choosing medical speciality for someone with Social anxiety

[mohamedmd]

Hello
I just graduated medical school
I am not the type of guy who can manage stress and lots of dealing with people
but I dont mind alot of studying on the other hand
I thought about Radiology as it is with munimal patient interaction and no 1st line in emergencies so less stress than other specialities
some have said psychiatry is one of the least stressful specialities
but I dont know if I could manage in psychiatry
what do you guys think
and do you guys have other suggestions or advice

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[BoardingDoc]

Hello
I just graduated medical school
I am not the type of guy who can manage stress and lots of dealing with people
but I dont mind alot of studying on the other hand
I thought about Radiology as it is with munimal patient interaction and no 1st line in emergencies so less stress than other specialities
some have said psychiatry is one of the least stressful specialities
but I dont know if I could manage in psychiatry
what do you guys think
and do you guys have other suggestions or advice

You just graduated medical school... off cycle? As an IMG? Is this completely unrelated to the US medical system? I only ask because AMGs aren't graduating right now and most of them are actively applying in the match. Need more data.

 

[mohamedmd]

yes I am a european IMG and I just graduated

 

[colbgw02]

Hello
I just graduated medical school
I am not the type of guy who can manage stress and lots of dealing with people
but I dont mind alot of studying on the other hand
I thought about Radiology as it is with munimal patient interaction and no 1st line in emergencies so less stress than other specialities
some have said psychiatry is one of the least stressful specialities
but I dont know if I could manage in psychiatry
what do you guys think
and do you guys have other suggestions or advice

So are you socially anxious - and that's a source of stress for you - or do you not handle any stress well? Or both? They're not synonyms.

You seem to have a very underdeveloped sense of how stress can be defined. I find it quite stressful when the phone is ringing, the pager's going off, there's someone standing over my shoulder waiting to talk about something, my list is blowing up, and I'm the only radiologist in the hospital. I also find it a little stressful when the entire trauma team is standing over my shoulder waiting to hear if they need to go to the OR or not while I'm trying to review CT images on the scanner's monitor as the studies are being acquired.

 

[organdonor]

Well the obvious choices with minimal direct patient interaction would be pathology and radiology. Of those choices pathology would likely be more receptive to IMG's. You could specialize sufficiently in many areas so as to minimize patient encounters but for most other fields you would have mostly clinical residencies at least. For instance going into family medicine ( or literally any field) and going into administration.

How did you graduate from medical school but have no idea what medical specialties you have an interest in?

 

[mohamedmd]

Well the obvious choices with minimal direct patient interaction would be pathology and radiology. Of those choices pathology would likely be more receptive to IMG's. You could specialize sufficiently in many areas so as to minimize patient encounters but for most other fields you would have mostly clinical residencies at least. For instance going into family medicine ( or literally any field) and going into administration.

How did you graduate from medical school but have no idea what medical specialties you have an interest in?

I rotated in internal medicine and surgery and pediatrics and I didnt like them

 

[mohamedmd]

So are you socially anxious - and that's a source of stress for you - or do you not handle any stress well? Or both? They're not synonyms.

You seem to have a very underdeveloped sense of how stress can be defined. I find it quite stressful when the phone is ringing, the pager's going off, there's someone standing over my shoulder waiting to talk about something, my list is blowing up, and I'm the only radiologist in the hospital. I also find it a little stressful when the entire trauma team is standing over my shoulder waiting to hear if they need to go to the OR or not while I'm trying to review CT images on the scanner's monitor as the studies are being acquired.

I have more problems with dealing with patients and being the frontline resposible for patient willbeing
I know there is stress in radiology where you are the ED radiologist and in pathology where you do frozen sections
but I dont know if I am a good radiologist it would be easier i think

 

[colbgw02]

I have more problems with dealing with patients and being the frontline resposible for patient willbeing
I know there is stress in radiology where you are the ED radiologist and in pathology where you do frozen sections
but I dont know if I am a good radiologist it would be easier i think

Then yeah, traditionally pathology and radiology are the way to go. There are plenty of opportunities for patient contact in radiology, but it can be avoided too, particularly if you're willing to limit your job prospects (e.g. teleradiology).

I don't think there's much utility in worrying about whether or not you'd be a good radiologist. There's no guarantee that you'd be a good surgeon or internist either. Although some people have a better eye than others, with hard work the overwhelming majority* of residents can be taught to be a safe radiologist. Pick the field that you like the best and that you can get into, and let the chips fall where they may.

*I've met a few people who just don't "get" radiology, and no amount of teaching can fix that. But, as I said, that's rare.

 

[Beargryllz]

You need lots of exposure

Pick a people-oriented profession to help you overcome this problem

 

[mohamedmd]

You need lots of exposure

Pick a people-oriented profession to help you overcome this problem

like psychiatry or what do you mean

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

You didn't like peds, IM, or surgery (and ob is implied), so you just about dislike most major branches of medicine. Path will have the least stress, but people do make major decisions based on your reports.

And why would you think radiology would be low stress?

 

[mohamedmd]

You didn't like peds, IM, or surgery (and ob is implied), so you just about dislike most major branches of medicine. Path will have the least stress, but people do make major decisions based on your reports.

And why would you think radiology would be low stress?

because radiology doesnt have major patient contact except in interventional radiology which is not a must
also emergency radiology situations like accidents or acute abdomen can be easy after a good period of training
so a well experienced radiologist or pathologist wouldnt have stress almost all the time

 

[gutonc]

because radiology doesnt have major patient contact except in interventional radiology which is not a must
also emergency radiology situations like accidents or acute abdomen can be easy after a good period of training
so a well experienced radiologist or pathologist wouldnt have stress almost all the time

A "well experienced" physician of any specialty won't have stress most of the time. That's kind of the point of getting experience. Of course, you need to spend the time being scared out of your pants to get to that point in any specialty, including path and rads.

 

[colbgw02]

because radiology doesnt have major patient contact except in interventional radiology which is not a must
also emergency radiology situations like accidents or acute abdomen can be easy after a good period of training
so a well experienced radiologist or pathologist wouldnt have stress almost all the time

Once again, you are mistakenly asserting that lack of patient contact = low stress. Stop. While that may be true for you, that's hardly a universal phenomenon.

As for the rest of this post, it is as true in radiology as it is in any other specialty. Experience begets confidence, and confidence can reduce stress. This is the case irrespective of field. I don't believe for a second that an experienced surgeon suffers from more stress while removing an inflamed appendix than an experienced radiologist has from reading 10 CTs.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

because radiology doesnt have major patient contact except in interventional radiology which is not a must
also emergency radiology situations like accidents or acute abdomen can be easy after a good period of training
so a well experienced radiologist or pathologist wouldnt have stress almost all the time

I think you just have to accept that during your training process and certain situations thereafter, you will experience stress in ANY specialty. There are some specialties that are notably worse than others because of how often you manage critically ill patients or do procedures with the potential for disaster - e.g. high risk ob deliveries, trauma surgery, ICU specialties, or neurosurgery. You don't think dealing with a floridly manic patient, talking down someone from suicide, or a violent patient in psychosis or high on PCP is stressful?

Just pick a specialty where you enjoy working with the patient population, the subspecialization/career potential, the approach to the patient (1st line diagnosis and workup, procedures, consultative diagnosis, surgery, etc.). You will have stress in residency, worse at first, but it will get better. Your knowledge base and efficiency will improve and you will see that things that fazed you before will become second nature. A STEMI may rock your world your first night as an intern in the CCU, but by the end of your rotation you'll know what meds and labs to do and you'll always have a fellow and more senior residents to ask questions as you go along the way (and I could give you an example of analogous stress in just about any specialty you like, so there's no avoiding it).

 

[AStark]

The thing about radiology is that you will often have emerg docs or surgeons or internists or whomever calling you in the middle of the night to arrange urgent/emergent scans. As a resident this will mean having to read these emergency CTs in the middle of the night - your report will often have a significant influence on management decisions, e.g. ruling out the presence of free air under the diaphragm or determining the presence of a saddle embolus. That doesn't mean it's necessarily stressful once you have more experience and training. As the saying goes, eventually when your patient's pressure is 50, your own heart rate will be 50 too.

What can be stressful is when you're busy with consults and notes and rounding. If there's a sick patient, you can often ignore all that stuff and focus in on stabilizing them. It's when the work piles up at 3am that you can really start feeling overwhelmed.

Fortunately you don't do that kind of call forever. And last night I didn't get another consult after 4am.

 

[hamstergang]

I have more problems with ... being the frontline resposible for patient willbeing

Then to be honest, being a doctor sounds like a bad idea for you.

If you can get over this problem and learn how to manage it, then I would think all of medicine is open to you. Otherwise, I don't know how you'll make it anywhere.

 

[Taurus]

Before you even consider radiology, you should spend some time with radiologists. It's high stress not only from the emergent studies but from the volume. The ordering physicians want those studies being read in a timely manner, even if you only do outpatients. The volumes are increasing while the reimbursements are going down. So you have to work harder and faster to maintain the same level. Honestly, I don't think you are a good fit in any medical field since you seem kinda clueless.

 

[saudades]

As far as "social anxiety," what exactly do you mean? Talking to people in general? Presenting to attendings? Speaking in front of a group? Narrowing that down will make it clearer. But "managing stress" and "dealing with people" is a part of EVERY specialty (and every job in general, really). Like others have said, if you are a pathologist for example, you can spend your day alone in your basement lab, but you have to correctly diagnose someone with cancer--that's stressful. In every specialty, you will be responsible for patients' well-being, just in different ways. I agree that you should spend some time with various specialists to get a better feel of things, and do some soul searching to figure out what you really want. And if you are able, speak to someone about good coping strategies for stress (doctor, counselor, etc.). I think if you have gotten through med school you are probably better equipped than you think, so don't be your own worst enemy. But you keep mentioning what's "easy"...while certain specialties might come more naturally to you, I promise nothing is going to be easy. If easy is what you're looking for, you picked the wrong profession.

 

[CambieMD]

I rotated in internal medicine and surgery and pediatrics and I didn't like them

Radiation Oncology may be suitable for you. I am an anesthesiologist. My job can be extremely stressful. All medical specialties have their own special stressful moments. Are you sure that you want to be a physician? You may find being a doctor frustrating. Those depending on you will quickly turn on you if you cannot perform your duties during times of high stress. I am getting angry just thinking about your situation.

 

[KPride]

If your problem is social anxiety, then being around new ppl everyday (eg. Patients, other department's staff) or being in crowded environments (like the OR or ER) can be a bigger stress than reading an emergent film or decided if the section the surgeon provided is worthy of cutting out an organ.
Radiology and pathology seem like your best bets and they aren't bad options. Some people don't like people and that's okay. Most docs claim to be people lovers but their attitude and characters say otherwise. At least you are honest and real about it. Good luck.

 

[chooks]

Look at Clinical Pathology. Three year residency (with 2 years of rotations and 1 year of electives) + 1-2 year subspecialty training (e.g. molecular pathology, clinical chemistry, etc...) means that you can be fully subspecialized in 4-5 years. CP has minimal to no patient contact at all. Unlike anatomical pathology (AP) there are no middle of the night frozen sections. But it can be very stressful -- if the lab is wrong then every patient in the hospital can be impacted and keeping a lab running smoothy takes much more time and work than most clinicians appreciate. Job market in US is not great right now but apparently is supposed to pick up in the next 4-5 years (if you believe some of the job reports).

 

[futuredo32]

What about treating your social anxiety with meds and therapy?