how do introverts shine on rotations?

[tbhdying]

Hi everyone, I hope you guys are doing well and healthy. I am writing this post in need of some advice. A little background before I ask: I consider myself more on the introvert side of the introvert-extrovert spectrum. I feel like I am decent at conversing and I think people enjoy talking to me when I finally muster up the energy/courage to engage in conversation. But I don't really go out of my way to speak or socialize with people. If I can avoid it, I do. Also, it definitely comes less naturally to me than your average extrovert. After convos I sit for hours thinking if it went well and if I said dumb or awkward stuff.

I would rather just work hard and get things accomplished based off merit/credentials, than talk my way into getting it. But I know that's definitely not the approach to have for the next 2 years. I know a lot of it has to do with who you know and their impression about you.

Anyways, sorry for the rant! I came on here because I wanted to ask my fellow introverts about tips to overcome the introvert urge to avoid "unnecessary" conversations. How did you work towards making an impression on your rotations? I am interested in gen surg btw.


Thanks for your help SDN!

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[IMGASMD]

Search introvert. There was something very similar that was discussed.

 

[DarkHorizon]

You actually have an advantage over extroverts. Just keep quiet until spoken to. And yes, you’ll be called upon to shine, and when you do, just kill it. Work hard, read, anticipate but know your place. Better to stay quiet than to say something stupid, which extroverts do a lot. Only a select few are charismatic enough to be liked by everyone. If I wasn’t one, I’d rather be an introvert.

 

[tbhdying]

You actually have an advantage over extroverts. Just keep quiet until spoken to. And yes, you’ll be called upon to shine, and when you do, just kill it. Work hard, read, anticipate but know your place. Better to stay quiet than to say something stupid, which extroverts do a lot. Only a select few are charismatic enough to be liked by everyone. If I wasn’t one, I’d rather be an introvert.

This was so helpful. Thank you so much!

 

[Medisaint]

This is something a lot of us natural introverts struggle with.

consider myself more on the introvert side of the introvert-extrovert spectrum.

Don't mistake introversion with low-self esteem or lack of confidence. Introversion is a personality type while the latter is a state of mind. Confidence will improve with hard work and experience as you move on in your training while your natural inclination to fill stretches of silence with chatter may not.

In general though, medicine is not kind to introverts. Extroverted people are often perceived as more confident, capable and less receptive to getting f****d with (nurses, difficult patients, egotistical seniors). Certain situations require functional extroversion such as code blues, large family discussions, networking, ice breaking, and making friends among peers. If extroversion is not your strong suit don't panic. There are many types of good doctors out there. Over time you will learn to refine your own natural style which may be very different from someone else's.
That said, you also don't want to lose points for appearing shy or unsure of yourself. If you need to, treat small talk with a patient or speaking up on rounds like any other skill you learn in med school--practice in front of a mirror or with friends. You can also consider joining groups that force you to leave your comfort zone (toastmasters, acting classes).

 

[libertyyne]

Introversion is a not a hinderance on rotations. Know your stuff, keep it professional help out the residents and treat the rotation seriously and people will give you good evals . Not everyone is charismatic , Medical students often say stupid **** and get too friendly with residents to the point of making a stupid comment or joke in a social context .

 

[Tenk]

Show up on time. Dress nice. Smile often. Act happy to be there even if you don’t want to be there. Don’t ask questions you can google. Laugh at your attendings lame jokes. Above all else: don’t complain.

These things have nothing to do with being introverted as anyone can fake all that, yet they are critically important to being remembered fondly.

Can also pray you have an attending like me who sits around watching Youtube and buying **** I probably don’t need on Amazon.

 

[stickgirl390]

Don’t ask questions you can google.

This!

 

[CyrusHabs7695]

This!

Or ask questions you obviously know the answer to trying to sound smart, this is my biggest pet peeve I think

 

[stickgirl390]

Or ask questions you obviously know the answer to trying to sound smart, this is my biggest pet peeve I think

One of my residents said doing that is the best way to get the worst evals lol

 

[LunaOri]

I found that, when working with surgeons, there is no need to be chatty. They appreciate directness. No need to fill silence with excess words. Just be attentive, competent, and nice to the patients.

 

[odyssey2]

Or ask questions you obviously know the answer to trying to sound smart, this is my biggest pet peeve I think

They all see right through that

 

[COMMANDER CLOWN]

This entire thread is a perfect example of how subjective grading in third year is a complete joke. I didn't even show up for half of my surgery rotation and got a 5/5 because the attending was lazy and automatically gave a 5/5 to everyone. Compare that with my friend who put in 110% on her surgery rotation because she wants to match ortho, and yet she got a 3/5 because her attending was lazy and automatically gave a 3/5 to everyone. It doesn't matter how smart you are, it matters how lucky you are. The fact that third year grades are weighed so heavily is an abomination, same with research. It doesn't matter how hard you work in research, what matters is that you get lucky and get a PI that publishes a lot for minimal work.

 

[Chelsea FC]

I like how this turned into extroverts are loud mouths that tell inappropriate jokes.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I like how this turned into extroverts are loud mouths that tell inappropriate jokes.

That’s not quite what was said, but you probably know that.

 

[Chelsea FC]

There is one in every croud. LOL. Dont be that guy/gal.

My jokes are great!

 

[tbhdying]

Thank you so much everyone for all the awesome insights and advice. I truly feel better with having a direction on how to improve and continue what I do currently! Much appreciated.

 

[MLNS]

You actually have an advantage over extroverts. Just keep quiet until spoken to. And yes, you’ll be called upon to shine, and when you do, just kill it. Work hard, read, anticipate but know your place. Better to stay quiet than to say something stupid, which extroverts do a lot. Only a select few are charismatic enough to be liked by everyone. If I wasn’t one, I’d rather be an introvert.

This

As a resident I MUCH prefer the introverts. I can get my work done without being annoyed and asked a bazillion worthless questions. Plus, they quietly help out and crush their work

I’ll take the introverts all day

 

[longhaul3]

The best thing you can do as a med student is meet expectations and get your work done as independently as possible. That means show up on time, be professional, be appropriate, be resourceful, and don't bother the rest of the team. I think people who are naturally introverted fit this profile well. What they tend to struggle with is presenting with confidence and answering questions on rounds, which is understandable. Just have to keep reminding yourself to speak up. And it's ok to be wrong. Our expectations are pretty low.

You don't have to be a social butterfly, make small talk, or drive the conversation. Your job is to speak when asked to speak and listen intently the rest of the time. Excessively extroverted people or anxious small talkers make for annoying med students.

 

[tbhdying]

The best thing you can do as a med student is meet expectations and get your work done as independently as possible. That means show up on time, be professional, be appropriate, be resourceful, and don't bother the rest of the team. I think people who are naturally introverted fit this profile well. What they tend to struggle with is presenting with confidence and answering questions on rounds, which is understandable. Just have to keep reminding yourself to speak up. And it's ok to be wrong. Our expectations are pretty low.

You don't have to be a social butterfly, make small talk, or drive the conversation. Your job is to speak when asked to speak and listen intently the rest of the time. Excessively extroverted people or anxious small talkers make for annoying med students.

this is awesome! thank you for writing to me. I think there is only two things that I love taking the initiative to speak out for- answering questions or when an attending/resident asks students to do something. I feel like its an opportunity to be objective and I don't have to overthink things the way I do when it's an off topic convo. I posted this because I would always see chatty/charismatic females talking it up and felt that im not as social of a person and wondered if I am coming off as someone not easy to work with or not a team player type of thing lol.

 

[libertyyne]

this is awesome! thank you for writing to me. I think there is only two things that I love taking the initiative to speak out for- answering questions or when an attending/resident asks students to do something. I feel like its an opportunity to be objective and I don't have to overthink things the way I do when it's an off topic convo. I posted this because I would always see chatty/charismatic females talking it up and felt that im not as social of a person and wondered if I am coming off as someone not easy to work with or not a team player type of thing lol.

I literally did zero small talk during year three and got good team player on a large portion of my evals. Its fine as mentioned above, you might even be at an advantage.

 

[tbhdying]

I literally did zero small talk during year three and got good team player on a large portion of my evals. Its fine as mentioned above, you might even be at an advantage.

Thank you! This is reassuring for me to continue most of what I’m currently doing.

 

[Chelsea FC]

On the flip side being extroverted is a great if you're actually personable and funny. I've gotten great evals by shooting the sh$# with attendings.

 

[FindersFee5]

On the flip side being extroverted is a great if you're actually personable and funny. I've gotten great evals by shooting the sh$# with attendings.

I think there's an order that would go somewhat like this: (competent, outgoing, socially apt) > (competent, shy, socially apt) > (competent, shy, socially inept) > (incompetent, outgoing, socially apt) > (incompetent, shy, socially apt) > (competent, outgoing, socially inept) > (incompetent, shy, socially inept) > (incompetent, outgoing, socially inept).

So basically the best thing you could be would be competent, outgoing, and socially apt. I've seen people who definitely help themselves out by just chatting with attending like regular people and being able to find common ground, even if they weren't the best students. But I've seen great students hurt themselves much more by being super chatty and outgoing but being unable to read social cues. And if you're a person who has less natural ease in social situations, being shy is the best thing you can be.

 

[Chelsea FC]

I think there's an order that would go somewhat like this: (competent, outgoing, socially apt) > (competent, shy, socially apt) > (competent, shy, socially inept) > (incompetent, outgoing, socially apt) > (incompetent, shy, socially apt) > (competent, outgoing, socially inept) > (incompetent, shy, socially inept) > (incompetent, outgoing, socially inept).

So basically the best thing you could be would be competent, outgoing, and socially apt. I've seen people who definitely help themselves out by just chatting with attending like regular people and being able to find common ground, even if they weren't the best students. But I've seen great students hurt themselves much more by being super chatty and outgoing but being unable to read social cues. And if you're a person who has less natural ease in social situations, being shy is the best thing you can be.

Agreed but I feel most often than not people who are really sociable know how to read social cues as well. Kinda part of the whole package of being outgoing.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Agreed but I feel most often than not people who are really sociable know how to read social cues as well. Kinda part of the whole package of being outgoing.

In my experience, many of the people I know who are very outgoing and sociable don’t know when they are talking too much or how they are coming across to people. They seem to think their personality will be liked by everyone and not even consider the idea that some people might not like so much talking and bull****ting.

Definitely not saying all extroverts are like that. But I have seen that enough to think being able to read the room isn’t something that just naturally comes with being outgoing.

 

[Chelsea FC]

I also think being a woman it might be harder being an introvert because it is subconsciously perceived in a negative way. Ive notice that happening to alot of my women colleagues.

 

[raiderette]

I am an extrovert, but my bff in med school was definitely an introvert. He was also incredibly prepared for every rotation. He made a point of getting to know all about the patients, read everything, and politely asked everyone to teach him things. He came very prepared for residency and didn't come off like a gunner.