Too risky to label myself as an adrenaline junkie?

[MediPhil]

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I am writing a secondary essay about the medical environment in which I see myself practicing. I thrive under high-pressure scenarios and am leaning heavily toward a surgery or emergency medicine specialty. I am aware that my specialization preference is quite premature but after shadowing numerous fields, nothing came close to these two options. Sure, things change. But I have faith in my current direction.

I truly am an adrenaline junkie. I perform best under stressful conditions. High-octane scenarios bring out the best in my performance, no matter the department.

Would it be too much to start the essay by labeling myself as an adrenaline junkie?

 

[JLeBling]

I think I have the same issue as you.

Maybe you should find a euphemism for "adrenaline junkie". The term "junkie" has some negative connotations associated with it....

"Novelty seeker"
"Fearless"
"High attention threshold"

Or maybe you don't use a label at all. Mention how you thrive in high pressure situations but try not to display too much bravado. Let them connect the dots.

Right?

 

[MediPhil]

I think I have the same issue as you.

Maybe you should find a euphemism for "adrenaline junkie". The term "junkie" has some negative connotations associated with it....

"Novelty seeker"
"Fearless"
"High attention threshold"

Or maybe you don't use a label at all. Mention how you thrive in high pressure situations but try not to display too much bravado. Let them connect the dots.

Right?

I totally agree. I was curious to see if others find the phrase "adrenaline junkie" or "action junkie" a bit risque. It is the honest truth in regards to my personality. However, wordplay can make a world of difference.

 

[Aerus]

The thing is, medicine, even in the ED, can be pretty repetitive. I worked in the ED for awhile and "adrenaline cases" were not a common occurrence.

 

[Alfie99]

I totally agree. I was curious to see if others find the phrase "adrenaline junkie" or "action junkie" a bit risque. It is the honest truth in regards to my personality. However, wordplay can make a world of difference.

Personally, I would avoid that phrase. As said above, there is plenty of better ways to describe yourself as thriving under pressure.

 

[FFH]

I am writing a secondary essay about the medical environment in which I see myself practicing. I thrive under high-pressure scenarios and am leaning heavily toward a surgery or emergency medicine specialty. I am aware that my specialization preference is quite premature but after shadowing numerous fields, nothing came close to these two options. Sure, things change. But I have faith in my current direction.

I truly am an adrenaline junkie. I perform best under stressful conditions. High-octane scenarios bring out the best in my performance, no matter the department.

Would it be too much to start the essay by labeling myself as an adrenaline junkie?

I have worked in healthcare with physicians for quite a number of years by now. So speaking from experience, I would prefer my doctor and my future coworker to be a calm, patient and careful type over the andrenolin junkie type. Correct me if I'm wrong, there are a lot of procedural and beauracritical hoops that the physicians have to jump through to care for their patient properly, to read through hundreds if not thousands pages of identical lab reports, to write the same sentences on 90% of the ER cases. There won't be exciting kind of pressure that can stimulate your sympathetic nerve system, instead, it's the pressure that exerted by having to deal with things, with people, and with long hours.

Yes, you might perform well if you are presented with a very interesting case where the patient is dying from some mysterious cause. However, what about the other 99% of your patients who can't offer something new and interesting? Would you still thrive? where's the motivation then?

Have you shadowed a surgeon or a ER doctor extensively? I have a wall street friend who was successful in his own world but wanted more excitement by trying to become a surgical superstar, he turned to medicine. I advised him to shadow a surgeon before making further commitment and he quite the postbacc immediately after he saw how boring it was for him and how far it was from his vision of excitement.

I also worked in research for quite a number of years, I find that the best scientists tend to often be the andrenolin junkies.But research can handle your up and downs, but your patients, not so much.

 

[MediPhil]

I have worked in healthcare with physicians for quite a number of years by now. So speaking from experience, I would prefer my doctor and my future coworker to be a calm, patient and careful type over the andrenolin junkie type. Correct me if I'm wrong, there are a lot of procedural and beauracritical hoops that the physicians have to jump through to care for their patient properly, to read through hundreds if not thousands pages of identical lab reports, to write the same sentences on 90% of the ER cases. There won't be exciting kind of pressure that can stimulate your sympathetic nerve system, instead, it's the pressure that exerted by having to deal with things, with people, and with long hours.

Yes, you might perform well if you are presented with a very interesting case where the patient is dying from some mysterious cause. However, what about the other 99% of your patients who can't offer something new and interesting? Would you still thrive? where's the motivation then?

Have you shadowed a surgeon or a ER doctor extensively? I have a wall street friend who was successful in his own world but wanted more excitement by trying to become a surgical superstar, he turned to medicine. I advised him to shadow a surgeon before making further commitment and he quite the postbacc immediately after he saw how boring it was for him and how far it was from his vision of excitement.

I also worked in research for quite a number of years, I find that the best scientists tend to often be the andrenolin junkies.But research can handle your up and downs, but your patients, not so much.

Thank you for the thoughtful response! I am, indeed, apt in difficult/critical scenarios. But you have made a great point. Those sorts of events make up a minute portion of the physician's experience. Perhaps these are the most crucial of moments for a patient's life. But they are rare, nonetheless. Amiability, patience and diligence are equally necessary character traits for a doctor, no matter their focus. And I should be careful to clarify that in my essay! So thanks again. Very helpful response!

 

[FFH]

Thank you for the thoughtful response! I am, indeed, apt in difficult/critical scenarios. But you have made a great point. Those sorts of events make up a minute portion of the physician's experience. Perhaps these are the most crucial of moments for a patient's life. But they are rare, nonetheless. Amiability, patience and diligence are equally necessary character traits for a doctor, no matter their focus. And I should be careful to clarify that in my essay! So thanks again. Very helpful response!

I am only a premed. So what I said was more from a patient, observer's perspective and definitely doesn't carry much weight. When others like you ask me for advice, I usually just suggest shadowing and have people make up their own mind. I can't comment on whether what you wrote will affect your chance at medical school. But what I would say is that at least during the first 10 years of your training, you'll be missing out A LOT on other areas of life that can provide you with andrenolin rush. Such as extreme sports, traveling and stuff. Your life is nothing but predictable. You pretty much can know in advance what you'll be doing at any given minutes years ahead of you. That's exactly the life that I want. But is it the life you want?
EDIT: the said friend who quit postbac returned to investment banking. Oh boy his life is exciting. He just made some kind of crazy deal and his bonus can be as much as $1m. He travels ALL THE TIME and have all kinds of interesting trips and stuff. If I wasn't so addicted to medicine and feel comfortable in my little niche, I'd definitely envy him.

 

[Goro]

Immediately calls into question of judgment. A career in Medicine is not there for your entertainment. Join the Police, the Marines or the Special Forces if you want excitement.

I am writing a secondary essay about the medical environment in which I see myself practicing. I thrive under high-pressure scenarios and am leaning heavily toward a surgery or emergency medicine specialty. I am aware that my specialization preference is quite premature but after shadowing numerous fields, nothing came close to these two options. Sure, things change. But I have faith in my current direction.

I truly am an adrenaline junkie. I perform best under stressful conditions. High-octane scenarios bring out the best in my performance, no matter the department.

Would it be too much to start the essay by labeling myself as an adrenaline junkie?

 

[Catalystik]

Would it be too much to start the essay by labeling myself as an adrenaline junkie?

You don't want to come across as a risk taker.

 

[gyngyn]

We manage risk. We don't seek it out.

 

[tantacles]

You don't want to come across as a risk taker.

Definitely this.

I also want to point out that in EM and surgery, the expectation is that the physician will remain calm and lead a team, not jump into the situation and do the interventions him/herself. If you want to be the guy in the heart of the emergency, do some EMS work; most MD jobs aren't for you. If you want to be in the heart of a tense situation and lead the ship to safety while remaining detached from the situation, become a physician.

 

[xffan624]

Immediately calls into question of judgment. A career in Medicine is not there for your entertainment. Join the Police, the Marines or the Special Forces if you want excitement.

Those are not too different from a surgeon's life either - 99% mundane, 1% action. They also don't want adrenaline junkies. Granted I was not a Marine or even infantry officer, but when I went outside the wire I wanted things to be perfectly boring. That option doesn't result in your buddies dying.