Strong introverts and medicine specialties

[Zuzana]

Hello, I´m thinking of going to study medicine... Of course, I have a lot of time for thinking what specialty I could choose, but I like thinking about a future and I found it´s hard for me to find a specialty what I would like and what wouldn´t be too exhausting for me.

I like people a lot and I ´d love to work with patients, but I´m afraid that it will be very exhausting for me. I´m very introverted, so I need a lot of time alone to recharge batteries. The best would be the job, where I would work a half-day with people and half-day work alone. Is it anything like that? I´d love to have possibility to support people and to help them, see the results, so I would not like to work in laboratory. I would also prefer working without other doctors, so anesthesiology wouldn´t be the best.

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[Doctor D]

Radiology.

 

[Kahreek]

i think it is too early to make a choice, you will have to see plenty of patients till you end med school.
But radiology and pathology are known to require little contact with people, if you desire so.

 

[Smurfette]

Most people change their minds about what specialty to pursue a bazillion times.

Moved to PreAllo where this thread is most appropriate.

 

[RangerBob]

I love working with people and they can and do energize me, but I definitely need some down time to recharge as well. Something like EM would be a nightmare for me (but a dream for others).

I agree with Kahreek--it's probably too early to decide what specialty to go into. If you're still pre-med I'd try and shadow a couple different specialties to make sure medicine is what you want to do--you want to go to medical school with at least a vague idea of what kind of physician you want to be, though it may change. But one thing to keep in mind is many specialties that are dependent on physically seeing patients, such as neurology, internal medicine, require quite a bit of time documenting/charting/thinking, so you actually get quite a bit of alone time--at least when you're on inpatient. Certainly things get busy at times, but I personally find it easier when I'm on an inpatient rotation compared to an outpatient one. I can usually find a quiet place to do my charting and recharge, but there's also plenty of people around so I don't feel too alone.

I think one key is also finding the specialty that energizes you. Psychiatrists spend a lot of face-to-face time with patients, but if sitting and listening to patient's problems energizes you (or at least doesn't drain you) then that might work as well.

There is plenty of space for introverts in medicine. I think psychiatry, neurology, radiology, and most definitely pathology tend to attract a higher proportion of introverts than other specialties, though you'll find them everywhere, even in the ER.

 

[Frazier]

Radiology does require a bit of interaction. It isn't all dark rooms and films. You will be constantly communicating with other physicians, techs, etc.

Depending on your gig, you might also have a decent amount of patient contact (especially in breast and IR).

I say this not to discourage an introvert from learning more about the field (heck, I'm an introvert), but rather discourage the lurking's thought that radiology is devoid of human interaction.

 

[SN12357]

Hello, I´m thinking of going to study medicine... Of course, I have a lot of time for thinking what specialty I could choose, but I like thinking about a future and I found it´s hard for me to find a specialty what I would like and what wouldn´t be too exhausting for me.

I like people a lot and I ´d love to work with patients, but I´m afraid that it will be very exhausting for me. I´m very introverted, so I need a lot of time alone to recharge batteries. The best would be the job, where I would work a half-day with people and half-day work alone. Is it anything like that? I´d love to have possibility to support people and to help them, see the results, so I would not like to work in laboratory. I would also prefer working without other doctors, so anesthesiology wouldn´t be the best.

Kind of a different answer than I guess you're going for, but if you have an academic career, you'll spend a lot of time doing research in addition to clinical work. A lot of that research time is spent alone, writing papers, analyzing data, etc.

Academia isn't for everyone and has a lot of drawbacks, but still something to think about, I guess.

 

[darkjedi]

Medicine is a team based industry, you will be hard pressed to find a specialty that allowed you to completely sequester yourself. Even Rads and Path work a ton with other physicians.

 

[armybound]

Are you introverted or socially awkward?

There are plenty of introverts in all kinds of specialties.

If you're socially awkward you may be a pathologist.

 

[karayaa]

I like people a lot and I ´d love to work with patients, but I´m afraid that it will be very exhausting for me. I´m very introverted, so I need a lot of time alone to recharge batteries. The best would be the job, where I would work a half-day with people and half-day work alone. Is it anything like that? I´d love to have possibility to support people and to help them, see the results, so I would not like to work in laboratory. I would also prefer working without other doctors, so anesthesiology wouldn´t be the best.

What's the exhausting part? Is it the constant barrage of new people with different personalities, the revolving door a la primary care, EM, or some private practice specialties?
Agree with SN12357 about academic medicine - combining clinical care with education, research, administration, policy, etc, might be the ticket. And the diagnostic radiology, path specialities.
Also, surgery can be introverted - lots of time with a small group of people without the need to talk if you don't want to. Lots of time to think.
Maybe explore critical care medicine, where patients might not be able to talk as much.
Or is it more the energy level, and the intensity of emotions associated with higher-intensity specialties such as cancer, emergency, etc. If so, consider something more mellow, like Allergy, or PM&R.
But medicine in general is a people-oriented profession. Maybe you'd prefer a basic science research track that works with MDs on clinical research projects?
Do you like being in a lab otherwise, besides the inability to support and see people and results?

edit: someone told me once that every specialty needs introverts, because patients can be introverts too. It's not ideal to match a super extroverted MD with a super introverted patient.

 

[TX515]

Are you introverted or socially awkward?

There are plenty of introverts in all kinds of specialties.

If you're socially awkward you may be a pathologist.

What a joke.

 

[Zuzana]

Thank you for all the answers. I know it´s early to decide what specialty will I do, but I just need to know, that there are some possibilities, that there are jobs which I would enjoy, but it wouldn´t destroy me. And I also need to see a job, which I would like to do, as a motivation. Because if I only know I´ll study medicine, but I don´t know what then... I wouldn´t enjoy what I do. Maybe I´ll change this "desicion" many times, but I need to imagine something what I would like to do.

 

[Zuzana]

A lot of people wrote radiology. I don´t know, but I think I would miss the patient interaction here. Because, I want to meet new people, but I would like to know my patients, not to see them one time and then only discuss with physicians.

If I wouldn´t be so strong introvert, I would like to be a GP. But I know I couldn´t do that, because I´m strong introvert - I could do this job only a half day, not more, then I would need to work alone. It´s everywhere, when I´m talking with people, I do enjoy it, but later I feel I can´t do that more, I miss that energy (which extroverts get from being with people and introverts from being alone). So if I would do that job, I would be terrible in family, terrible friend.

 

[Zuzana]

What's the exhausting part? Is it the constant barrage of new people with different personalities, the revolving door a la primary care, EM, or some private practice specialties?
Agree with SN12357 about academic medicine - combining clinical care with education, research, administration, policy, etc, might be the ticket. And the diagnostic radiology, path specialities.
Also, surgery can be introverted - lots of time with a small group of people without the need to talk if you don't want to. Lots of time to think.
Maybe explore critical care medicine, where patients might not be able to talk as much.
Or is it more the energy level, and the intensity of emotions associated with higher-intensity specialties such as cancer, emergency, etc. If so, consider something more mellow, like Allergy, or PM&R.
But medicine in general is a people-oriented profession. Maybe you'd prefer a basic science research track that works with MDs on clinical research projects?
Do you like being in a lab otherwise, besides the inability to support and see people and results?

edit: someone told me once that every specialty needs introverts, because patients can be introverts too. It's not ideal to match a super extroverted MD with a super introverted patient.

I don´t know what exactly is exhausting for me, it could be new people, but... this I should try during my studies. Now I only know, that for example when I go on some week or only weekend with class, and I don´t have time for thinking alone, I feel like if my head is going to explode, other people find me less talkative and I look tired, although I sleep a lot. And I really don´t feel happy, although I like people around me. So I´m afraid of a job, where I would loss my social energy and the I would miss energy for my family and friends. Maybe academic medicine would be interesting, but it´s so long way... I´ll see. Surgery wouldn´t be the best, I prefer interaction with patients then with physicians. I know that mostly everywhere I will sometimes need help from other specialists, but I wouldn´t like to work with them all the time. The room, where is a nurse, me and patient would be much better.
Maybe allergy and imunology would be good for me, thank you. I think they work for some part of the day alone, don´t they? When they got results from laboratories, they must find what´s wrong, how to treat it. Then write it... Then part of day they work with patients.

 

[kyamh]

(which extroverts get from being with people and introverts from being alone)

By your definition, I'm an introvert. That doesn't mean, however, that I haven't learned to function perfectly well being around people all work day long. I currently do research and there is always at least one other person in the lab - I love the work I do so I have learned to deal with it. Sometimes I go out and choose to eat lunch along. Sometimes I take a long coffee break. I think you are unnecessarily limiting yourself by not entertaining the possibility that you can adapt and learn strategies to cope with different environments.

Plus, you can't just only think about your final career. You still have 2 clinical years of medical school and at least 3 years of residency to learn how to deal with a people-saturated environment.

 

[Goucher2013]

Thank you for all the answers. I know it´s early to decide what specialty will I do, but I just need to know, that there are some possibilities, that there are jobs which I would enjoy, but it wouldn´t destroy me. And I also need to see a job, which I would like to do, as a motivation. Because if I only know I´ll study medicine, but I don´t know what then... I wouldn´t enjoy what I do. Maybe I´ll change this "desicion" many times, but I need to imagine something what I would like to do.

Don't forget that your character isn't set in stone. I used to be extremely introverted around 17 and when I decided to go for a job that required much more extroversion, I thought it would be an interesting challenge to change my personality and become more of a people person. The change hasn't been complete, but I've certainly come a long way. Plenty of people have done this, and I'm sure the internet is full of advice on how to manage and gradually overcome your introversion.

 

[karayaa]

Surgery wouldn´t be the best, I prefer interaction with patients then with physicians. I know that mostly everywhere I will sometimes need help from other specialists, but I wouldn´t like to work with them all the time. The room, where is a nurse, me and patient would be much better.
Maybe allergy and imunology would be good for me, thank you. I think they work for some part of the day alone, don´t they? When they got results from laboratories, they must find what´s wrong, how to treat it. Then write it... Then part of day they work with patients.

Why do you prefer patients to physicians? Do you think that opinion might change after you become a doctor and you're all on the same level?

Surgeons definitely see patients in clinic - to assess the problem, discuss treatment options, do post-op care and review healing, etc. But it would give you a day or two each week where you don't have to talk too much.
I don't know how many surgeons actually work with other doctors...obviously depends on the practice setup, but it might just be surgical techs/nurses in the room. Not even an anesthesiologist necessarily, and if they are there, they'd be quiet.

The private practice allergy with which I'm familiar does work independently, but there are other doctors and lots of nurses/techs in the office. They spend almost no time with lab results - they just look at the values. They don't write much...they do normal allergy stuff - seasonal/food allergic reactions, asthma, immune system disorders.
They see patients about every 20min, but never with a nurse. I don't know how many outpatient doctors see patients together with nurses tbh. I've never heard of it. Usually the nurse/MA reports the vitals and CC to the MD, then the doctor takes over, does the SOAP, and then if needed the nurse will do in-house tests such as EKG, skin test, flu shot. Otherwise the patient leaves.

Btw, why are you using the accent key ´ instead of the apostrophe '? Are you using a non-english keyboard layout?

 

[pyrrion89]

Don't forget that your character isn't set in stone. I used to be extremely introverted around 17 and when I decided to go for a job that required much more extroversion, I thought it would be an interesting challenge to change my personality and become more of a people person. The change hasn't been complete, but I've certainly come a long way. Plenty of people have done this, and I'm sure the internet is full of advice on how to manage and gradually overcome your introversion.

This. I used to be a 99% I on the MBTI personality test when I was young. I got a job that forced me to interact all the time with strangers. I'd say I'm more a 70% now (50% being neither introverted (I) or extroverted (E)).

 

[pietachok]

How old are you? With age, your increasing comfort in interacting with people may reduce the amount of energy it sucks from you.

You can't pick and choose your schedule to spend half of the day alone through your training, regardless of what field you choose -- even pathologists have to interact with peers and instructors on a very, very regular basis to get through residency. Although I suppose it's possible to be isolate as a radiologist, in my experience rotating through radiology, I found residents/fellows to be very social, b/c they're stuck in a room together without acute situations to tend to. The environment lends to chit chat while waiting for images to load, while on hold when calling back a team that ordered a study using the wrong protocol, etc. They also spend a non-trivial amount of time explaining/defending their reads to the providers who ordered the imaging.

Also, if you're so introverted that people think you're disinterested or unfriendly, you're going to have a tough time doing well in clinical years.

I suppose the point of all of this is that you need to shadow some physicians in the specialties/positions listed above and figure out if this is a viable career path for you.

 

[deleted407021]

This. I used to be a 99% I on the MBTI personality test when I was young. I got a job that forced me to interact all the time with strangers. I'd say I'm more a 70% now (50% being neither introverted (I) or extroverted (E)).

It's called being ambiverted. I'm the same way. Intensely private and I prefer not to speak unnecessarily. However I can be very assertive and direct. I've learned to work with people very well as you have which has extended my ability to fill leadership roles and be constructive in groups. I feel like being ambiverted gives me the personality tools to be a good professional; not too distant and cold, but not too clingy and emotional.

 

[Zuzana]

Why do you prefer patients to physicians? Do you think that opinion might change after you become a doctor and you're all on the same level?

Surgeons definitely see patients in clinic - to assess the problem, discuss treatment options, do post-op care and review healing, etc. But it would give you a day or two each week where you don't have to talk too much.
I don't know how many surgeons actually work with other doctors...obviously depends on the practice setup, but it might just be surgical techs/nurses in the room. Not even an anesthesiologist necessarily, and if they are there, they'd be quiet.

The private practice allergy with which I'm familiar does work independently, but there are other doctors and lots of nurses/techs in the office. They spend almost no time with lab results - they just look at the values. They don't write much...they do normal allergy stuff - seasonal/food allergic reactions, asthma, immune system disorders.
They see patients about every 20min, but never with a nurse. I don't know how many outpatient doctors see patients together with nurses tbh. I've never heard of it. Usually the nurse/MA reports the vitals and CC to the MD, then the doctor takes over, does the SOAP, and then if needed the nurse will do in-house tests such as EKG, skin test, flu shot. Otherwise the patient leaves.

Btw, why are you using the accent key ´ instead of the apostrophe '? Are you using a non-english keyboard layout?

I don't know, everything could change about these opinions. But now, it's much more interesting for me to imagine, that I could help the patient by myself. Of course, sometimes talk with other physicians about it, but most of the time make decisions in my head and then interpret it to my patient.

And surgeons... I don't know, if I'm the right person for this job. Maybe eye surgeon, but I'm really not sure. But maybe this isn't possible to know, before I see it in medicine school.

And yes, my keyboard isn't english, I'm from the Czech republic. The czech keyboard is a little different, because we need letters like š, č, ů etc. But now I found how to use the apostrophe', so I will use it.

 

[Zuzana]

Also, if you're so introverted that people think you're disinterested or unfriendly, you're going to have a tough time doing well in clinical years.

No, this isn't so. In my normal life, I have time, what I spend alone. Then I can enjoy talking with other people, when I found people with similar interests, I'm talkative quite a lot and people don't think I'm disinterested and unfriendly. But when I get to a situation, like the week-trip with people, where I must spend all they with talking with them and I can't be alone, then I miss my energy, I'm not very talkative and people see it.

 

[gtbROX]

Hello, I´m thinking of going to study medicine... Of course, I have a lot of time for thinking what specialty I could choose, but I like thinking about a future and I found it´s hard for me to find a specialty what I would like and what wouldn´t be too exhausting for me.

I like people a lot and I ´d love to work with patients, but I´m afraid that it will be very exhausting for me. I´m very introverted, so I need a lot of time alone to recharge batteries. The best would be the job, where I would work a half-day with people and half-day work alone. Is it anything like that? I´d love to have possibility to support people and to help them, see the results, so I would not like to work in laboratory. I would also prefer working without other doctors, so anesthesiology wouldn´t be the best.

Radiology.
But in general, medicine is not a good field if you're that big of an introvert. And I'm assuming that by introvert, you mean that you need time away from people to rest and recoup. If you're afraid that working with patients will be exhausting for you, reconsider medical school. Even before you become a radiologist or any other physician you're going through many years of patient interaction.

At this point, I recommend that you find a job as a medical assistant or do a volunteer program that puts you in direct contact with patients. I'm an introvert so I had the same thoughts as you, but when I worked at a hospital I enjoyed the direct patient interaction so much that it was of my confirmation moments that I wanted to be a doctor for sure.

 

[karayaa]

At this point, I recommend that you find a job as a medical assistant or do a volunteer program that puts you in direct contact with patients. I'm an introvert so I had the same thoughts as you, but when I worked at a hospital I enjoyed the direct patient interaction so much that it was of my confirmation moments that I wanted to be a doctor for sure.

+1 there are ways to adapt and cope with it. just don't let one negative experience scare you off.

 

[styphon]

I was a strong introvert, I had severe social anxiety which almost crippled me from talking to strangers. I had trouble ordering food at restuarants and would often tell the order to my family/friends and have them repeat it to the waitress.

A large change for me was joining EMS, a 911 response squad. People in EMS are very blunt, and they tend to "haze" new trainees. I was determined to stick it out even though I felt like quitting multiple times - and it ended with a positive result. I feel like it made me my outgoing, less shy, and to be more comfortable talking to people.

Although that was probably my greatest leap in social skills/reduction in shyness - I still developed skills thru-out medical school.

And oddly, I am now in a speciality that lots of people think are touchy/sensitive - family med. I love the field, although I am probably atypical in how I talk to pts - I am straight, blunt, and do very little small talk - but I know this is the right place for me.

 

[Aerus]

It's all about using your love of being around people to overcome the exhaustion and need to recharge. One can be extremely introverted, yet extremely outgoing and social at the same time.