Chances at becoming a doctor?

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So.. I've always wanted to be a doctor. I've read that it isn't a good profession for someone with an ASD to pursue. I hope that isn't true.

I'm now in my late 20's and I can feel my brain solidifying. It's more difficult to learn things, but I'm still an A/B student. My IQ used to be very, very high - now I would guess it's still 120's or 130's. I have three 2 year degrees and I'm looking into ways to pay for/get scholarships to universities. I have terrible social anxiety that I haven't even discussed with a doctor yet, so I'm not sure how well I can get that under control. I have some people encouraging me that I would make a brilliant physician and others who it seems think that I shouldn't even bother trying. I'm not sure what to think anymore. :/

Yes it's possible. I'm considering it myself

On the plus side, physicians need to systematize and AS people are good at that. Also, AS people are good at rote memory.

On the negative, there is the patient interaction and possibility for overstimulation -- this probably depends on the sub-field but I'm thinking ER may be too much stimulation for an Aspie, whereas other sub-fields (e.g. GP) would be a better fit.

Also see this. http://aspiemedic.blogspot.com/

Last edited by oceandrop on 08 Sep 2011, 10:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

If this is something you would like to do then you should pursue it. You should just be aware than you will likely be in your late 30's or early 40's by the time you finish medical school and a residency.

Some medical schools will accept individuals without a 4 year undergraduate degree though, which will take two or three years off your endeavor.

A doctor needs to be able to talk to their patients and you will get practice doing that in medical school.

There are most certainly doctors out there with AS and even HFA, possibly even classic autism.

I have met several doctors with very clear ASD behavior, and it obviously has not stopped them being successful. So go for it if you feel its something you can do.

I have heard anecdotally that doctors often show traits of autism or even OCD. Is there any way to get some experience and observe to see if it would be for you? I think the question is whether you would be stressed or happy if you are able to cope academically.

Koan, I think a logical answer would be to look very carefully at the stereotypes that are written about us and then think about what you want. I would ask, "Okay, did Dr. Temple Grandin get a PH.D? Check." I would also ask if some some of the greatest genius went far check. Of course you can get an MD if you have an IQ way beyond average. As for your social skills, you might want to practice those deficits and find someone who is patient enough and tactful who will show you what and what not to say. Like yourself, I am 30 and I am a Jr. in College working my way into grad school where I want to become a relational talk therapist and I want to get my PH.D in Psychology.

Plenty of Aspie doctors around. You can always specialise in radiology if you don't want to deal directly with patients too much.

I am not officially diagnosed, and perhaps I'm more 'aspar' in that my mother is aspie and may have grown up learning these traits.

But honest to gosh, sometimes all on my own, I have some pretty significant aspie traits.

And yet, I have always done well in formal social interactions. A greeting, a clear topic to talk about, light leave-taking at the end, and that's it.

When I worked at H&R Block, an unethical company, but better with me working there because I did make an effort to inform my clients of third-party bank cross-collection.
http://oag.ca.gov/news/press_release?id=1261
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/2007_obj ... _final.pdf
And for other reasons, I felt clients were lucky getting me. Like in art, I decided less is more, keep it brief and straightforward. And I paid attention to what worked and what didn't. And I paid attention to what clients didn't understand, including the doggone bank products, but also stuff like, 'Am I still eligible for the Lifetime Learning Credit if I pay for tuition with a loan?', a loan, yes, as long as you meet the other requirements.

Please read some medical school biographies
Melvin Konner, BECOMING A DOCTOR, 1987 (now ancient)
Lisa Sanders, EVERY PATIENT TELLS A STORY, much more recent
and see what you think

And oceandrop and Miyah, good luck to you guys, too.

I feel I am very good at distilling down information. For example . . .

'Okay, this should help you feel better [Tamiflu]. Please finish all the medicine. And---and this is important---if Bob [child] seems to be getting better and then relapses with a high fever, call me right away for that can be pneumonia. Or, any trouble breathing, call me right away.'
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/healt ... .html?_r=1

See, set of learnable skills.

Then I might remember a tidbit. Or just ask, 'Bob, what's your favorite class this year.' And just keep it short and friendly. And actually, I like this kind of human interaction. I feel I am learning things. At H&R Block, there was two or three minutes at the end when we were wrapping up and when the client often become loose and would talk about things. I liked that. Now, that was at the end of an hour long tax interview, data input, and often loan application. With a five minute medical visit, one may not have two or three minutes. Okay, something shorter, can adapt to that, too.

If I were a younger man, I would think about medical school, too. But I'm 48 years old. Maybe medical journalism or microbiology research.

i have asperger's and practiced primary care medicine for 9 years (plus three years of residency). it was stressful. 24/7 people contact made me tired all the time. eventually, i couldn't navigate the hospital politics and lost my career. one of my med school professors said that the three things you need to be a good doctor are tact, punctuality, and attention to detail. i lacked tact, not with patients, but with my fellow professionals, who took me to task on it.

might have done better in a non-patient-care specialty like radiology or pathology, but in med school, those things didn't interest me as much as working with people did.

i think i could do better now in primary care, if anyone would give me the chance. i'd do it part-time, monday, wednesday and friday, with a day to recuperate between being with folks so intensely.
,

if you have to pay for it then i would say steer clear. Look into engineering. You can engineer things that help people.


also make sure you eat right. that will effect you brain quite a bit. look up mercola's site and follow his nutritional advice (it works even if you wish to argue the rest of his stuff and his supplement pushing makes him a quack. I've tried it and it does work to boost your health).

I can't answer that simply. It depends on a lot of factors.

I wanted to be a doctor in a hospital but....I did several different internships at health institutions (hospitals, clinics, ..etc. and different branches,too) to test myself. It turned out that most people ( mostly nurses since I worked with them most of the time) told me not to pursue this career since I lacked social skills and don't know how to handle people.
Although I thought I knew I did and I thought I wasn't bad at it either; a patient - care-taker/doctor/--- relationship is well-defined but still my social knowledge didn't seem to be enough for this profession. Even people that knew me told me I would be better at a theoretical profession and not a practical like this one.

At the end, I didn't studied medicine to become a doctor. I felt very exhausted at those internships and it was very depressing at times, as well.

But that must not be true for everyone.

I know loads of doctors (in my family and friends). I would say it really, really depends on the specialty you choose. There are some things like primary care, pediatrics, obgyn where your bedside manner is really important, a lot of what you do is make patients feel like they're being heard and you're in their corner. But I've met surgeons who lacked social skills to a severe extent, and radiologists & pathologists too, so you definitely could make it work for you if you went to med school, I think. You'd just have to do well enough that you could pick any specialty you please.

I have been criticized by co-workers for essentially being too good with customers. And I've read that in academic settings that some associate professors are contemptuously dismissed as "teachers." Yes, these other professors are jealous but there's also an aspect that these superstar teachers aren't playing the game in terms of publications, committee work, grant proposals, etc.

If you take "too much" time with patients, other doctors might think you're not pulling your weight by seeing enough patients. Maybe a 'less is more' approach? Not wanting to overload a patient with information, wanting to keep the door fully open for a return visit, and that kind of ping-ponging dialogue. Yes, fully knowing that just by the luck of the draw, one can easily get three patients in a row who genuinely warrant a lot of time (I know that as a poker player).

I wish you all the best with your future. I hope you get to practice medicine again your way. Lord knows we need doctors who actually make a real effort to listen to their patients.

thanks for the support, AGS.

You're very welcome.

And I'm impressed by your 3 years residency + 9 years practice. That's twelve years more than most of us have!