Is Radiology more suited for introverts or extroverts?
- Thread starter Bane
- Start date
The amount of interaction with people esp clinicians is a lot. The number of phone calls I used to make or receive in residency on call was endless.
Now in pp, on top of those I have to do tumor boards, give lectures to primary care doctors for better marketing, have meetings and ....
Many of these depend on your pratice set up. And if you do mammo or IR, your interaction is the same.
In summary if you don't like people interaction don't do it.
You definitely have to be happy sitting at a computer for a large chunk of the day without much interaction with others. Like shark said, you interact with your co-workers and clinicians in spurts, taking calls/going over cases, but at most this will probably take up ~1/4th of a typical day. It is certainly one of the most isolating fields in medicine (probably only trumped by path).
definitely for introverts.. all the residents ive met are really nice and friendly but they are also totally content sitting in that room for hours with no chitchat. and i am deifnitely an introvert which is what partly attracts me to radiology. i like interacting with clinicians and phone calls are totally cool but constnat patient interaction is somewhat anxiety provoking.
I feel like I lean extrovert BUT sometimes radiology appeals to me as anatomy has been my favorite subject (visual models also) combined with a love of tech. Yet I don't know if I would thrive without human contact (I know little about Rads other than a single day shadowing a department head - with actual clinic duties though that day).
I'm prolly one of the most extroverted people I've ever known, but that doesn't apply to patient interaction. I love talking with other specialists, but talking to pts is more of a scripted algorithm than an organic, absorbing discussion.
The fact that it has less direct people interaction, probably makes it more suitable for introverts. But then again radiologists talk to the whole hospital and lead meetings etc, wouldn't hurt having more extroverts around.
Overall don't think it matters that much. Medicine accommodates for both in and extroverts. It's whether you can put up with all the 5h1t_ associated with the training that matters more.
