Am I the only one that is tired of all the Type A Personalities in medicine?

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Chequepues

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I'm applying to more of a laid-back specialty and so now that I'm done with interviews and doing core rotations again the insane 'Type A' personalities in the rest of the medical world have become even more noticeable. I feel like I'm slowly going nuts being surrounded by these personalities - from attendings, residents to other medical students.

Does anyone else feel this way? Please tell me I'm not the only one...
 
I'm an incoming M1 and am curious about this as well. While most of the kids I've met that got accepted have been relatively chill, I do know one person who was a walking hernia waiting to happen. Whenever I see them, I feel stress FOR them; like the stress radiates out of their body and pollutes the environment. For those of you in school, what would you say the ratio of type A to type B personalities is in medicine?
 
As one of those type A people, I definitely get why it can be annoying. I think you just gotta find your people and focus on yourself, and forget what everyone else is doing. Easier said than done, I know. 😛
 
My sister is a type B and she can't stand all the type As. It's a shame we don't have diversity of personality in medicine. I'm hoping it's not as bad when I start medical school.
 
mspprovider said:
I'm an incoming M1 and am curious about this as well. While most of the kids I've met that got accepted have been relatively chill, I do know one person who was a walking hernia waiting to happen. Whenever I see them, I feel stress FOR them; like the stress radiates out of their body and pollutes the environment. For those of you in school, what would you say the ratio of type A to type B personalities is in medicine?
Click to expand...
They just have not come out yet...
 
lol I feel like a low life when I compare myself to some of my gunner type A friends. I try not to really mind them though. I'm a lot more relaxed and don't stress nearly as much as they do, and we're still in the same spot.
 
I hear y'all. On top of my type B personality, I am also an introvert with a degree of social anxiety. But I also pine to work in a specialty with close contact patient care! Now who woulda thunk? I will definitely have my hands full figuring out that can of worms after I matriculate this year.
 
No, I'm just sick of gunners and rude people. Type A doesn't necessarily make you rude. Sure some people take their worrying nature and dump that load onto anyone within reach, but just because you are a bit neurotic doesn't mean you are necessarily a gunner/rude.
 
Mr Donald Mouse said:
My sister is a type B and she can't stand all the type As. It's a shame we don't have diversity of personality in medicine. I'm hoping it's not as bad when I start medical school.
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lol, I remember thinking the same thing. The first few weeks of medical school was pretty rough from a personality standpoint. Come to think of it, of the handful of type B personalities in my class, three of them quit. Didn't fail out, just quit. I think it can take a toll on people when the entire culture is built around that mentality. Although dealing with these personalities has been one of the hardest parts of medical school, I'm very happy I chose to study medicine so that I can eventually practice in my desired specialty.

mspprovider said:
I'm an incoming M1 and am curious about this as well. While most of the kids I've met that got accepted have been relatively chill, I do know one person who was a walking hernia waiting to happen. Whenever I see them, I feel stress FOR them; like the stress radiates out of their body and pollutes the environment. For those of you in school, what would you say the ratio of type A to type B personalities is in medicine?
Click to expand...

I don't know the ratio, but it's a lot. I'm sure you'll be able to find plenty of like-minded people during medical school though. Rotations were the hardest part for me because it's not always easy to find 'your' people. On some rotations I have felt like I'm on another planet being surrounded by uptight, rigid, stressed out, impatient people all day. That's not to say that type B personalities don't have their flaws too, but I just think it's important to be around people that you can relate to for the sake of your sanity.
 
Many studies have concluded that Type A's have higher divorce rates, higher chance of malpractice cases brought against them (and losing them), and probably higher job dis-satisfaction in the long term.

So have faith --- Type B usually wins in the end 😉
 
There is this girl in my class that keeps whining about every other thing in medschool. After a certain point this gets so annoying, and these people spread their stress to everyone in the group lol.
And mind you all these complainers are the top students and here I am, a type B, totally happy being an average student. :nod:
 
muscarinic said:
There is this girl in my class that keeps whining about every other thing in medschool. After a certain point this gets so annoying, and these people spread their stress to everyone in the group lol.
And mind you all these complainers are the top students and here I am, a type B, totally happy being an average student. :nod:
Click to expand...

Gut feeling -- and numerous studies -- tells me that you're going to end up a better, more personable doctor than that Type A whiner 😛
 
eteshoe said:
I'm a type AB personality
Click to expand...

Positive or negative?

vernhart said:
No, I'm just sick of gunners and rude people. Type A doesn't necessarily make you rude. Sure some people take their worrying nature and dump that load onto anyone within reach, but just because you are a bit neurotic doesn't mean you are necessarily a gunner/rude.
Click to expand...

Yes. I've had a few Type A attendings who were by far my favorites because they were walking encyclopedias who just liked to constantly spew out relevant knowledge. I feel like I've done far better during 4th year because they helped me feel more confident about how to actually be a physician. Not saying the type B people I had weren't also intelligent, but sometimes getting them to share their knowledge was a little more difficult and required asking the right questions.
 
Its just a poorly defined term. Some people would probably argue that every single person who managed to even get in to a US med school is almost necessarily type A.
 
Newyawk said:
Its just a poorly defined term. Some people would probably argue that every single person who managed to even get in to a US med school is almost necessarily type A.
Click to expand...
One can definitely make that argument. I go to a bottom 20 US med school and I think ~80% of my class are type A. I was labeled as the 'don't care' med student when we have time consuming group projects that worth 1% of our final grade for whatever class...
 
Lol I feel you OP. I thought I was type A, then I met my classmates...talking AA energizer bunny types

Actually the personalities that I saw in many med students made me worry that medicine may not be the right field for me, not sure I would fit in with my colleagues. My advisor assured me that I would be able to find my niche in medicine and that the early to mid twenty year olds in my class would likely mature a at least a little before its all over lol.

FWIW, I think I am still pretty type A- very organized, 15 minutes early or I'm late, etc (or maybe "type AB" like someone else joked), but being type A doesn't mean you have to be a ball of anxiety all the time. I just try to do me and not worry about what everyone else is doing.
 
Newyawk said:
Its just a poorly defined term. Some people would probably argue that every single person who managed to even get in to a US med school is almost necessarily type A.
Click to expand...

Yea I always describe the vast majority of medstudents as type A at baseline but in a relative sense, some of us have more B than others
 
Vrachika said:
Lol I feel you OP. I thought I was type A, then I met my classmates...talking AA energizer bunny types

Actually the personalities that I saw in many med students made me worry that medicine may not be the right field for me, not sure I would fit in with my colleagues. My advisor assured me that I would be able to find my niche in medicine and that the early to mid twenty year olds in my class would likely mature a at least a little before its all over lol.

FWIW, I think I am still pretty type A- very organized, 15 minutes early or I'm late, etc (or maybe "type AB" like someone else joked), but being type A doesn't mean you have to be a ball of anxiety all the time. I just try to do me and not worry about what everyone else is doing.
Click to expand...
I can relate to this, haha. You make a good point though, I never really considered myself the opposite of type A until medical school and so maybe that extreme has made me feel more type B than I actually am. But I have a feeling most people who know me would call me type B (I’m almost always late and have a pretty nonchalant attitude about most things). I’ve definitely worked on the former but I think the latter can be really upsetting to some people in medicine.
 
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