Do people assume you are going into a specific field because of your appearance?

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Blesbok

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Do you get other students, residents, and attendings that guess you are going into a specific field because of your appearance or mannerisms?
 
Everyone assumes I'm going into radiology because I have translucent skin, bug eyes, and I hate people.
 
Or pathology if you smell like death.
Or gas if you are always snoozing or doing crossword puzzles in the corner.
Or EM if you have zero attention span.
The list goes on and on...

(Actually none of this is true. Few people actually fit the stereotypes. Particularly when they are still in med school. Perhaps they can be groomed to be such people, but you don't start out that way).
 
Blesbok said:
Do you get other students, residents, and attendings that guess you are going into a specific field because of your appearance or mannerisms?
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Yes...and up to this point, they're correct.
 
People think I'd make a great pediatrician or OB-GYN since I'm a girl so I must be interested in either women's health or little kids. I admit to have toyed with the idea of peds, but one morning in a peds center dissuaded me from that idea. OB? Maybe.....
 
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Previously, people asked me if I'm a nurse a lot.

This month, I got asked a lot if I'm going into derm since I have nice skin, and I've been in a derm office.
 
Some older guy in Starbucks today told me that I looked like I'd be a good gynecologist. As a girl simply sitting there quietly with a plain coffee and my Stephen King summer reading, I didn't know what that was supposed to mean or how I was supposed to take it.

Then again, he also told me I should be a neurosurgeon and develop a 'vaccine for paralysis'... so maybe I shouldn't spend too much time pondering the meaning of his words.
 
Blesbok said:
Do you get other students, residents, and attendings that guess you are going into a specific field because of your appearance or mannerisms?
Click to expand...
One of my PBL tutors last year predicted that I'd go into heme/onc, but I have no idea how he decided that. I can't answer your question because I'm not sure what a stereotypical heme/onc doc looks or acts like.
 
I guess kind of. They say that I look like I should be a plastic surgeon, but then I say I am actually leaning towards ortho, and they say "oh yeah you look like an ortho doc"........
 
When I did surgery people said I should go into it because I can be aggressive, but also thoughtful and quiet. I did well with the 14 hour neurosurgeries. 🙂

Plus, I seem to like the hierarchy thing. It's very clear cut.

When I have worked with orthos people say I should go into ortho.

When I have worked with kids, people say: you are good with kids, what about peds?

I am a quiet person, and I listen alot. So, people often tell me to go into family. 😕

In the end, who knows? people say all kinds of things. Better to just do what you want and surprise them. Be a small, friendly woman and go into neurosurgery or urology. Big tall, athletic man? go into peds. Some of the friendliest, nicest and most chattering people I know are radiologists. Go figure.
 
One of our eastern european-born janitors at school thought i was going into ultimate fighting when i walked by him after leaving the gym . . .
 
An OB attending my 3rd year told me he figured I was going into either ENT or ophtho b\c I looked like someone that wan't to stay above the neck. I still don't know what he meant by this or how he came up with it. Granted I had already decided to go into ophtho and ENT was probably 3rd on my list. So he was right.

The vaccine for paralysis is one of the funniest things I have read, and yes after that comment I wouldn't take anything they said serious. Maybe he was trying to flirt with you in a very weird way.
 
MR1 said:
An OB attending my 3rd year told me he figured I was going into either ENT or ophtho b\c I looked like someone that wan't to stay above the neck. I still don't know what he meant by this or how he came up with it. Granted I had already decided to go into ophtho and ENT was probably 3rd on my list. So he was right.

The vaccine for paralysis is one of the funniest things I have read, and yes after that comment I wouldn't take anything they said serious. Maybe he was trying to flirt with you in a very weird way.
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Were you scared to get your hands in there and get dirty?
 
Don't go into ultimate fighting I used to do some sport fighting (kickboxing) not ultimate and the guys I knew who had been there for a while well if they were the sharpest tool in the shed they got their edge knocked to a dull nub. Besides finally getting my deviated septum fixed that made me quit doing that at about 19 or 20. I get stereotyped as family practice or psychiatry because of the listening thing fyi to get back to the topic.
 
Dont start til Fall but so far most people I talk to think Im addicted to drugs and such. Def not the medical student stereotype. I know its different from the question posed but still similar. I do like seeing their faces when I tell them that I am going to med school in the fall though.
 
While stereotypes don't always work, I can usually spot an orthopod from across the room. I've found that one to be pretty accurate so far.
 
TheProwler said:
the thread starter looks like an orthopod from across the room :laugh:
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Apparently everyone else thinks so too. Every resident and attending I have worked with so far automatically assumes I am going into ortho.

which may be correct : o
 
Another strange phenomenon is when people say you have the "doctor look". I'm not sure if that's a demeanor/conduct or physical appearance, but either way, in my experience there's really no characteristic "look" that doctors have. It may refer to mass media (i.e. TV shows, movies, etc.) perspective which I think we can agree is skewed, but honestly, can you think of any trait that seems common enough in doctors to call a "doctor look"?
 
I'm a quiet, sweet-appearing girl so I get the Ob/Gyn label a lot. I'm trying to keep my mind open about specialties, but the one thing I know for certain is that anything involving children is off the list permanently!
 
LadyWolverine said:
Everyone assumes I'm going into radiology because I have translucent skin, bug eyes, and I hate people.
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:claps::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:


JeffLebowski said:
Another strange phenomenon is when people say you have the "doctor look". I'm not sure if that's a demeanor/conduct or physical appearance, but either way, in my experience there's really no characteristic "look" that doctors have. It may refer to mass media (i.e. TV shows, movies, etc.) perspective which I think we can agree is skewed, but honestly, can you think of any trait that seems common enough in doctors to call a "doctor look"?
Click to expand...

I do get the "you look like a doctor" thing a lot. I have also had a ton of people tell me I look like I should go into ortho. I think the stereotype is probably pretty accurate though. Most ortho docs I've met are pretty big guys.
 
Off the bat I've been told I "look" like ortho or urology.
But after working with me I've gotten "you wanna go into internal don't you?" and i'll take that as a compliment cause I do 🙂
 
Everyone assumes that I'm going into Pediatrics, either because I'm really good with children or because I somehow look like that type...

One school where I interviewed actually sent me to talk to four pediatricians, and when I asked about it later they told me that it was because I seemed like the "pediatrician type" even though I mostly talked about psychiatry on every facet of my application...

And on the most recent flight I took, a couple was actually debating whether they thought I was a pediatrician or a teacher...they actually resorted to asking me about it, but it was still a little weird...

Oh well, let's see if they're all right. :laugh:
 
Blesbok said:
Were you scared to get your hands in there and get dirty?
Click to expand...


No that was the thing I didn't understand the most, I had been very aggressive during OB actually b\c I thought "for a minute" that I might want to do it. Also this was in clinic where he said this and it was the first time we had worked together
 
0T6 said:
Off the bat I've been told I "look" like ortho or urology.
But after working with me I've gotten "you wanna go into internal don't you?" and i'll take that as a compliment cause I do 🙂
Click to expand...


How exactly does one "look" like urology?😕
 
During undergrad, people used to tell me that I should become an artist for the medical books, and that I have the doctor look by my bio lab instructor. Only my art teacher used to say that I'm definately going into Peds, which is probably because I LOVE kids. However, I think I love them too much to actually work in peds.
 
.
 
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When I decided to go to medical school, many people I worked with and others who vaguely knew me kept asking if I was going to nursing school. I don't know why they couldn't accept that I was planning on becoming a doctor rather than a nurse...?
 
People are usually pretty surprised that I want to do OB/GYN because I'm a guy, and I'm not gay. They always ask, in an exasperated voice, "Why!!!??" 😛 I enjoy going against the grain, what can I say?
 
dr f8 said:
When I decided to go to medical school, many people I worked with and others who vaguely knew me kept asking if I was going to nursing school. I don't know why they couldn't accept that I was planning on becoming a doctor rather than a nurse...?
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Im sure glad they DID'NT say nursery school..

On the serious side: Pain management because you look super lazy, embedded certain sections of Goodman and Gillman, and love having the diagnosis already made for you! :idea:
 
dr f8 said:
When I decided to go to medical school, many people I worked with and others who vaguely knew me kept asking if I was going to nursing school. I don't know why they couldn't accept that I was planning on becoming a doctor rather than a nurse...?
Click to expand...
Funny, I got lots of "I can't believe they are going to let you become a doctor" 😳
 
I got the ortho thing on multiple rotations this year. It probably stems from the fact that I'm a tall, athletic-looking guy who keeps his hair short. Probably doesn't help that I also joke around and like to inject some humor into my workday.

Little did they know that I was completely asurgical and spent the greater part of the year debating between internal med and peds. Of course, in light of my aforementioned sense of humor, ultimately internal medicine was not an option.
 
UnderdogMD said:
So it is Proctology for you? cool. 😀
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:laugh:

This just reminded me of an awesome picture I saw the other day: Several proctologists in a circle with a finger up each others butt.
 
Can someone explain these stereotypes. I mean are good looking people stereotyped into going into plastic surgery (making people beautiful) or are ugly people stereotyped as to going into it? Also I noticed in ortho surgery the attending makes fun of his lesser hierarchy and jokes throughout the surgery with them. Are all specialties like this or is this another stereotype?
 
Messerschmitts said:
People are usually pretty surprised that I want to do OB/GYN because I'm a guy, and I'm not gay. They always ask, in an exasperated voice, "Why!!!??" 😛 I enjoy going against the grain, what can I say?
Click to expand...


Gender and orientation has nothing to do with the reason I'd be confused why someone would go into OB/GYN.
 
when people look at me, they usu think, orthopod, which is way off.

then, when people learn that i'm a skydiver, they automatically assume that i want to do emergency med.
now, they're right, but i'm going into the ER to learn a broad range of skills, not just for the adrenaline. oh well.
 
Awesome penisman, what do you call that medical condition?

As for humor, I agree - no humor in IM, so definitely not for me. 😀
 
persia said:
Awesome penisman, what do you call that medical condition?

As for humor, I agree - no humor in IM, so definitely not for me. 😀
Click to expand...

I do not understand. Are some specialties serious, while others are joke-ful?
 
People assume that I'm going to do ortho. I don't exactly have the ortho look.

Being an athlete might have something to do with that assumption... but I'm one of the small athletes (cyclist).
 
When I tell people I'm interested in both ortho and anesthesiology, I get very quizzical looks and they ask how I could possibly like opposite things.

However, I've never been accused of looking like a certain specialty.
 
love this thread. ive had 4 people tell me im going into ortho bc i bench 375 even though i havent started yet (though i start next week). love to see what i eventually go into!
 
I've gotten the ortho stereotype before, which is funny to me because I'm not even remotely interested in ortho. I think its one of the easier stereotypes in medicine.

Stereotypes tend to be based on qualities that can be easily discerned from the outside.

Female with a nuturing personality? OB
Former jock/sports lover/"Guy" guy? Ortho
Quiet, "nerdy," and shy? Path
Thrill seeker, ADHD, and outgoing? EM
Sensitive, quiet spoken, and overly emotional? Palliative care
A 6 year old in 26 year old shoes? Peds
Neurotic, cocky, arrogant? [insert surgery specialty]
Greedy, superficial, but crazy smart? Plastics

The stereotypes are there for a reason. Certain people naturally gravitate towards certain niches of medicine which cater to their strengths. But I've seen plenty (even extensive) exceptions in every area of medicine. As long as you are comfortable with yourself and know what makes you happy, when it comes to what others think, well... screw em.
 
ZagDoc said:
Female with a nuturing personality? OB
Former jock/sports lover/"Guy" guy? Ortho
Click to expand...

I think OB's actually have pretty much the opposite stereotype as you describe -- they get a bad rap. In reality some are nurturing, rather than what they were stereotypically supposed to be.

As for ortho, I think the stereotype is that the smarter former jocks go into ortho, and stereotypically the less intellectually gifted former jocks go into PM&R. I've heard a group of orthos standing around comparing marathon times (not kidding), so I don't know that merely a sports lover or guy guy would fit in with steroetypical orthos.🙂
 
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