Do you need to be a good communicator / speaker in order to be a good doctor?

[cpolak]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I have very good written skills but not very good verbal skills. Talking clearly and being articulated are not one of my strongest skills. I am not a very conversational person.

So my question is: Can I succeed as a doctor?

 

[theseeker4]

I have very good written skills but not very good verbal skills. Talking clearly and being articulated are not one of my strongest skills. I am not a very conversational person.

So my question is: Can I succeed as a doctor?

Can you communicate effectively? It may not be something you are comfortable with, and it may be something you struggle with, but can you do it effectively? Can you have a conversation with someone? Can you articulate your thoughts to bring your point across?

If the answer is yes, than yes, you can be a doctor. If the answer is no, you need to develop those skills since you will have to deal with people on a daily basis to be a doctor. Even if you have minimal patient contact (rad, path) you still have to communicate effectively with colleagues.

Why do you want to be a doctor if you are not very conversational and communicating verbally isn't one of your strong suits?

 

[lalalaaaaaa]

I have very good written skills but not very good verbal skills. Talking clearly and being articulated are not one of my strongest skills. I am not a very conversational person.

So my question is: Can I succeed as a doctor?

"The most important part of medicine is communication." A physician I know stresses this, and I also believe it to be true.

There are physicians with poor communication skills who are quite good, but I still think the best are the ones who can communicate well.

Fortunately it's easy to increase your communication skills. Take some public speaking classes or I find that teaching is an excellent way to do this.

 

[octupus]

I have very good written skills but not very good verbal skills. Talking clearly and being articulated are not one of my strongest skills. I am not a very conversational person.

So my question is: Can I succeed as a doctor?

I've certainly had my fair share of doctors that I couldn't understand very well. They didn't speak clearly and just used as few words as possible to avoid communication even when I told them I didn't understand them and asked for clarification. I always left the office thinking "&(%$&%)(%# did they become a doctor?! "

Will you make it into and through med school? prob.
Will you succeed? If you don't improve your verbal skills, as your patient (or fellow coworker), no, I do not think you will succeed.

harsh. I know. perhaps you should pick a specialty in which you don't need to communicate as much.

 

[NickNaylor]

Being able to communicate effectively is critical.

 

[Barcu]

Yes. Work on it.

 

[Whatyousay]

You might have a hard time making it past the interview if you can't communicate.

 

[Druggernaut]

If you're charming and a good communicator, you can be an idiot of a doctor and your patients will love you and think you're the best.

If you can't interact effectively with your paitents, they won't think too highly of you even if you're brilliant.

Good communication and positive patient feelings are also the best ways to avoid a lawsuit, not providing excellent care.

 

[kexy]

I think you might be able to succeed in some fields of medicine (pathology?) but it would be extremely difficult to get past the medical school interview process if you're a poor verbal communicator (let alone succeed in medical school). Maybe look into taking a few classes in public speaking/speech/ESL/whatever.

 

[IMSingular]

If you are practicing physician there two imortant things.
You ought to be able to translate common man's language to technical medical language. Then you should be able to translate technical language to common man's language. Communication is all about translation; Read "After Babel: Aspects of Language and Translation " by George Steiner.

 

[EBTrailRunner]

Making it past the interview without being able to communicate effectively will prove difficult. If you want to improve your communication skills, you don't need to pick up a course on public speaking. Instead, start talking to anyone and everyone. Force yourself to engage in conversation with people around you on a daily basis. It's that kind of experience and confidence from dealing with people that will get in you the right mindset to express your thoughts and feelings effectively. My two cents.