introverts and medicine

[ADeadLois]

Yes, but introversion is not a symptom of social phobia.

Yes, that's the point I'm making.

EDIT: I'm now confusing myself! Law2Doc presented evidence to dispute your claim. I actually disagree with your statement.

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[ADeadLois]

You mean NOT implicit in the term, right? I agree with you.

Whoops, yeah I mean NOT implict.

 

[Law2Doc]

Law2Doc is right when he says that modern dictionaries imply that social phobia is a symptom of introversion. The point I made above is that the term has changed somewhat from its initial origins.

Yes. All I'm saying is that when someone uses the phrase "introvert" the typical lay understanding of that word is certainly not the person who "considers themselves outgoing" or likes to go out and party, like some other folks on this thread seem to suggest. It tends to be the kind of definition provided in Houghton Mifflin-American Heritage Dictionary, "A term introduced by the psychologist Carl Jung to describe a person whose motives and actions are directed inward. Introverts tend to be preoccupied with their own thoughts and feelings and minimize their contact with other people."

 

[TIGIBedHead]

To be fair to everyone, I think Law2Doc is responding to the OP considering the layman's definition, since the OP didn't clarify how he was using the term. ADeadLois, bbas, and I are using the psychological definition.

Regardless, I think that if someone really is withdrawn from society and cannot properly function in a clinical setting with patients, medicine might not be a good idea.

If someone is just shy and quiet, or less inclined to seek social stimulation, or however we want to define our terms, then medicine may be a good career match if in a patient situation, they can ask and answer questions and do whatever else is required of a physician in a clinical setting.