesting things. I actually care about animals so I thought being a vet would be better, but instead the majority of it is dealing with the egos of colleagues and the stupidness of clients. Although on the plus side a cow rectal is much better than doing a rectal on a 300lb human/whale hybrid.



But the point is that i'm not being evaluated fairly. I work to get top grade marks in my exams, so why should I get mediocre evaluations just because I don't play kiss-@ss. I don't see myself as arrogant, I see myself as honest. I guess for rotations i'll just have to play the game. Again.

It's not just a game. If you do not build rapport with your colleagues, you will not get the assistance you need during your training and as an attending. If you do not build relationships with your patient, you will not get all the information you need to help deal with their problem. The medical history - which in large part depends on your patient interactions - is the most important information in developing a differential diagnosis. Not to mention, if you do not have a human relationship with your patients, you will get sued whenever you make a mistake (and you will).

So being a normal human being is not just about making for a pleasant workplace, it's because it's essential for the practice of medicine. If you don't care about these things, perhaps you should work in a research lab, and even there, relationships with lab personnel and other researchers are very important.

 

[Top Gun]

Didn't you realize before you chose to do veterinary medicine that there would still be plenty of interaction with other people (in your case, pet owners)? How are you going to function as a vet if you're not willing to interact with others? You can't exactly ask a dog or cat questions and expect to have them answered, unless by some miracle they've developed the power of human speech. You'll also have to interact with other staff, such as veterinary technicians, in order to get things done. I think you might have been better suited to something like research where there is not as much interaction with others.

 

[melancholic]

Didn't you realize before you chose to do veterinary medicine that there would still be plenty of interaction with other people (in your case, pet owners)? How are you going to function as a vet if you're not willing to interact with others? You can't exactly ask a dog or cat questions and expect to have them answered, unless by some miracle they've developed the power of human speech. You'll also have to interact with other staff, such as veterinary technicians, in order to get things done. I think you might have been better suited to something like research where there is not as much interaction with others.

I may not be willing to interact, but that doesn't mean I can't. I can turn on the charm and be nice if i have to. As for asking owners about their animals, I might as well be speaking to the animals themselves. 90% of them just drone on about things completely unrelated, and when asked about specifics, they don't even have the capacity to understand and answer correctly e.g.

Me: Has your dog been drinking more than usual?

Owner: Huh? It drinks from the pond outside so I dunno.

Me: Thank you, that's very helpful.

But that's besides the point, the thread was about how talkative you have to be to get a good evaluation.

Research is not exactly the greatest thing in the world, and I'm not spending all this time and money to do research for the rest of my life. I think if you asked most doctors/vets, they would agree that people are the most frustrating part.

Like I said before, I'll just play the game and humour peoples insecurities. It may be tiresome, but obviously the human race is still immature and everyone needs to feel 'loved', and so it's a necessity.
Let's just hope that I don't crack. (joke)

 

[Kevin Baker]

Medicine, especially vet med, is a business and if you want repeat customers you'll want good customer service. Sometimes/all the time that means "playing the game" and "humoring people's insecurities". It's funny how much more of a history one can get when there is a connection with the patient or historian.

You also need to learn this skill to take a good H&P. If your patient's historians are droning on about inane stuff you need to be comfortable speaking up and redirecting them.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

Going by this post, you are an arrogant @ss, so I think you will be evaluated very fairly, all things considered.

FTFY

Plan on having a very unsuccessful business in the cash only practice that is veterinary medicine if you can't hold a conversation well enough to pass your rotations. Unfortunately for you, people aren't going to be "forced" into seeing you because you're the only guy in town who accepts their insurance. This is like asking "do I have to be nice to my customers if I own a cupcake shop?".

Also, sorry to break it to you bud but "veterinarian" is way further down on the prestige ladder than "physician". People become vets because they genuinely love taking care of animals and interacting with owners, not so they can tell everyone they're a veterinarian at a cocktail party.

 

[melancholic]

FTFY

Plan on having a very unsuccessful business in the cash only practice that is veterinary medicine if you can't hold a conversation well enough to pass your rotations. Unfortunately for you, people aren't going to be "forced" into seeing you because you're the only guy in town who accepts their insurance. This is like asking "do I have to be nice to my customers if I own a cupcake shop?".

Also, sorry to break it to you bud but "veterinarian" is way further down on the prestige ladder than "physician". People become vets because they genuinely love taking care of animals and interacting with owners, not so they can tell everyone they're a veterinarian at a cocktail party.

How pretentious are you? I never said being a vet was 'prestigious', maybe learn to read. As for it being way further down than a doctor, I live in England. A lot of people have respect for vets. It's actually harder to get into vet school than med school and everyone knows it. I don't know what it's like in 'Illinois' and quite frankly I don't care. I hate to break it to you, but the opinions in america does accurately reflect the opinions in the rest of the world. So please step down from your false pedestal.

For someone in the medical field, I would expect you to have a bit more knowledge and class.

As for having a bad 'business', I don't want to own a general practice, i'm going to specialise and work in a referral hospital. Do you think all vets are just business owners? I don't see why you felt the need to go off topic and try to bash vets.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

How pretentious are you? I never said being a vet was 'prestigious', maybe learn to read. As for it being way further down than a doctor, I live in England. A lot of people have respect for vets. It's actually harder to get into vet school than med school and everyone knows it. I don't know what it's like in 'Illinois' and quite frankly I don't care. I hate to break it to you, but the opinions in america does accurately reflect the opinions in the rest of the world. So please step down from your false pedestal.

For someone in the medical field, I would expect you to have a bit more knowledge and class.

As for having a bad 'business', I don't want to own a general practice, i'm going to specialise and work in a referral hospital. Do you think all vets are just business owners? I don't see why you felt the need to go off topic and try to bash vets.

I asked myself; why did I want to be a doctor? And the answer was not to help people, but instead gain the prestige and do interesting things. I actually care about animals so I thought being a vet would be better, but instead the majority of it is dealing with the egos of colleagues and the stupidness of clients.

No no bud you're right, I'm the pretentious one here.

Is there a reason you put "Illinois" in quotes? Do you not know what "Illinois" is? With your extreme intelligence and disdain for the idiot public, that would surprise me very much.

I'm glad the opinions in american does accurately reflect the opinions in the rest of the world though. I knew my Americentrism would pay off someday.

There's nothing bashing veterinarians at all in my post. Maybe learn to read.

Good luck specializing with your terrible rotation grades.

 

[Top Gun]

You know what, I call troll on this. Congratulations OP, you've successfully managed to bait all of us.

 

[melancholic]

No no bud you're right, I'm the pretentious one here.

Is there a reason you put "Illinois" in quotes? Do you not know what "Illinois" is? With your extreme intelligence and disdain for the idiot public, that would surprise me very much.

I'm glad the opinions in american does accurately reflect the opinions in the rest of the world though. I knew my Americentrism would pay off someday.

There's nothing bashing veterinarians at all in my post. Maybe learn to read.

Good luck specializing with your terrible rotation grades.

I put Illinois in quotes because I found it funny that you expect me to believe the opinions of someone from such a state are facts. I don't know why I even bothered to reply to you. Arguing against "americentrism" is such a dull and pointless task. I have nothing against america but the fact you think the opinions of america is reflective of the world says it all really. Have you actually ever been outside your bubble of a country? Might be an eye opener for you. I've been to many countries including america and I can assure you that america is somewhat self-absorbed compared to the rest. But that is irrelevant to this thread.

I don't see why you deemed it necessary to hijack it just to say in your own words; " A veterinarian is way further down on the prestige ladder than a physician" How rude and ignorant.

As for my rotation grades, I expect that they'll accurately reflect my ability, therefore they will be far from terrible. But thanks for the luck. Not that I need luck from someone that is so clearly delusional.

You know what, I call troll on this. Congratulations OP, you've successfully managed to bait all of us.

I don't see why you think I'm a troll. I haven't said anything controversial or horrible just for the sake of it.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

Well OP, seeing as there's nothing to actually respond to in your last post, I think you've pretty much gotten your answer from this thread.

 

[melancholic]

Well OP, seeing as there's nothing to actually respond to in your last post, I think you've pretty much gotten your answer from this thread.

You can't really respond to the truth so I didn't expect anything else.

I have gained all there is from this thread. Thank you to the people who replied with relevant answers. As for the rest I wish you good luck in whatever you do, even if you are rude and are clearly not as courteous as I.

 

[MerickManual]

If it makes you feel better, OP, I had a hard time socializing with people due to shyness when I first started out. But then once I had more exposure it boosted my confidence and got me used to talking. Granted it doesn't sound like you have confidence problems, but maybe once you're exposed to a different side of life you'll become more accustomed to the conversations.

 

[rohirette]

I see that you haven't figured out it is in your best interest to add social graces and compassion to you repertoire of skills. Not because it is "nice," but because non brainiacs will determine much of your personal and professional success. Your business relationships will suffer for neglecting interpersonal skill (and that is what we are talking about, make no mistake.)

Many of us here are quite intelligent, and deal with stupidity aggravation. We've either developed some appreciation for their other good qualities or subsume the apathy in favor of preserving our reputations as emotionally intelligent professionals.

Go read some Goleman.

 

[evilbooyaa]

You can't really respond to the truth so I didn't expect anything else.

I have gained all there is from this thread. Thank you to the people who replied with relevant answers. As for the rest I wish you good luck in whatever you do, even if you are rude and are clearly not as courteous as I.

LOL. Had a good laugh over that bit. I don't understand why you are so surprised that you would have to be able to deal with humans when you decided to become a vet. Rotation grades are not only based on whether you know your stuff. You have to be a receptive individual. If you are not that way in real life, then you better be prepared to fake it. Regardless of whether you're caring for an animal or a person, it's still a customer-driven practice. Which necessitates being personable.

 

[Modeselektor]

Just start trying to be more sociable. There's a few books out there too. Go to events, start talking to bro's at the gym, shoot the ****. I was this way before but I got over all of it. Like has been mentioned before: you want return customers. Someone with half your knowledge and double your charisma is gonna rake in 4x the cash.

Drink beer, watch ufc. Realize being smart ain't all there is to life. Learn to enjoy the average joe's company.

 

[shenanigi]

Act awesome. Will prosper.

 

[MalachiConstant]

Ok, so although I'm studying vet med I thought this would still be a relevant place to ask since rotations are pretty similar.

I'm starting rotations soon, and i'm concerned that my lack of communication will be my downfall. Now it's not that I can't be social, I have handpicked people that I call friends. It's just that it's a lot of effort to talk to random people and it bores me. Depending on who i've been around, i've been called rude, arrogant, aloof, shy, and apparently I treat people with disdain? The annoying thing is that I can't really argue against this, because the truth would probably cause more problems. Also, I know that I know the answers and If I don't then I'll ask or go and find out, but I find the concept of having to fight with your peers for the attention to prove it beneath me.

If I told the truth it would sound like this: "I only speak when I feel that I have something interesting to say, or I can add something to the conversation. To be honest I don't really care about your life, or the client's annoying stories about their life. Apart from some minor variations I've heard it all before. It is torture to have to pretend otherwise. It is not my fault that you are uncomfortable with silence and so project your insecurities onto me. It's fine if other people want to drone on about mindless drivel, but why do I have to get involved? I guess a big problem is that I exist in a near constant state of apathy, and so I don't really care about talking to people or much else to be honest."

Now if I said that, it wouldn't go down very well. I can act, but to me it sounds very insincere and I don't see why I should have to just for the benefit of others. Of course I will answer questions if I get asked them and things like that, but when you have people who just talk and talk and talk, I'm going to sound like the shy and quiet one, and it is really annoying that people think that. Because then I have to pretend to listen to their BS life coaching and be grateful for their 'words of wisdom'. I admit I have a slight superiority complex and I do look down on unintelligent people. It's a shame that the majority of the human race are in fact unintelligent and therefore highly irritating.

So what do I do? I'm fine with being myself but if it's going to cause me to fail rotations it's obviously a problem for me. But seriously if one more person says I'm too quiet i'm going to just say "No honey, Your just not that interesting, I don't want to talk to you, deal with it."

I don't know if you've ever taken the meyers briggs type indicator test, but you sound very INTJ. You just have to figure out what it is you want (in this case grades on rotations) and do the cost benefit analysis to see if it's worth playing the game. It is insincere, and it can be taxing to do so, but my guess is you're pretty analytical. Watch the social butterflies and copy a few of their more effective behaviors. Think of it as benign social engineering if that helps.

Most of the advice here doesn't seem particularly tailored to your personality, though I will second the suggestion of drinking beer and watching UFC. These 2 things are awesome.

 

[DermViser]

Ok, so although I'm studying vet med I thought this would still be a relevant place to ask since rotations are pretty similar.

I'm starting rotations soon, and i'm concerned that my lack of communication will be my downfall. Now it's not that I can't be social, I have handpicked people that I call friends. It's just that it's a lot of effort to talk to random people and it bores me. Depending on who i've been around, i've been called rude, arrogant, aloof, shy, and apparently I treat people with disdain? The annoying thing is that I can't really argue against this, because the truth would probably cause more problems. Also, I know that I know the answers and If I don't then I'll ask or go and find out, but I find the concept of having to fight with your peers for the attention to prove it beneath me.

If I told the truth it would sound like this: "I only speak when I feel that I have something interesting to say, or I can add something to the conversation. To be honest I don't really care about your life, or the client's annoying stories about their life. Apart from some minor variations I've heard it all before. It is torture to have to pretend otherwise. It is not my fault that you are uncomfortable with silence and so project your insecurities onto me. It's fine if other people want to drone on about mindless drivel, but why do I have to get involved? I guess a big problem is that I exist in a near constant state of apathy, and so I don't really care about talking to people or much else to be honest."

Now if I said that, it wouldn't go down very well. I can act, but to me it sounds very insincere and I don't see why I should have to just for the benefit of others. Of course I will answer questions if I get asked them and things like that, but when you have people who just talk and talk and talk, I'm going to sound like the shy and quiet one, and it is really annoying that people think that. Because then I have to pretend to listen to their BS life coaching and be grateful for their 'words of wisdom'. I admit I have a slight superiority complex and I do look down on unintelligent people. It's a shame that the majority of the human race are in fact unintelligent and therefore highly irritating.

So what do I do? I'm fine with being myself but if it's going to cause me to fail rotations it's obviously a problem for me. But seriously if one more person says I'm too quiet i'm going to just say "No honey, Your just not that interesting, I don't want to talk to you, deal with it."

You enter a profession in which you have to interact with humans (pet owners), and are shocked that inability to interact, outside of just spouting knowledge like you do on exams, with people will hurt you? Good Luck!

 

[Elisabeth Kate]

I admit I have a slight superiority complex and I do look down on unintelligent people. It's a shame that the majority of the human race are in fact unintelligent and therefore highly irritating.

To be honest I don't really care about your life, or the client's annoying stories about their life.

i've been called rude, arrogant, aloof, shy, and apparently I treat people with disdain?

Can't imagine why you'd have problems. Frankly, you come across as an arrogant and annoying snob with his/her nose in the air. And yes, I can see why someone would say you treat people with disdain. You seem disgusted by anyone you don't sense is "at your level." Part of grading on clerkships is about personality. That's just the way it is. You have to have a somewhat pleasant bedside manner and honestly, judging by what you've told us, I can't imagine you being pleasant to anyone but those you deem equals.

 

[Railes1]

But the point is that i'm not being evaluated fairly. I work to get top grade marks in my exams, so why should I get mediocre evaluations just because I don't play kiss-@ss.

Err, because getting top grade marks in your exams is about recall of knowledge. Getting a good evaluation on your clerkship is about recall of knowledge, AND a load of other things..which you're apparently terrible at

As for having a bad 'business', I don't want to own a general practice, i'm going to specialise and work in a referral hospital.

dude..good luck with that if you find people less intelligent than you "highly irritating"

As for my rotation grades, I expect that they'll accurately reflect my ability, therefore they will be far from terrible. But thanks for the luck. Not that I need luck from someone that is so clearly delusional.

As above

 

[medstudent7860]

My situation is different because I care about humans but am shy and introverted. Especially after having had to study for so long. I'm starting my clinical rotations soon and that has been a concern of mine. I am quiet and sometimes even get nervous during presentations to attendings/stutter. I hope this is something that can be improved with practice. Anyone have any thoughts/advice on this?

 

[hmockingbird]

My situation is different because I care about humans but am shy and introverted. Especially after having had to study for so long. I'm starting my clinical rotations soon and that has been a concern of mine. I am quiet and sometimes even get nervous during presentations to attendings/stutter. I hope this is something that can be improved with practice. Anyone have any thoughts/advice on this?

I'm pretty quiet IRL and I had a bunch of extremely awkward encounters with SPs so I was worried about rotations. It was a lot better than I thought. First of all, with patients, you know (generally) what you need to ask, so the conversation is already laid out for you! At worst it will be awkward at first, but a lot of patients are outgoing, and it's easier to find topics for small talk IRL than with SPs, at least for me... you can talk about what they are eating for breakfast when you ask about their diet, and stuff like that. Plus there are only so many ways you can respond to typical answers ("I'm glad you're feeling better", "sorry about the pain", etc), so you don't have to really struggle to find ways to continue the conversation. When you see the same patients over a few days, you get to know them better and that's easier than walking in cold. I also think a lot of my nerves from the SP encounters were from feeling "watched", I was like just really on my guard knowing I would be graded on my personality. On the first day of rotations, with a real patient, a) I had no choice so I just had to go in there and do it, and b) it was kind-of a relief knowing there wouldn't be an evaluator in there. As for presenting, I actually enjoy public speaking. So I don't get really nervous... but it's REALLY common. Some of the most confident and outgoing people in my class have been very nervous presenting. Same with some interns I think it will just get better through the year as you get used to it and get more experience, or you could maybe find a way to work on public speaking skills? (YouTube?)

I'm on surgery so we don't really have a lot of downtime for small talk but just be nice/friendly. Introduce yourself to everyone in the room, smile (when appropriate), offer to help (or once you know the rotation better, just be proactive with things you know you can do), know your patients, and most of the time that's all you need to do. I have only been doing this a month, and I already feel a lot more confident. We also had to do an SPE for my rotation, and I did a lot better on it because after doing real exams for a month, it was almost just on autopilot for me. I was able to mostly forget that I was being graded or "watched" because I had been "practicing" doing this type of thing for the past month. Hope that helps or encourages you!

 

[caxoo]

If you don't have the ability to navigate social surroundings, it's not just a "personality trait" or the fact that everyone else around you is just dumb. Plenty of ridiculously smart people are still able to maintain their presence in a conversation, so clearly you're not as smart as you think. The simple fact of the matter is that you lack social skills, and it is a weakness to be redressed, not an aspect of your personality that you can't, or won't, change. The sooner you realize this, the sooner you will shift your paradigm and start working to improve yourself, which will help you in the long run

 

[ImhotepIII]

People like this scare me, why would you choose a career path where you have to be somewhat of a people/animal person and have to show compassion to other (pet owners, team members etc...). If you honestly feel that way, then pick a different career, the last thing I'd want to deal with is someone with a false superiority complex when finding out my pet is going to be put down or something of that nature.

 

[DermViser]

People like this scare me, why would you choose a career path where you have to be somewhat of a people/animal person and have to show compassion to other (pet owners, team members etc...). If you honestly feel that way, then pick a different career, the last thing I'd want to deal with is someone with a false superiority complex when finding out my pet is going to be put down or something of that nature.

How is being quiet equate to false superiority complex?

 

[DermViser]

If you don't have the ability to navigate social surroundings, it's not just a "personality trait" or the fact that everyone else around you is just dumb. Plenty of ridiculously smart people are still able to maintain their presence in a conversation, so clearly you're not as smart as you think. The simple fact of the matter is that you lack social skills, and it is a weakness to be redressed, not an aspect of your personality that you can't, or won't, change. The sooner you realize this, the sooner you will shift your paradigm and start working to improve yourself, which will help you in the long run

And as a premed how would you know what is the proper behavior on clinical rotations each one that is different?

 

[caxoo]

And as a premed how would you know what is the proper behavior on clinical rotations each one that is different?

I am not talking about medicine, but about life in general

edit: In addition, I see few professions where social skills wouldn't at least help, so it would probably extend to many specialties in medicine anyway