Autism and Radiology

[autdoc]

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I'm 22 years old and am considering becoming a radiologist. I have always had a fascination (obsession) with photography, x-rays and anything similar.

As you can probably guess I have autism (and am obviously high-functioning). 😱

I have been doing various things on and off since 18 but am thinking of enrolling in college in the fall to pursue my BA in Studio Art with a concentration in photography and my BS in Biology and also attending and graduating from the honors college. I am intelligent and know that I will have no problem maintaining a high GPA if I actually do my work and show up to class. I took honors and AP classes in high school, had over a 4.0 GPA, but I got bored, dropped out, earned my GED and have been a starving artist for a few years. I also made the highest score in my state on the GED. And since I am 21 or older I can attend the local college instead of attending the technical college and then transferring.

I am very interested (obsessed) with radiology and am very interested in becoming a radiologist.

I know I would be an excellent radiologist because I am a purely visual person, thrive on solitude and am excellent with technology. I have also always had an interest in medicine and anatomy and physiology in particular. And I would love it.

I have an excellent relationship with a doctor who is an alumni at the local medical university where I live and know that he could help me with the "required" "shadowing," volunteer work and whatnot. I'm not too good with the typical touchy-feely volunteer work but would be excellent with any type of filing or organizing or whatever. He and I are going to talk soon and see what we can work out.

I would be the stereotypical radiologist spending all day at the computer interpreting images and having minimal patient contact. The intellectual aspects, the problem solving, the minimal patient contact, the highly visual aspects, the technology: this all greatly excites me!

I want to know:

1) Which area of radiology has the least amount of patient contact? I've read that it is diagnostic radiology but I have no experience so I really have no idea. Obviously, people is a very weak point. If I could just be left at a computer all day to interpret images I would be super-radiologist.

2) Do you think that a person with high-functioning autism could survive medical school and radiology residency? My biggest problem is interacting with other people and I know that this will be very unfavorable for me but the area I am interested in pursuing involves very little patient contact so I'm not sure why it would matter much.

3) Do you think medical schools would look favorably upon my fine arts degrees? They must get tired of the cut-and-dry bio and chem degrees and are probably happy to see someone who is more well rounded. I am hoping so anyway.

Thanks! 🙂

 

[Morsetlis]

3.) Yes. However, you need to show that you've done well in pre-med pre-reqs.

I applaud you for going into medicine for the express goal of radiology! We need more people like this.

 

[UofT9919]

3.) Yes. However, you need to show that you've done well in pre-med pre-reqs.

I applaud you for going into medicine for the express goal of radiology! We need more people like this.

I sense sarcasm lol

 

[cliffhuxtableDO]

Before you pick a speciality you need to start college... then do very well in college... then do all the necessary EC's... then do well on the MCAT... then get accepted to medical school... then do well in med school... then do well on the boards... then match...

One thing at a time my friend. Keep the good attitude though.

 

[Morsetlis]

I sense sarcasm lol

Not really...

<--See avatar.

 

[LizzyM]

Please do a lot of soul-searching and seek out some assistance from career counselors about other careers that may be a better fit for you.

Successful completion of medical school is going to require interaction with many people. You will work as part of a team in anatomy lab as you work on your cadaver. You will work with preceptors, other students and standardized patients (hired actors) to learn interview and physical examination skills. Even if you are going into radiology you will need to master these skills. After two years of classes and labs you will start your clinical training which again means working as part of a team in hospital and clinic settings. You will need to interact with injured and sick patients, pregnant women and those in labor, people seeking routine preventive care, newborns and small children and their parents, the family members of people unable to communicate. You will need to collaborate with other students, interns, residents, fellows and attending physicians as well as nurses, technicians, and other personnel. Can you handle that for 2 years?

After medical school graduation you are likely to do a transitional year as an intern before starting training in radiology. This again means interacting with other trainees, your attending physicians, hosptial staff and the public.

If that seems like too much there may be other careers that are better suited to your gifts and talents.

 

[schrizto]

I think a problem you might run into is getting the needed clinical experience that medical schools look for (see LizzyM's sig). What you do during volunteering matters, and filing slides and paperwork doesn't expose you to the realities of medicine. It's good that you're thinking ahead, but I've found that people who focus on only one specialty in medicine early on, to the point it's the only one they can see themselves in, aren't content because they only care about subjects they believe are relevant to their ideal specialty. Rather, I think they should have concentrated on whether medicine as a whole is a good fit for them.

 

[Morsetlis]

You say that, but then there are very happy radiologists and pathologists who dislike patients. Not people, just patients.

 

[schrizto]

You say that, but then there are very happy radiologists and pathologists who dislike patients. Not people, just patients.

I'm not sure if you're responding to me or not, but that wasn't what I was saying. The OP is planning on going into medical school with no interest in seeing patients. Those radiologists and pathologists you're talking about that dislike patients probably discovered that in medical school. If you talk in your interview or PS about how you are fit for rads or path because you dislike patients, gl getting accepted.

 

[Hoody]

Please do a lot of soul-searching and seek out some assistance from career counselors about other careers that may be a better fit for you.

Lame. 👎

As a supposed adcom member, you would know that there are people with an array of disorders who have survived medical school and gone on to be great docs. And it sounds like Autdoc has indeed done quite a bit of soul searching....perhaps more than your typical pre med who decides at age 18 they want to be a doctor. Just because OP doesn't know the in's and out's of a certain specialty doesn't mean otherwise.

Furthermore, wanting limited patient contact is really not that big of deal. I don't recall anywhere where Autdoc stated he/she couldn't interact with people, just that he/she preferred not to as it wasn't one of his/her strengths (surprise, another pre med who is bit socially awkward - gee, never heard that one before). Not everyone goes into medicine to be in people's faces all day long. shocking, i know...but luckily for Autdoc, there are a few specialties that offer this.


OP - I agree with msb1190, one thing at a time but definitely keep up the good attitude! 👍

 

[CATrtb]

Radiologist's do have to interact with a lot of people. First of all they have to do procedures on patients.. UGI, Barium Enemas, arthrograms, breast biopsies, drainages, general biopsies, angiograms, cystograms, myelograms, hysterosalpingograms (inserting a speculum and pushing dye into the uterus). These are things a general radiologist has to do. Next you have to interact with a team of technologists, radiologists, transcriptionists, and administrators in your own department. Finally, you have to be able to consult with all the refering physicians who happen to walk in and want to go over a case. Communication is critical for a radiologist, whether it be with patients, other doctors, or your team.

 

[Marcus Brody]

As a supposed adcom member, you would know that there are people with an array of disorders.........

and as a pre-med you don't know ****

"Do some soul searching and get help" is about as polite as any GOOD advice this guy can receive.

 

[Hoody]

and as a pre-med you don't know ****

but as a med student, you know all the **** right?

yourself.

"Do some soul searching and get help" is about as polite as any GOOD advice this guy can receive.

cause clearly Autdoc hasn't done any of that huh? and clearly Autdoc needs "help". 🙄

 

[STAT EKG]

Radiology is a reach for virtually everyone... what if you don't match into radiology? I recommend that you shadow a variety of physicians from many different areas of medicine (especially generalists), and re-evaluate yourself. If you're still passionate about medicine after getting in a bunch of primary care shadowing, I'd say go for it.

This isn't to say that you're going to end up as a generalist, but most programs want you to be a generalist (meaning interacting with patients/people regularly) before you specialize.

 

[LizzyM]

What the OP has told us:
22 years old

HS drop out (despite good academic performance) with a GED

barely self-supporting for the past 4 years

as never taken a college course but wishes to major in studio art & biology

wants to subspecialize in a specific area of medicine so as to avoid contact with people

has been diagnosed with a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication

There are thousands of jobs many of us have never heard of. That's why I suggested that the OP consult with an expert (career counselor) about careers that may be a good fit. I have concerns about the OPs ability to make it through the interview process, clinical clerkships and internship on the road to a medical licence. (Never mind the fact that we don't have so much as one semester's gpa in college courses).

 

[thesauce]

I have been doing various things on and off since 18 but am thinking of enrolling in college in the fall to pursue my BA in Studio Art with a concentration in photography and my BS in Biology and also attending and graduating from the honors college.

Unless the honors college is going to provide you with great perks, skip it.

I am intelligent and know that I will have no problem maintaining a high GPA if I actually do my work and show up to class. I took honors and AP classes in high school, had over a 4.0 GPA

Over a 4.0? What was it out of? I'm not sure how to interpret this, but your high school GPA isn't going to matter in your medical school pursuits.

I also made the highest score in my state on the GED.

I have NEVER heard someone brag about their GED score. You know what's more impressive than the highest score ever recorded on the GED?...graduating high school.

1) Which area of radiology has the least amount of patient contact? I've read that it is diagnostic radiology but I have no experience so I really have no idea. Obviously, people is a very weak point. If I could just be left at a computer all day to interpret images I would be super-radiologist.

Radiology is generally divided into diagnostic and interventional. They will be 2 completely separate residencies by the time you would be applying, so (from what you are describing) you would want to choose the diagnostic route.

2) Do you think that a person with high-functioning autism could survive medical school and radiology residency? My biggest problem is interacting with other people and I know that this will be very unfavorable for me but the area I am interested in pursuing involves very little patient contact so I'm not sure why it would matter much.

Could you survive it? Probably. Besides patient interaction, do you have problems working with others as part of a team? That could be the bigger issue with your chosen field.

3) Do you think medical schools would look favorably upon my fine arts degrees? They must get tired of the cut-and-dry bio and chem degrees and are probably happy to see someone who is more well rounded. I am hoping so anyway.

They aren't going to care. Just get a high GPA and MCAT.

 

[searun]

I agree with Lizzy. I am third year med student and frankly I would have serious doubts that the OP could survive his third year rotations, given his own self description. I am currently on my ob-gyn rotation, delivering babies for the past two weeks, and I have a hard time imagining the OP getting up close and personal with multiple vaginas.

 

[CaptainSSO]

l.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Lame. 👎

As a supposed adcom member, you would know that there are people with an array of disorders who have survived medical school and gone on to be great docs. And it sounds like Autdoc has indeed done quite a bit of soul searching....perhaps more than your typical pre med who decides at age 18 they want to be a doctor. Just because OP doesn't know the in's and out's of a certain specialty doesn't mean otherwise.

Furthermore, wanting limited patient contact is really not that big of deal. I don't recall anywhere where Autdoc stated he/she couldn't interact with people, just that he/she preferred not to as it wasn't one of his/her strengths (surprise, another pre med who is bit socially awkward - gee, never heard that one before). Not everyone goes into medicine to be in people's faces all day long. shocking, i know...but luckily for Autdoc, there are a few specialties that offer this.


OP - I agree with msb1190, one thing at a time but definitely keep up the good attitude! 👍

simmer down, it's not like LizzyM told the OP to jump off a bridge or something... seems like good solid advice, especially *IF* the OP doesn't think he can cut the interpersonal aspects delineated in her post..

Successful completion of medical school is going to require interaction with many people.
[...]
If that seems like too much there may be other careers that are better suited to your gifts and talents.

 

[deleted307836]

autdoc,

If radiology interests you, I would also encourage you to look into getting a Master's degree in Medical Physics.... google it and see if that sounds interesting as an alternative option.

I don't know enough about the other factors involved here, so that's all I'll comment on.

 

[Law2Doc]

I agree with Lizzy. I am third year med student and frankly I would have serious doubts that the OP could survive his third year rotations, given his own self description. I am currently on my ob-gyn rotation, delivering babies for the past two weeks, and I have a hard time imagining the OP getting up close and personal with multiple vaginas.

Lizzy M is correct. You have to be a people person to some degree in any medical specialty, even rads. The problems OP will have are as follows: (1) med school rotations. You have to do them and do well in them to get a shot at the competitive residencies, such as rads. (2) The prelim year. To get into rads, you need to do a year as an intern in either medicine, surgery or transitional. It's not like you can finish med school and hole up in a dark people-less room. You learn how to be a doctor first, for a very intense, people filled year. (3) interviews -- you have to do well in med school and then residency interviews to have a shot at a competitive field. (4) Radiology is a consult business. meaning you spend a lot of your time talking to other doctors and going through films with them, and a lot of time on the phone explaining what you are concerned about. Again, it's not a "read my report and leave me alone" kind of field. And as mentioned, rads is becoming more interventional. It is not likely going to separate into diagnostics vs interventional because most agree that the future of rads is a more surgical specialty, and every major program in the country is gearing up to move in this direction. I think Lizzy hit it right that you aren't going to find a non-people field in medicine, so unless you really want to deal with doctors and patients all day long, medicine is not for you. That's not being mean or a downer, it's just reality.

 

[LuciusVorenus]

OP, have you ever thought about becoming an engineer or computer scientist? It sounds like you'd be interested in it, particularly something like biomedical/quantitative imaging. You don't really have to go to medical school to be in contact with medical technology/imaging. Who knows, maybe you'll even invent something important 😉

The best part of engineering is that it's easy to avoid people contact too

http://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/martinos/flashHome.php
as an example

 

[thesauce]

Lizzy M is correct. You have to be a people person to some degree in any medical specialty, even rads. The problems OP will have are as follows: (1) med school rotations. You have to do them and do well in them to get a shot at the competitive residencies, such as rads. (2) The prelim year. To get into rads, you need to do a year as an intern in either medicine, surgery or transitional. It's not like you can finish med school and hole up in a dark people-less room. You learn how to be a doctor first, for a very intense, people filled year. (3) interviews -- you have to do well in med school and then residency interviews to have a shot at a competitive field. (4) Radiology is a consult business. meaning you spend a lot of your time talking to other doctors and going through films with them, and a lot of time on the phone explaining what you are concerned about. Again, it's not a "read my report and leave me alone" kind of field. And as mentioned, rads is becoming more interventional. It is not likely going to separate into diagnostics vs interventional because most agree that the future of rads is a more surgical specialty, and every major program in the country is gearing up to move in this direction. I think Lizzy hit it right that you aren't going to find a non-people field in medicine, so unless you really want to deal with doctors and patients all day long, medicine is not for you. That's not being mean or a downer, it's just reality.

Hey Law2Doc. As always, this is an insightful post. Regarding the bolded text, the specialties ARE going to separate and the process has already begun. It was announced at the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) last year.

 

[mcgyver]

OP you may want to look into a Ph.D in biomedical engineering too, then you can focus on medical imaging (these are the guys who basically invented modern radiology). I think this may be a better path for you.