Work in medicine

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Since I was diagnosed with AS I've been considering work as a doctor (hopefully in a mix of practical medical care and also academic medical research).

However before I apply for medical school I am weighing up some of the possible disadvantages. I do have a capacity for meltdowns due to anxiety in social situations and I worry if looking after patients requires too much interaction with people and therefore it might not be suitable for an Aspie?

Any Aspie physicians out there?

I'm not physician, I am afraid. You can be a great doctor and handle the anxiety. How? Find some activity to relaxe you.

Having been in medical school and left because my AS makes me unsuitable I have a few points you should think on.
1. There are AS physicians out there, but generally in surgery (where you can get away with being rude) or pathology or radiology (very little people interaction).

2. I had lots of trouble with patient interviewing as it requires using open ended questions (which I have trouble answering, much less coming up with). I also have trouble being "polite?" as I tend to be blunt with patients who are engaging in unhealthy habits or are being un-compliant with treatment.

3. Doctors tend (are expected to be very good at) expressing empathy in the socially accepted manner. Many of them may not feel what they are saying so to people like me they appear to be insincere and liars.

4. Bureaucracy. Stupid paperwork and management and what not that actually take time away from patients and make it harder to practice medicine.

This does not mean that you cannot, or should not be a doctor, but it should give you things to think about and do soul searching on when considering it.

Side note, if you want to do medical research you can do it just as easily with a PhD as a MD or DO.

@Nebrets,

I should indicate I'm doing medicine as a graduate route (i.e. doing a medical Bachelors after a BA or Bsc- this is not the normal route in the UK where I am, but in the US this is the normal route lol so if you're from the USA it may be familiar to you?) and the reason I chose to apply for medical school was that I wanted a degree that gave me practical training in a trade and skill to provide because I was worried that just doing a BSc and PhD in biological sciences and being a researcher is more limited financially and career wise and I wanted the security of a profession hence my interest in medicine.

Thanks for the points: very good ones

Hi, I've worked a couple of seasons doing tax preparation with H&R Block and another company. And I found that I was good at distilling down information and remaining open to a real conversation (without overexplaining which I can do). And I tried to realistically and matter-of-factly disclose the negatives of the bank and loan products.

In the states, persons who work at low-paid jobs who also have children can usually receive Earned Income Credit (EIC). Someone making $10,000 might receive $3,000 EIC. So, it's a real situation, in no way a trial run.

I learned a lot. This is one of the things which convinced me I would have been a good doctor if I was a younger man. In the UK, I think the EIC equivalent is called Working Tax Credit (WTC). For H&R Block, you can study on your own and pass a test early to mid December, and then work for about 5 weeks late December through early February and that's generally it.