There are a couple of important questions you didn’t raise.
Does he like working with people? Does he perform well under social pressure? Is he good at explaining things in simple terms? Would he like doing so every day? Would he like working in a team and maybe leading it? Would the strict social hierarchy of hospitals bother him? How does he handle sleep deprivation? Can he cope with constant uncertainty about his decisions? Can he handle killing/injuring people by accident?
he is very passionate biology and the study of life
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.
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.
Surgery: you’ll be working with at least 3-5 people in the operating room. You’ll also have to examine lots of patients to determine whether they need surgery or not and alleviate their fears concerning the operations. Lots of treatments are becoming more conservative, i.e. no surgery at all. After surgery, you’ll have to examine patients to assess their recovery and motivate them. Obviously there are surgeons who chose the specialty because they don’t like working with people, and I think that’s unfortunate, because they’re doing a half assed job. Many surgeries are quite long, and require you to be standing hours at a time not necessarily in a very comfortable position. To become good, you’ll have to specialize, so you’ll be doing the same procedures over and over again.
Radiology: have you considered that this kind of image recognition is a low hanging fruit for a narrow A.I.? I considered radiology too, but this is one of the main reasons I won’t anymore. Also, radiology is easy to do via the internet, so that might lower the earning potential if hospitals hire radiologists overseas. If you’re doing ultrasounds or become an intervention radiologist, there will be a lot of patient interaction, if you’re a neuroradiologist, pretty much none at all.
Pathology or forensic pathology: you’ll usually work alone or with 1-2 other people. You’ll have to explain the findings to other doctors and the patients relatives though. The earning potential isn’t probably that high, in forensic pathology it might be, I don’t know.
If you just want to cut people up without talking to them and master anatomy and histology, pathology is the obvious way to go. It will be also more anatomically diverse than any surgical specialty, since you’ll have to examine the whole body. The compensation doesn’t seem too bad, about the middle of the field in earnings among all physicians.
Hmm, would you say there is still less social interaction in surgery than most other specialties?
The difference is qualitative, not quantitative. In the OR, you spend time with people you know and are expected to be more to the point. Small talk is the overwhelming norm even during surgeries, and it might get quite awkward if you communicated only the necessities. Patient interactions are on average briefer than in the conservative specialties, but you will correspondingly see more patients. The only real me-time in any specialty is paper work.
Oh, and the number one thing to protect you from lawsuits will be the rapport you build with your patients. In any specialty (or profession, for that matter), expect the most well-liked people to be paid the most.
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.
No I do not like working with people. I would aim for surgery or radiology for this reason.
While the stereotypical surgeon may be gruff/demanding/efficient/decisive, most surgeons are required to work in and even lead teams. The profession selects for aggressiveness and confidence, not for loners (though there are obviously some in any profession). Medical training prior to specialization will be exceptionally challenging if you dislike working with people.
Pathology might be a medical specialty where you were able to indulge your love of biology while working in relative solitude, but that’s a pretty narrow slice of the pie to target. Per your concerns about ROI, radiology is probably the medical specialty in the US most likely to deflate in the next several years, given that wages are exceptionally high and that there are few material barriers preventing radiographs from being read by physicians in other time zones, or even other countries.
There are a couple of important questions you didn’t raise.
Does he like working with people? Does he perform well under social pressure? Is he good at explaining things in simple terms? Would he like doing so every day? Would he like working in a team and maybe leading it? Would the strict social hierarchy of hospitals bother him? How does he handle sleep deprivation? Can he cope with constant uncertainty about his decisions? Can he handle killing/injuring people by accident?
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.
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.
That’s bad news but not a deal breaker.
Surgery: you’ll be working with at least 3-5 people in the operating room. You’ll also have to examine lots of patients to determine whether they need surgery or not and alleviate their fears concerning the operations. Lots of treatments are becoming more conservative, i.e. no surgery at all. After surgery, you’ll have to examine patients to assess their recovery and motivate them. Obviously there are surgeons who chose the specialty because they don’t like working with people, and I think that’s unfortunate, because they’re doing a half assed job. Many surgeries are quite long, and require you to be standing hours at a time not necessarily in a very comfortable position. To become good, you’ll have to specialize, so you’ll be doing the same procedures over and over again.
Radiology: have you considered that this kind of image recognition is a low hanging fruit for a narrow A.I.? I considered radiology too, but this is one of the main reasons I won’t anymore. Also, radiology is easy to do via the internet, so that might lower the earning potential if hospitals hire radiologists overseas. If you’re doing ultrasounds or become an intervention radiologist, there will be a lot of patient interaction, if you’re a neuroradiologist, pretty much none at all.
Pathology or forensic pathology: you’ll usually work alone or with 1-2 other people. You’ll have to explain the findings to other doctors and the patients relatives though. The earning potential isn’t probably that high, in forensic pathology it might be, I don’t know.
That’s a very good point about radiology being replaceable.
Hmm, would you say there is still less social interaction in surgery than most other specialties?
I can take physical discomfort,
Yeah, I guess doing the same procedure over and over again might not be super interesting or educational.
If you just want to cut people up without talking to them and master anatomy and histology, pathology is the obvious way to go. It will be also more anatomically diverse than any surgical specialty, since you’ll have to examine the whole body. The compensation doesn’t seem too bad, about the middle of the field in earnings among all physicians.
http://www.medscape.com/sites/public/physician-comp/2012
The difference is qualitative, not quantitative. In the OR, you spend time with people you know and are expected to be more to the point. Small talk is the overwhelming norm even during surgeries, and it might get quite awkward if you communicated only the necessities. Patient interactions are on average briefer than in the conservative specialties, but you will correspondingly see more patients. The only real me-time in any specialty is paper work.
Oh, and the number one thing to protect you from lawsuits will be the rapport you build with your patients. In any specialty (or profession, for that matter), expect the most well-liked people to be paid the most.
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.
That’s a useful datapoint, thanks.
I social skills tend to improve over time and having good social skills makes social interaction more fun.
While the stereotypical surgeon may be gruff/demanding/efficient/decisive, most surgeons are required to work in and even lead teams. The profession selects for aggressiveness and confidence, not for loners (though there are obviously some in any profession). Medical training prior to specialization will be exceptionally challenging if you dislike working with people.
Pathology might be a medical specialty where you were able to indulge your love of biology while working in relative solitude, but that’s a pretty narrow slice of the pie to target. Per your concerns about ROI, radiology is probably the medical specialty in the US most likely to deflate in the next several years, given that wages are exceptionally high and that there are few material barriers preventing radiographs from being read by physicians in other time zones, or even other countries.