Can you become a Doctor with Undiagnosed Asperges?

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ALacount
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25 Apr 2009, 8:28 am

I have self-Diagnosed Asperges quite Mildly, and am wondering weather I will be aloud to become a doctor, and hopefully a surgeon. As according to a Asperges friend of mine, Asperges people cant work in certain professions, e.g., police, fire service, or Healthcare. I haven't been officially diagnosed though, so is what he says true, and of so will it prevent me from becoming a doctor :?:



Danielismyname
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25 Apr 2009, 8:35 am

If you can do said job as well as anyone else, I doubt it'll be a factor. Even if you're diagnosed, you could get a professional to say that you're just as competent as anyone else [who meets the requirements for the profession].

If you're mildly affected, I wouldn't even bother thinking about the disorder in question, or the consequences of having it.



julie_b
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25 Apr 2009, 8:39 am

As far as I know you can be a Doctor even with diagnosed AS. At least that's how it is in Australia. If you are smart enough to get in the course then that's all that matters. They don't do background medical checks. Only criminal ones.
Good Luck with your ambition. :)



Grunthos
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25 Apr 2009, 9:12 am

ulie-b is spot one.

I am a G.P., and when I entered medicine 26 years ago there were no interviews. I started medicine at 16 y.o. too!
Now, they have an aptitude/personality test as part of the entrance but people run courses tutoring
kids to get the required answers!

I have had Asperger's before it was coined!

It is possible to become a surgeon or perhaps pathology/ radiology

Good Luck!



Woodpecker
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25 Apr 2009, 9:25 am

be careful who you tell, you might want to read "An anthropologist on mars" by Oliver Sacks. He interviewed a surgeon who is openly living with Tourette's Syndrome, which shows that it is possible to do it.

Good luck with med school, I am a doctor but a PhD not a MD.

You might want to think about the UK personality test, find out about it and what is the purpose. Is it intended to weed out the next Harrold Shipman or is it intended to do something else ?


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Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.


CambridgeSuperman
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25 Apr 2009, 9:31 am

I am currently a medical student and i have just very recently been diagnosed with High functioning autism.

The pyscologist who diagnosed me is a specialtist in the field of ASDs and told me that autism needn't be a barrier. He gave examples of doctors and medical students he had diagnosed in the past and said hes sure there are lots of undiagnosed clinicians out there.

All the best



Sapphires
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25 Apr 2009, 9:41 am

I'm trying to become a doctor, too. Let's get through together. :)



Jamin
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25 Apr 2009, 9:54 am

ALacount wrote:
I have self-Diagnosed Asperges quite Mildly, and am wondering weather I will be allowed to become a doctor


Can you become a physician?


***********YES.***********


.


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Good-Luck All-! 28.04.2009


agmoie
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25 Apr 2009, 10:36 am

Aspies can and do become doctors and police officers as far as I am aware we are `allowed to`,in fact I have heard black and gay and lesbian people are allowed to also.
Your friend needs to adopt a less slave like mentality.



25 Apr 2009, 12:48 pm

Don't ever let a label stop you from trying to be something you want to be.



CambridgeSuperman
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25 Apr 2009, 12:48 pm

Indeed,

You might find this blog of interest

http://aspiemedic.blogspot.com/

___________



Last edited by CambridgeSuperman on 25 Apr 2009, 4:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Lene
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25 Apr 2009, 1:00 pm

I was dx-d with asperger's earlier this year, after having suspected for some time. When I spoke to a worker at student disabilites, I was advised not to disclose it to the medical school as one of the characteristics of the syndrome is 'a lack of empathy' and he felt that this would not be a good trait in a healthcare professional.

Quite a lot of doctors are undiagnosed aspies (according to one of our psychology lectures) and there is nothing physcially or legally in your way. However, as the disabilites worker showed, people can and do jump to conclusions, so even by disclosing a tentative self-diagnosis, you may end up tarred and feathered.

I will say. having as does make it a lot harder as your progress in the course: interaction with patients tends not to be too bad, as there is a set 'script' to follow (the medical history), but the doctors themselves are very heirarchical.



lemon
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25 Apr 2009, 2:01 pm

It's up to you what you can do, first you have to have your diploma of course, and then you have to like the job.
People with Asperger's do lots of things.



LostInSpace
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25 Apr 2009, 4:10 pm

I'm positive that there are doctors with Asperger's. My own primary care physician I think probably has Asperger's. Also, there's a neurologist I know, whose son is dxed AS, who also seems extremely AS.


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ThatRedHairedGrrl
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25 Apr 2009, 4:36 pm

I'm pretty sure it happens, and working in a medical field I think I may have known a few.

I would suspect a fair few of them end up in pathology, which is the area I work in. Ideal environment in a way because it allows you to use all your medical skills and knowledge but doesn't require much interaction with patients. (Well...not living patients.)


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Apple_in_my_Eye
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25 Apr 2009, 5:30 pm

You're basically part of first generation of diagnosed-when-young aspies, so if you become a doctor, then people dx'ed with AS can in fact become doctors.

I had a GP doctor once who was very likely AS. And I'm sure there are other AS doctors out in the world; it's just not known because there was no diagnosis of AS when they did their training. I'm not sure where your friend got the idea about there being automatic limits like that.