I am very interested in becoming an emergency medicine physician, but I fear that my introverted personality will hurt me along the way. Would I be successful in EM as an introvert?
I am very interested in becoming an emergency medicine physician, but I fear that my introverted personality will hurt me along the way. Would I be successful in EM as an introvert?
Is there a "typical" EM personality? Yes, of course, everybody knows what it is.
It's called,
Crazy.
Right? Not overt psychosis, or off-the-rails borderline, but with all due respect, you've gotta have a little bit of that in you to do this, don't you?
Introvert, extrovert...it doesn't matter, as long as you've got a just a tiny little tincture (but not too much) of the c-word. (And remember, every introvert is God's gift to some extrovert out there. Otherwise, who would listen to all those extroverts' yappin' if the world was full of nothing but them?)
It's kind of like sky divers and guys that jump rows of buses on motorcycles. It's not for wimps, for those without a contingency plan for ever potential disaster, or for those who need all their ducks lined up nicely in a row all the time, to feel at ease.
Give it a try. See if you like it.
AIs there a "typical" EM personality? Yes, of course, everybody knows what it is.
It's called,
Crazy.
I am sort of introvert but manage to be extrovert enough at work.
I think my biggest quality that made people around me say that I have an "EM personality" is:
my ADHD trait
Yes I do have a short attention span. Plus, despite not being an extrovert in personal life, I definitely have a cowboy personality. I am always ready to get the balls rolling and have problems fixed asap. It'd kill me trying to talk a patient out of depression for 30min, or figure out all the 30 ddx of a 85 year old with hyponatremia...
one patient
one complaint
one red flag diagnosis to rule out
one most likely diagnosis
one plan: discharge vs admit
...
then next! let's start over again
I'm lovin' it
I'm glad you've liked your time in the ED. The view you're presenting in your "one" comments is pretty typical of a rotating med student's view of EM. It's also not a good description of an EP's work flow.
Instead it's...
9-14+ active patients
1-4+ complaints (we get to throw out the non-emergent, but chest pain + HA + SOB is an extremely common combo)
multiple dangerous/life threatening diagnoses (especially for medicine patients with vague histories, multiple comorbidities, and non-specific physical exams)
multiple likely diagnoses that you can't differentiate between given the information available during an ED stay
re-evals to determine if the planned disposition is still appropriate
...
all of this occurring with multiple patients and the work-up being interrupted repeatedly for factors that you don't control.
The only thing I hate is when people say I have the attention span of an ER doc. We aren't dumb crack addicts that can't pay attention. We have a lot going on at once. I think the stereotype of a EM personality is overblown. I have seen some great personalities in attendings. Others not so great.
I think our coopting "ADD" as the default EM personality is a gross perversion of what is actually a fairly disabling condition. It's so much more self-effacing to say you have ADD, when what you really mean is you have a low latency time when switching tasks combined with a preference for high intensity input. In fact, we are usually a profession defined by our ability to ignore distractors in order to focus on what is important. I have no doubt there are people with ADD that are extremely successful in EM but like in most fields, this is going to be an "inspite of" not "because of" phenomenon.
You're using the terms extrovert and introvert wrong. It's not that introverts can't socialize, don't socialize, or don't like to socialize. It's that introverts recharge their batteries by spending time alone. Extroverts recharge their batteries socializing. I am an introvert, but I am quite social and fairly chatty at work.I'm pretty extroverted, and there are times where I get sidetracked chatting a bit too much with staff/co-residents/patients. I think I'd be more efficient if I was a bit more introverted. Somewhere in the middle is probably ideal for EM, but don't fret if you're closer to one of the extremes.
You're using the terms extrovert and introvert wrong. It's not that introverts can't socialize, don't socialize, or don't like to socialize. It's that introverts recharge their batteries by spending time alone. Extroverts recharge their batteries socializing. I am an introvert, but I am quite social and fairly chatty at work.
In discussing "personality" I generally use Myers-Briggs for definitions and explanations.Well then Merriam Webster has been lying to me:
"extrovert : a friendly person who likes being with and talking to other people : an outgoing person"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extrovert
And great, now I'm the d-bag who is quoting the dictionary.
In discussing "personality" I generally use Myers-Briggs for definitions and explanations.
Full explanation here: http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/extraversion-or-introversion.asp
"Extraversion and Introversion as terms used by C. G. Jung explain different attitudes people use to direct their energy. These words have a meaning in psychology that is different from the way they are used in everyday language."
So this begs the question... which MB personality types thrive in the ED?In discussing "personality" I generally use Myers-Briggs for definitions and explanations.
Full explanation here: http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/extraversion-or-introversion.asp
"Extraversion and Introversion as terms used by C. G. Jung explain different attitudes people use to direct their energy. These words have a meaning in psychology that is different from the way they are used in everyday language."
Seconded.I'm glad you've liked your time in the ED. The view you're presenting in your "one" comments is pretty typical of a rotating med student's view of EM. It's also not a good description of an EP's work flow.
Instead it's...
9-14+ active patients
1-4+ complaints (we get to throw out the non-emergent, but chest pain + HA + SOB is an extremely common combo)
multiple dangerous/life threatening diagnoses (especially for medicine patients with vague histories, multiple comorbidities, and non-specific physical exams)
multiple likely diagnoses that you can't differentiate between given the information available during an ED stay
re-evals to determine if the planned disposition is still appropriate
...
all of this occurring with multiple patients and the work-up being interrupted repeatedly for factors that you don't control.