silence: how will an introverted personality affect med admissions

[futuredoc]

How negatively do you think an introverted personality will affect you chances of getting into a medical school? I'm not talking about the type where it is almost agoraphobia or something but the type where you do not engage in much unnecessary talking (the strong silent type ). I'm asking this because I am naturally introverted, although I have been making huge efforts since the ninth grade to change it- and have seen good results. I am even taking a course this summer to further develop these "skills". The problem is that I see so many crazy outgoing pre-meds and to be honest, I find it discouraging at times. So anyways, what do you think?

[AMmd]

dont worry, nobody is perfect

but seriously, there is not one type of doctors, as there are not one type of patient. So some patients would feel more confortable with an outgoing type, some with an introverted one. The most important thing is that you can convince your interviewers that you would make a good doctor, and that doesnt mean pretending to be outgoing during an interview, but just be yourself and covince them you have the best best personality etc etc... my 0.02$

[In_Valid]

How negatively do you think an introverted personality will affect you chances of getting into a medical school? I'm not talking about the type where it is almost agoraphobia or something but the type where you do not engage in much unnecessary talking (the strong silent type ). I'm asking this because I am naturally introverted, although I have been making huge efforts since the ninth grade to change it- and have seen good results. I am even taking a course this summer to further develop these "skills". The problem is that I see so many crazy outgoing pre-meds and to be honest, I find it discouraging at times. So anyways, what do you think?

 

I think its good that you are attempting to improve your social skills. Medicine is a pretty social career. You will have to interact with patients as well as coworkers.

 

As for if it will be damaging? No, not really. I think being introverted and socially competent are two different things. I think everyone enjoys there 'alone' time. Just as long as you can engage in conversation with another person without making them feel uncomfortable, I think you'll be A OK.

[Wolvenstar]

I think the biggest part that you need to worry about is if you come off as friendly to people. As long as your coworkers and patients are comfortable with you, it doesn't matter whether you prattle on or not. If you can do that with 5 words instead of 15 than just find a way to show this to the interviewer.

[futuredoc]

I think the biggest part that you need to worry about is if you come off as friendly to people. As long as your coworkers and patients are comfortable with you, it doesn't matter whether you prattle on or not. If you can do that with 5 words instead of 15 than just find a way to show this to the interviewer.

 

People who know me know that I am quite friendly, just quite. I don't think I come off as unfriendly to people and I don't like to pretend to be anything I am not but I wonder sometimes how people view me........I sound like a retarded TV high school student don't I?

[Lactic Folly]

Don't be discouraged - many people in my class are introverts (haven't counted, but I sincerely doubt it's a minority). They tend to be especially good with one-on-one connections, and patients are very appreciative of good listeners (spending time with them shows you care through your actions even if you don't say much). There are 50+ specialties in medicine - we need all types of personalities! It may seem that there are many "crazy outgoing" people as you say, but I think recall bias plays a part there.. more memorable, higher profile.

 

In an interview situation, what they are looking for is not how extraverted you are, but rather the personal qualities that are important to medicine, such as character, etc. If you are able to communicate clearly (less unnecessary rambling is a good thing here!) and thoughtfully, and show enthusiasm for your chosen career, then you'll be just fine. Life of the party not required. However, I will note that people tend to like people who are more like themselves.. so if your interviewer is strongly in one direction or another, adjust accordingly (but this tends to happen naturally in an interaction).

 

As a reflective sort, I've found clerkship valuable for the regular feedback we get.. it's very interesting to find out how I come across! Not only that, as someone who didn't spend much time in the workforce prior to medical school, medicine has given me so many opportunities to work with people in ways that deeply affect their lives.. certainly many avenues for personal growth if you want to work on your social skills.

 

For more input, try videotaping yourself during a mock interview, watching it to see how you come across, and asking family/friends for their candid feedback. I'm an innie myself, but find that formal situations such as interviews aren't like social situations at all, so it's easier to perform as long as one is well prepared. For further reading, I'd suggest The Introvert Advantage. http://www.theintrovertadvantage.com/advantage.html Good luck!

[maria]

I think that it is important to be outgoing and to talk and express your opinion in life in general. Too much of anything is a bad thing-too much of an extrovert may make you come off as obnoxious, too much of an introvert may make you come off as having no social skills. But I think that regardless of what career you are in ,but especially medicine, you must learn to express your opinion so that you can work with others and others can work with you. It is great that you are working on this because it is one of, if not the most important characteristic of a physician to be able to socialize and communicate effectively with others. Keep working at it and eventually your skills will improve without you even realizing it. I agree with the other comments made too.

[sars]

I'm probly sort of in the same situation myself. What worries me most is not med school interviews but what would come after (Carms, etc). It'd be pretty bad if after all that work I couldn't get the specialty I wanted cause I couldn't get any perceptors to write me a good LOR cause they thought I wasn't funny or something like that!

[Lactic Folly]

Hehe.. I think a sense of humour is better demonstrated on the wards by laughing at your preceptor's jokes than by trying to crack everyone up on rounds

 

Getting references is always going to be stressful. But if you have come this far in the medical school admissions process, getting involved in extracurriculars and leadership positions, obtaining good letters of references for medical school, and passing the interview, you have what it takes to get good letters for CaRMS. Remember you'll work with lots of preceptors during clerkship, and they can write you a letter as long as they've worked with you for at least 2 weeks (this seems to be the norm).