too great a disability?

[Hellofloyds]

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Hi Everyone,

I have a bit of a dilemma I'm hoping some of you could help me with. For the past several years I've been considering a career change in the direction of medicine, particularly in the area of surgery. I understand the level of commitment and dedication required of surgeons, and I would be willing to take it all on to realize this dream.

I am 28 years old, and I'm currently working as a computer animator. I have a bachelor's degree in visual art, and a diploma in visual effects & animation. I understand that I would probably need to do another degree from scratch, seeing as how I have very few med school pre-reqs on my current transcript. My major dilemma is this...I have a touch of social anxiety disorder (not much, but it is noticeably there.) As a result, I can be somewhat irritable to be around, and a little harder than most to get along with in person.

My question to all of you is do you think becoming a surgeon is an unrealistic goal for someone like me due to my condition?

thanks kindly. 🙂

 

[FlyinBryan]

Might I suggest you read Oliver Sacks' article "A Surgeon's Life," which appears in An Anthropologist on Mars.

Sacks writes about a general surgeon who has sufferred from Tourrette's Syndrome since childhood, yet has been able to pursue a successful career in surgery despite his condition. A very inspiring read.

Good luck!

 

[njbmd]

Hi Everyone,

I have a bit of a dilemma I'm hoping some of you could help me with. For the past several years I've been considering a career change in the direction of medicine, particularly in the area of surgery. I understand the level of commitment and dedication required of surgeons, and I would be willing to take it all on to realize this dream.

I am 28 years old, and I'm currently working as a computer animator. I have a bachelor's degree in visual art, and a diploma in visual effects & animation. I understand that I would probably need to do another degree from scratch, seeing as how I have very few med school pre-reqs on my current transcript. My major dilemma is this...I have a touch of social anxiety disorder (not much, but it is noticeably there.) As a result, I can be somewhat irritable to be around, and a little harder than most to get along with in person.

My question to all of you is do you think becoming a surgeon is an unrealistic goal for someone like me due to my condition?

thanks kindly. 🙂

First of all, you don't need a second degree. You need the pre-med pre-reqs, a competitive overall undergraduate GPA in any major and a competitive score on the Medical College Admissions Test.

As for you social anxiety disorder, you are the only person that can figure out how much of a disability this presents. Medicine is not practiced in isolation and good communication/social skills are quite necessary.

Before you decide on a specialty, you need to gain acceptance into medical school. You may find that you like pediatrics more than surgery once you have rotated through surgery as a third year. My class had about 40 budding surgeons at the beginning of medical school but only 4 of us actually matched into General Surgery when the time came to pick a specialty.

 

[Hellofloyds]

Thank you for the responses. FlyinBryan - I will definately check out the article, it sounds like an interesting read.

njbmd - thanks for the honest advice - I like what you said, and I have to say I will not let this hindrance stop me - I"m going for it!

Thank you and good luck to all of you. 🙂

 

[efex101]

I have to second what NJBMD stated on her post...*first* get all your pre-reqs and gain acceptance into medical school and *then* consider your options for specialty choices. Good luck! and keep us posted.

 

[Law2Doc]

As a result, I can be somewhat irritable to be around, and a little harder than most to get along with in person.

I agree with the prior posts, take it one step at a time. However I would suggest that whether this presents an impediment depends on degree. It is not the case that a surgeon never has to see conscious patients these days, and so you will be faced with the same hurdles you might have in any (customer/client) service industry. I have know individuals who have been pressed by their schools not to consider certain specialties based on their disabilities.

 

[digitlnoize]

It can definitely be done. I left my prior career to return to school...I am now 29 and applying to med school, but there are tons of people older (and wiser) than me on here!

As said above, you don't really need to be "social", but you will have to interact with people in any part of the medical profession. That being said, there are many fields in medicine with less patient contact (radiology, pathology, many others). You'll still have to interact occasionally with collegues, and other medical people...It's like any job really in that sense. I'm sure as an animator you have to have some interaction with the people directing (or paying) you to design for them, right?

Things you need to do:

Most medical schools require the following pre-reqs before they'll accept you:

1. B.S. or B.A. in something. Doesn't matter what. I personally know of someone with a music degree and an English degree who have completed medical school at Hopkins and UVA respectively. You will need a good GPA (~3.5-ish...the higher the better).

If you don't have a high undergrad GPA, this can be remedied...search the forum for post-bacc and you'll get TONS of info, I'm sure.

2. Classes

Here most med schools require 1 year of biology with lab, 1 year of chemistry with lab, 1 year of physics with lab, and one year of organic chemistry with lab. Some require a year of college english or math, but you probably have these already. Completing these will probably take 2 years. Example:

Year 1: Bio I and II, Chem I and II.
Year 2: Physics I and II, Organic Chem I and II.

You have to take the year of chem before the year of organic, so unless you have a chemistry background...it'll be 2 years.

3. A decent MCAT. If you don't know anything about the MCAT, go look it up. Google and wikipedia will provide. It's friggin' hard...top score = 45, but no one gets that...You're shooting for >30, although it is possible to get in with less than that.

4. Health-care experience. This includes shadowing doctors...call some and ask. I learned very quickly that most doctors were not the super-geniuses I thought they were. Many are just normal, nice folks...just relax and be yourself. They'll probably be very interested in your animation stuff. I talk about music with them as much or more than medicine.

5. Volunteer Experience - Go to it. Help people. A little goes a long way.

and

6. Letters of Recommendation - Good letters can come from old teachers, or from the physicians you've shadowed along the way...amongst others.

Sorry this is rambling. you can look all this up, but this is the abridged guide. I remember how difficult it was when I began, and this is just to get you started.

Good luck!

 

[viostorm]

I've never met a surgeon that wasn't "somewhat irritable" to be around!

 

[Law2Doc]

I've never met a surgeon that wasn't "somewhat irritable" to be around!

You get to mature into that role, but I'm fairly sure you can't start out that way.

 

[Hellofloyds]

Thanks for the continued responses. I do have one more question though.... As I mentioned, I have a prior degree, so apparently I would only need to complete the medical school pre-reqs to be eligible to apply. My question is..would my gpa be calculated based solely on these pre-req courses that I would take now, or would they be averaged with all of the other courses I took while I was doing the previous degree?

thanks again.

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

I have experience overcoming social anxiety disorder. Let me tell you, nursing school was terrifying! But, for me it was all about practice, practice, practice. I still get pretty nervous before social interactions, but I've got a good poker face which gets me through until I can settle-in. For me, it was all about learning what really social people did in different settings and emulating them. When I was 18, I was afraid to go to the grocery store. It took years and a lot of work (anti-depressants helped too 😉), but now I'm a nurse and I work with all kinds of freaks and can talk to all kinds of people. I'm pursuing my pre-reqs for med school now while working as a nurse. It's interesting to see how far I've come. My dad has social anxiety disorder as well, and I frequently serve to "cover" for him in various situations (including the grocery store one!) when we're hanging-out.

Good luck!

 

[Law2Doc]

Thanks for the continued responses. I do have one more question though.... As I mentioned, I have a prior degree, so apparently I would only need to complete the medical school pre-reqs to be eligible to apply. My question is..would my gpa be calculated based solely on these pre-req courses that I would take now, or would they be averaged with all of the other courses I took while I was doing the previous degree?

thanks again.

AMCAS will list everything; the GPA reportedly used will include both your undergraduate and postbac grades combined.

 

[HyperSpace]

Hey there, I have social anxiety as well. I think going to medical school with this disorder can totally be done. But you have to treat your disorder, and get used to the idea of talking to people. The best way to overcome social anxiety is to go to a psychiatrist and tell him/her about your problem. SA is very treatable. I did and I dont regret it one bit! It has changed the quality of my life dramatically. I am able to interact with people and give presentations without a problem. I like giving presentations so much now that I joined a club called toast masters, which is basically a club that helps you develop presentation skills and leadership qualities. If this club is in your area I suggest you join it.

 

[digitlnoize]

The AMCAS GPA does include everything you have ever done, but it also is seperated out by year so the admissions people can see how you've improved...but you still have to have a pretty good GPA...

 

[Hellofloyds]

AgainstAllOdds - I can relate to what you are saying. I agree that practicing interacting with people is definitely the key to overcoming SA. As far as anti-depressants go, I haven't felt the need for that kind of therapy yet, but it is something to keep in mind if things worsen. Congratulations on becoming a nurse, and on pursuing your med-school pre-reqs! - keep going!!

HyperSpace - Thanks for the encouraging statements - hearing about people like yourself makes me think this problem is TOTALLY surmountable. Thanks, and cheers.

Law2Doc & digitlnoize - If the AMCAS GPA includes everything I have ever done, then am I pretty much screwed, because when I was doing my previous degree, I received grades all across the board - mostly C's. This was due to being younger and still into the whole college party thing. So even if I did a fresh degree, would med schools still factor in these old lousy grades?

thanks 👍