<p>I cannot speak to medicine but one of the most interesting continuing legal education classes I ever took was on Meyers-Briggs and the legal field…found out that certain types are mostly found in certain specialties and certain types like mine (ENFJ) mostly leave the field.</p>
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<p>INTJ in an MD/PhD program here…the current plan is to get my PhD in neuroscience, then go into psychiatry or neurology.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think people who are shy actually make pretty good physicians. I see a doctor who is extremely extroverted, and I think she actually isn’t a very good doctor because she doesn’t know how to SHUT UP!!! She just talks and talks and never lets me get a word in, so I don’t even end up getting a chance to tell her what the problem is.
As long as you like being around people, I think it’s fine if you’re shy. I’d rather see a shy doctor who knows how to listen than an extremely talkative doctor any day.</p>
<p>DS once had an interview at one of the med schools. The interviewer kept talking about himself in rapid fire, and did not give DS any chance to talk. It is only after the interview time had been over that he politely asked “do you have any question for me?” It is as if the interview were about him (advertising his research group?) not about DS. Very strange.</p>
<p>You can’t be shy for too long during your medical education. Whether you like it or not, you will have to present, maybe run codes, announce bad news, and get chewed out. You may choose not to be vocal later, but you will definitely not be shy.</p>
<p>I remember BDM (a long time CC contributor) said the public speech skill is one of the most important skills after preclinical years.</p>
<p>If a student is not particularly good at this by the end of high school, he should improve his skill in this area by being active in the club activities in college. Those who choose to curl up in the library or the lab all the time likely make a mistake here unless they do not have any deficiency in this skill. This is an area where what you learn when you are in elementary school could be useful in med school, IMHO.</p>
<p>Getting chewed out without feeling upset about it? This may be the hardest skill to obtain. I believe that the students can hardly avoid that in some of the rotations. Some said one purpose of doing MS 1 and MS 2 is to find some peers who could support you psychologically when you could not avoid some jerks.</p>
<p>I am a practicing physician and I still get chewed out LOL! It doesn’t end with residency. Just have to sucked it up and move on. I think the most important skill is how one communicates. "Don’t become a jerk yourself. " Get help to manage your anger, hostilities and anxieties. There are so many nice doctors around and one jerk ruins it for everyone.</p>
<p>Right personality? I think every doctor should be caring, understanding, and always available to provide their time to listen. I believe that there should be a balance between being introvert and an extrovert. You need to be able to communicate well and with politeness since a lot of patients come in fearing the worst. Being a jerk will definitely (if I were the patient) make me want to never come back to the same clinic. </p>
<p>I learnt this through the great physicians I’ve had and the shadowing/intern experiences I am going through. 
You should be fine, personalities change a lot over the years since you’re developing throughout your life. As someone put it; you won’t be the same person you were some years before, so try not to add bad habits into your regime.</p>