Should I go for medicine?

I'm really shy around large groups and people my age, but I find it so easy to talk to people of younger years and older years and I'm so confident with them. I would like to try something like medicine but would you say my personality is made for it?

Reply 1

Audiology-Med

14

Do it, i know how you feel , its the same with me i get along better with younger people for some reason :P, so Im hoping specialise as a paediatric audiologist so i work mostly with children, i think there should be something similar you can specialise in medicine so you mostly work with younger or older people :smile:

Reply 2

Audiology-Med

14

Anyways in uni I bet you will develop the confidence you need to do your job :smile:

Reply 3

tcameron

19

You learn to develop confidence and authority at university/other ventures.

Go for it

Reply 4

sunshine0211

OP

Original post by haseebi82

Do it, i know how you feel , its the same with me i get along better with younger people for some reason :P, so Im hoping specialise as a paediatric audiologist so i work mostly with children, i think there should be something similar you can specialise in medicine so you mostly work with younger or older people :smile:

Thank you

Your words of encouragement have actually sparked a small determination for wanting to do medicine and believing that it's for me and that I can do it. Thank you, that actually really helped :smile:

Reply 5

sunshine0211

OP

Original post by tcameron

You learn to develop confidence and authority at university/other ventures.

Go for it

Really, I just moved schools and I've become really shy suddenly* and it doesn't seem to have gone away :/ But thanks for your support, now I have confidence that it'll be fine :smile:

Anyways, I guess I'll be older and (hopefully) gain some more confidence :smile:

*btw just started sixth form

Reply 6

Ronove

18

What the **** is this ****? Just stop, Zain.

OP: if you've moved schools then it's totally understandable that you're shy, even if it's taking a while to bounce back. The next few years will see you becoming way more independent and confident so I really wouldn't make any decisions based on shyness at this point. I was terrified of getting a bus or train on my own at age 18, was forced to do so at one point (well actually I flew to a different country on my own in the first instance - talk about ripping off the plaster!) and was suddenly much better able to cope with all kinds of things. Things to do with travelling on my own to unfamiliar and distant places still made me a little anxious, but I wasn't afraid to just get on with it and do it anymore, if you get what I mean. :smile:

Reply 7

KittyRe-play

3

You said 1 year in your previous post haha. :tongue:

Reply 8

KittyRe-play

3

Ehem ehem okayyyy.... :h:

Reply 9

Ronove

18

I've seen rather a lot of the threads you've been making, Zain, and I have yet to see anyone who has told you this.

As for the being surrounded by patients - virtually any job, and the process of getting into that job, will involve dealing with people. The OP has not suggested that they have a social anxiety issue which is to a degree that will mean they are unable to manage a normal working life at the relevant point in time. If they can deal with coworkers in an office job, or customers in a retail job, they can absolutely deal with patients and staff in a hospital. Especially if they've had 5-6 years of exposure to people during their university career to prepare them.

They're young and a bit shy and struggling with having moved to a new school. High school (and to an extent Sixth Form) can be the absolute pits, socially. There's nothing to be worried about long-term re the OP having a bit of a hard time right now.

Reply 10

Ronove

18

You mean people have told you they spent a week doing exp at a GP's and they spent a year volunteering at a hospice. Can you seriously not grasp the difference between someone being successful after having done that and them telling you it's a prerequisite (or even drawing the conclusion that it contributed to their success, if we're going to be quite pedantic - it's likely, but how do you even know how big a role those specific things played?).

Reply 11

I'mNoSuperman

7

Original post by sunshine0211

I'm really shy around large groups and people my age, but I find it so easy to talk to people of younger years and older years and I'm so confident with them. I would like to try something like medicine but would you say my personality is made for it?

Go for it. Med school is so much fun! I doubt you'd have any trouble fitting in.

Reply 12

Simonthegreat

19

Original post by sunshine0211

I'm really shy around large groups and people my age, but I find it so easy to talk to people of younger years and older years and I'm so confident with them. I would like to try something like medicine but would you say my personality is made for it?

Go for it. We need more doctors and surgeons. You will get confidence when you start uni and med school.

Reply 13

Ronove

18

Did it not occur to you that the bit I was actually objecting to was your assertion that the OP would need 1 week at a GP's and a year at a hospice?

Reply 14

bluemax

16

The fact that you're asking if you should pursue medicine, is a big indication that you shouldn't. You really need to be seriously interested in the profession. It does not just require you to be good around older or younger people. A couple of specialties don't even require much patient interaction.

You need to think again why you want to do it.

Reply 15

Ronove

18

You need to learn to read what people are actually saying (and implying), Zain. I could understand if you have a medical reason for being unable to process what people are saying and read between the lines where necessary, and it's entirely your own business if this is indeed the case. But you need to find a way to judge when it's you that is failing to understand things, instead of challenging people constantly.

Reply 16

LadyEcliptic

20

Just because OP is shy doesn't mean they aren't capable of team work - I can be really shy (a lot more than usual) but I still work well in part of a team, I love working with other people even though I may not be the most talkative person.

A year in a hospice is good, but not necessary for that long, I haven't seen any med school require a placement that long?

Reply 17

Ronove

18

Original post by bluemax

The fact that you're asking if you should pursue medicine, is a big indication that you shouldn't. You really need to be seriously interested in the profession. It does not just require you to be good around older or younger people. A couple of specialties don't even require much patient interaction.

You need to think again why you want to do it.

This is reading far too much into the situation, in my opinion.

Reply 18

Ronove

18

You're linking me an NHS page recommending you ideally get experience with a GP and a hospital to somehow back up your claim that the OP needs to have shadowed a GP for a week.

1) The NHS is not selecting medical applicants at universities.
2) It does not state to do it for a week.

You can go through the applicant profiles thread and see exactly how much experience people got in with or otherwise.