hyporational comments on Question on Medical School and Wage Potential for Earning to Give - Less Wrong

2 Post author: eggman 27 September 2013 05:40AM

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Comment author: Jabberslythe 29 September 2013 10:19:02PM 6 points [-]

I'm the guy eggman is referring to :) Thanks for all the info!

No I do not like working with people. I would aim for surgery or radiology for this reason. I currently do not perform well under social pressure but my anxiety should diminish with time. Yes, I think I am good at explaining things in simple terms. I prefer less social interaction. I could tolerate a strict hierarchy. I don't handle sleep deprivation well. I do not handle uncertainty particularly well. Yes, I think I could handle accidents better than most people.

Med school isn't generally about that. Would it be agony for him to memorize loads of facts without questioning/understanding them too much, then forget them because he doesn't need them for anything? Also, much of the stuff you have to memorize after the first 1-2 years has nothing to do with human biology. There are some challenging moments with complicated patients, but the work is mostly quite simple and algorithmic.

That's bad news but not a deal breaker.

Comment author: hyporational 30 September 2013 03:21:29AM *  2 points [-]

A data point: I didn't like working with people, and still stupidly applied to med school thinking it didn't matter. Now I'm a doctor, and patient interaction is one of the things I enjoy the most. I think it's because my social skills improved. Go figure...

I still wouldn't recommend applying to med school to improve your social skills, though.

Comment author: Jabberslythe 30 September 2013 10:10:24PM 1 point [-]

That's a useful datapoint, thanks.

I social skills tend to improve over time and having good social skills makes social interaction more fun.