Introvert

[Biosyn]

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Hello,

I'm the type of person who prefers observation to participation with most things; I really enjoy sitting back and watching events fold out before me, while I ponder what's happening and beyond. I guess that makes me an introvert?

I have few but very close friends and I don't enjoy going out to party. Instead, I prefer going to a bookstore, reading a book or computer programming (I'm not a basement dweller type of guy).

Some of my friends/family tell me that becoming a medical researcher working in a lab doing research would be a better fit for me than being a doctor. Is this true? 🙁
I heard you have to do a lot of networking while in medical school too.



Who else considers themselves an introvert?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

None of that means you're intro or extroverted. I'm extroverted but I enjoy hanging out with small groups at a book/coffee shop. Introversion means that you have trouble communicating with people or feel uneasy around people that you might not know well. So for example, if you can go and comfortably communicate with other people on the street for example, then you're not introverted.

That being said, if you're truly introverted and do not like being around people then I would recommend looking for a different career than medicine.

 

[N2Medicine]

Hello,

I'm the type of person who prefers observation to participation with most things; I really enjoy sitting back and watching events fold out before me, while I ponder what's happening and beyond. I guess that makes me an introvert?

I have few but very close friends and I don't enjoy going out to party. Instead, I prefer going to a bookstore, reading a book or computer programming (I'm not a basement dweller type of guy).

Some of my friends/family tell me that becoming a medical researcher working in a lab doing research would be a better fit for me than being a doctor. Is this true? 🙁
I heard you have to do a lot of networking while in medical school too.



Who else considers themselves an introvert?

I'm most definitely somewhat of an introvert. I don't go out and party on the weekends or anything. I have a very small network of friends, but I prefer it that way. I'm like you: I prefer going to Barnes and Noble instead of the mall or reading instead of video games.

What you need to think about is if you can get past your introvert nature to go out and get involved with things. Like I said, I'm a bit more on the introvert side, but that hasn't stopped me from pursuing volunteer, shadowing, and leadership opportunities. I'm even a General Chemistry tutor at my younger brother's high school. I can communicate effectively when I need to and that is a very important skill when it comes interview time.

Trust me, my family had doubts when I said I was going to be pre-med as well. They told me that research work or engineering might be a better fit for me.... And honestly, I listened to them. I wasted over a year in an engineering program because I didn't think I had it in me to pursue medical school.

If you believe that medicine is for you (I recommend shadowing to determine this), you should go for it. Just make sure you have a good back-up plan.

Good Luck!

 

[Biosyn]

I'm most definitely somewhat of an introvert. I don't go out and party on the weekends or anything. I have a very small network of friends, but I prefer it that way. I'm like you: I prefer going to Barnes and Noble instead of the mall or reading instead of video games.

What you need to think about is if you can get past your introvert nature to go out and get involved with things. Like I said, I'm a bit more on the introvert side, but that hasn't stopped me from pursuing volunteer, shadowing, and leadership opportunities. I'm even a General Chemistry tutor at my younger brother's high school. I can communicate effectively when I need to and that is a very important skill when it comes interview time.

Trust me, my family had doubts when I said I was going to be pre-med as well. They told me that research work or engineering might be a better fit for me.... And honestly, I listened to them. I wasted over a year in an engineering program because I didn't think I had it in me to pursue medical school.

If you believe that medicine is for you (I recommend shadowing to determine this), you should go for it. Just make sure you have a good back-up plan. Mine is graduate school in Biochemistry or a SMP program.

Good Luck!

Thanks,

Sometimes I do have trouble talking to people and making new friends. For example, when I'm in a group I chose my words carefully in the beginning and once I get comfortable I open up. It's all good until someone new comes along...then I get real quiet again.

It's even worse during interviews...my train of thought just turns into mush. :/

 

[AntiHouseMD]

Being introverted doesn't necessarily prevent you from entering medicine. I personally find that there is a difference between being introverted and anti-social. I can talk to other people just fine, but I really can't open up to them unless I know them very well. Here is the thing: if you truly do not enjoy talking to people, you really should give medicine a second-look. As a doctor, you are going to be talking to patients on a daily basis about sensitive personal issues. If you aren't comfortable with that, then I would think about it more.

The other thing is that you are still in high school. When I was in high school, I was mostly shy. I'm now a college freshman, and I'm a little bit better in the social department. It may just take some time for you to come out of your shell. I know that it doesn't feel like it will happen, but just give it some time. It is way too early to be worrying about things like this. Just enjoy life right now and work on getting into undergraduate.

Good luck!

 

[Fenouil]

I'm an introvert too. I actually just interviewed with the associate dean of admissions at one of the med schools where I'm applying this cycle, and she pointed out that she could tell I'm introverted, but she added that introverts can make great docs because they tend to be really good listeners/observers.

You still have to be good at socializing, but being introverted shouldn't hold you back too much from this. What helped me a lot was getting a job that involved taking a lot of phone calls and talking to strangers almost constantly. I'm still naturally withdrawn and introverted, but I can easily strike up a conversation with almost anyone now.

And I agree with the previous poster who said that being introverted doesn't mean that you don't like being around people; it just means that your so called "battery" tends to charge up when you're alone and run down when you're doing a lot of socializing, while the opposite is true for extroverts. At least, that's how one of my professors explained it once; that explanation has always kind of stuck with me.

Good luck with everything!

 

[metalgirl14]

I'm an introvert as well. While you don't need to be an extrovert to be a good physician, a lot of med school (and residency) revolves around discussion. This is especially true for med schools with PBL in MS1 and MS2 (my PBL evals always say I need to "contribute" more). The same is true for MS3 and MS4. Most of the time, if you don't speak up, the residents/attendings will assume you don't know the answer. Just try speaking up in small group sessions as much as you can. At the end of the day though, as long as you can interact well with patients, you can still become a good physician.

 

[niblet]

Choosing a career based on which binary personality type you happen to fall under is no way to choose a career. It's much too simple of thinking to make such a complex, multivariable decision like picking a profession.

Communication is inextricably linked to medicine, however, and you will indeed need to stow away your withdrawn tendencies quite often. The good news is that this is possible for even naturally inclined introverts. Unless you are pathologically introverted (which I imagine is exceedingly rare, and that most of the cases that diagnose this are just misinterpretations of natural, instinctive proclivity), you will be capable of talking with patients and other medical personnel. Small ask, really, when you think about it.

I'm very introverted, and these things bothered me back in high school and probably as a freshman; but I think you'll learn as I did that reality doesn't necessarily fall in line with dichotomies. Physician does not equate with extravert and researcher with introvert. As long as you make an effort to be more sociable than you otherwise would be by default, when necessary, medicine will not be precluded for you.

 

[sjlamb77]

Lots of docs are introverts. If you want to do medicine, don't let that even be a consideration. Figure out what you want to do on a daily basis by researching and observing, and go for it. If you get into med school, then you have 3-4 years to decide what residency to choose. If your patient contact 3rd year makes you really uncomfortable and you don't like it, you can go into things like diagnostic radiology or pathology, fields that have little to no patient contact. Or you can be a surgeon or anesthesiologist, who typically work with patients that are unconscious. There are several specialties that will suit those uncomfortable with patient contact.

One of my favorite charts:
http://doccartoon.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-to-choose-medical-specialty.html