Personal Qualities

[Lactic Folly]

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Most of the posts here on possible insecurity about med school seem to deal with academic/family issues.. but seldom is there anything about personal qualities.

So what do you think? If you are competent, dedicated, pleasant/friendly, and have your patients' best interests at heart, is it necessary to be especially outgoing/gregarious to be a good doctor as some say?

I've been told I have a quiet, confident manner.. hopefully patients will appreciate this.. and hopefully adcoms will too 😛

 

[Bounty]

i think you should be more like your dancing banana. 🙂
Just kidding! I am sure that not everyone in med school is gregarious and outgoing so don't sweat it! 🙂

 

[lola]

i'm not gregarious and outgoing 🙂 but then... i'm not in med school yet. i don't think you need to be particularly outgoing, just friendly and easy to talk to.

 

[Adcadet]

I don't see any need for doctors to be gregarious. Now it will definitely be a problem if you can't walk into an exam room and have anything from a pleasant conversation to a hard-line talk with a patient.

I've been shadowing my PI for a while - he's a pretty quiet guy in general, but this absolutely does not restrict him from communicating his points with patients.

I'm also a fairly quiet guy, but I've been doing hospice work for over 5 years now. Other than the normal nervousness the first few times I've vistited patients and families (and to a lesser extent every time), I've never had a problem.

Think of it this way: if you're like most people, you probably prefer to operate without a set schedule. But when your schedule gets tight, you end up I can become rigid when I get busy.making a pretty rigorous schedule for yourself and stick to it well, as much as you'd like to just take an afternoon off to goof off. Just as you can become regimented with your schedule when you need to, you can probably also become very communicative with patients when you need to.

 

[Lactic Folly]

Thanks for the replies..

Practice and exposure to a wide variety of situations and people will probably help most in polishing communication and people skills. Palliative care sounds excellent in that regard - darned age requirement though 😳

 

[Adcadet]

Originally posted by Lactic Folly
Thanks for the replies..

Practice and exposure to a wide variety of situations and people will probably help most in polishing communication and people skills. Palliative care sounds excellent in that regard - darned age requirement though 😳

Age requirement? With my hospice you only have to be 18 - in fact, I was 18 when I started.

If you're younger than that, don't sweat - you'll have time.

 

[Sarah Kerr]

Originally posted by Adcadet
I'm also a fairly quiet guy, but I've been doing hospice work for over 5 years now. Other than the normal nervousness the first few times I've vistited patients and families (and to a lesser extent every time), I've never had a problem.

How are you doing w/ Hospice work? I've just started, and if you have any feedback it would be appreciated! 🙂

 

[Iron Horse]

Originally posted by Bounty
i think you should be more like your dancing banana. 🙂
Just kidding! I am sure that not everyone in med school is gregarious and outgoing so don't sweat it! 🙂

I *guarantee* that not everyone in med school is gregarious and outgoing. That said, I think that there are other personal qualities that make one an excellent physician versus an adequate or subpar MD.

 

[cabruen]

Being a good listener is highly important.

 

[mikecwru]

Originally posted by Lactic Folly
Most of the posts here on possible insecurity about med school seem to deal with academic/family issues.. but seldom is there anything about personal qualities.

So what do you think? If you are competent, dedicated, pleasant/friendly, and have your patients' best interests at heart, is it necessary to be especially outgoing/gregarious to be a good doctor as some say?

I've been told I have a quiet, confident manner.. hopefully patients will appreciate this.. and hopefully adcoms will too 😛

Med school will change you a lot. It's hard to be really introverted after having to put your fingers in nasty vag and rectums. A minority react to this and become extremely introverted---really freaky, but most people become fairly outgoing.

mike

 

[tms]

Originally posted by mikecwru
Med school will change you a lot. It's hard to be really introverted after having to put your fingers in nasty vag and rectums. A minority react to this and become extremely introverted---really freaky, but most people become fairly outgoing.

mike

So....how are the kids doing in school? Bobby still getting in fights in the lunchline? (All while two knuckles deep in a digital rectal exam.)

I can't wait!

 

[LoneCoyote]

Originally posted by Sarah Kerr
How are you doing w/ Hospice work? I've just started, and if you have any feedback it would be appreciated! 🙂

Hey Sarah,

I've done hospice volunteering for about a year. It has been a good experience overall, definitely hard at times. I volunteer at the in-patient facility rather than working 1-on-1 with a patient and his/her family. So I see a lot of different patients, many of whom will not be alive when I return the next week. Having that reality sink in was difficult at first. But I think the experience has given me a totally new perspective on the end of life that will help me in the long run, both as a doctor, and just in my life in general. For me the best part of the experience has been having patient interaction. I was definitely nervous at first but have found that most people just want to talk, or even to just have company while they watch TV or something. And seeing the staff at work with these patients has been great. They are a very compassionate, dedicated bunch of doctors and nurses. My advice is just to do as much as you feel comfortable doing and I think you'll generally know when a patient wants to talk or they want to be left alone. And hopefully you have a good volunteer coordinator who will talk with you if the experience raises feelings, issues, etc that you want to discuss. If you have any questions or want to talk about the experience feel free to PM me. Good luck.

 

[Lactic Folly]

Palliative care opportunities here are open once you reach 21.. 18 lets you clean stretchers in Emergency (it can be fun, and makes me think I would make a good aide, but you know 😉 )There's this position that allows you to weigh patients and such, but it's 25+...

I now teach kids about science at the local science museum.. it's a great experience.