<p>Hi all
I'm starting to think that my inherent nature-whatever that means-is to be very shy and introverted; I'm comfortable around friends, but in an unfamiliar setting, I just can't gather the courage to speak out. I'm curious how others view this: should I really strive to break out of my little bubble? When I try to become excessively social, I just don't fee like 'me.' I hope to go into medicine, and I realize that communication in that field is essential.</p>
<p>Congrats. You answered your own question.</p>
<p>“should I really strive to break out of my little bubble?”</p>
<p>Not to say you shouldn’t strive, but I think it will happen anyway. I’m not the first adult to say this but, today, people can’t imagine me being as shy as I used to be. They also can’t believe I am STILL somewhat socially anxious. I don’t usually appear that way.</p>
<p>The bubble is only there because you let it exist. The reason you don’t feel like yourself is because you have allowed this bubble to exist as your “natural self”</p>
<p>You’ll be fine, just speak up, and you’ll get used to it. If you don’t feel like yourself, that will all change. In the end, if you still feel abnormal whilst speaking around people you don’t know, maybe a confidence class or something would help (not being rude…)</p>
<p>“I’m curious how others view this”</p>
<p>Honestly, people don’t care to judge you, so speak your mind. If what you have to say is intelligent and worthwhile, then you’ll make a good impression. I’m worried the reason you are introvertic/shy is because you’re afraid of what others think.</p>
<p>You sound more like a shy, extrovert. If you were an introvert you wouldn’t really care much about trying to connect with more people.</p>
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No, that is not how things work, being introverted do not mean that you don’t care about others.</p>
<p>You see, he is uncomfortable when he tries to be more outgoing, that shows that he do not like to have that much attention and instead as a normal introvert he prefers to have social contact with just a very limited amount of people at once.</p>
<p>@ OP: You will do fine, a physician do not need to do speeches and instead you are just talking to a very small set of people at once, usually 1 on 1, and it doesn’t need to go to any personal level at all since you are not expected to befriend the patients. As such as long as you are confident in your abilities as a physician this should be no problem, very few have problems handling professional relations.</p>
<p>If you analyse yourself you can realize this, why are there problems in some social settings? Most likely because the reason you are talking, in a normal social setting you talk to befriend people and thus you need to do it well or it is meaningless, while as a physician you talk to make people understand what they should do to get better in which case all doubts should disappear.</p>
<p>Communication skills are EXTREMELY important as a physician. You have to ask people about details of their life that they often never reveal to anyone else…and you’re often doing it in times when that person is in a great deal of distress. Not only that, but you frequently have to explain very complicated ideas to people who don’t have your experience or knowledge base. I’m starting my pediatrics residency this summer, and I definitely know that my ability to translate medicine so that a 6 year old can understand it is a skill that many of my colleagues lack. </p>
<p>Does being shy mean you can’t be a physician? Of course not, but it might impact what type of physician you become. If you don’t enjoy talking to people, it’s unlikely that you’re going to enjoy an outpatient clinical setting very much. </p>
<p>I think what is important though, now that you’ve realized something about yourself, is to decide how that fits in with your goals and ambitions. Is going to hold you back? Do you need to acquire certain skills to put yourself in the best possible position? Do you even like being introverted? </p>
<p>It’s only through asking yourself these secondary questions that you’ll begin to grow. It’s not enough to just say “I’m introverted, that’s the way I am”.</p>
<p>^sure it is. An introvert isn’t someone who shuns social contact, guys. Introvert just means the person is more introspective and needs more time alone. I don’t see why you guys are acting like being introverted is bad…i’m guessing half the population is and the other half is extroverted? </p>
<p>ok like i’m an introvert, I have plenty of friends but I can’t hang around them constantly (most of my friends are girls and they’re so clingy). after spending all day hanging out with someone, it’s nice to go home and curl up in front of the TV. I can’t constantly be around a group of people like it’s one long party all the time, I bet the OP is the same way. Well being an introvert will probably help you get through med school, but you’ll have to get over being shy in front of new people, when dealing with patients and stuff. That doesn’t mean changing your personality, I don’t feel like myself when i’m being “excessively social” either…my first 2 weeks of college I tried to be this “social butterfly” and went to a lot of parties and hung out with a lot of people I realized I don’t even like trying to be more extroverted, and I hated it. Don’t listen to someone who tells you being introverted means you’ll end up old and alone or something. But like BigRed said, you have to be able to communicate to all kinds of people and talk about personal problems with them. Maybe you’ll develop this skill more in college and in Med school so by the time you’re ready to be a doctor you’ll have more experience.</p>
<p>I agree with Bigredmed that medicine requires a lot of communication, but that’s not necessarily a problem for the OP. The OP’s post led me to believe that the main problem was the feeling of “not feeling like me” when trying to socialize with others.</p>
<p>OP, do you think you would not feel like yourself when speaking to patients? Or you would not feel like yourself when you are voicing your professional opinion to colleagues?</p>
<p>Introversion is a gift truly. The basic difference between introverts and extroverts is that introverts think, then do, while extroverts do, then think. Given this, it isn’t a surprise that introversion is shunned in Western culture. </p>
<p>But as I was saying, introversion doesn’t mean that you will always be shy and/or “anti-social”. In fact, many quite successful people are introverts: Bill Gates and many, many creative types are a few of note. The key to being successful and happy is learning how to manage socialization. There are so many ways to do this; say you have a big event to go to tomorrow. You know it’ll be draining talking to all those people, so it’d be good to spend the evening and the following morning doing something peaceful, such as reading a book, listening to music, or watching TV. Wake up and go for a walk or something along those lines. Then as you’re at the event, whenever you feel like you’re peopled out, retreat to the restroom or somewhere dark and somewhat quiet. Spend a few minutes there, think to yourself for a bit, then come back out. It works really well once you learn to recognize the signs your body give you. </p>
<p>Not only that, but in nature introverts are a more than valuable asset as well. Those animals that usually alert the group to an incoming predator? Introverts. The old wise man in Native American tribes? Introvert. Given the fact that a large majority of people are extroverts, introverts play various different roles in society and at a different level. </p>
<p>So, becoming a physician? If that’s what you desire!</p>
<p>Nice post, Obstinate.</p>
<p>I would actually consider myself an introvert, but I in no way consider it to be a disadvantage.</p>
<p>I am definitely a huge introvert, but like everyone else has said, as a physician you don’t have to do lots of large group things, but you have to be able to talk to people one on one and in smaller groups about very complex and private matters. This is something that is difficult even for the extroverts, and its something that us introverts have to work a little more on. But it is by no means impossible - you just have to learn to get comfortable stepping out of your comfort zone a little bit (and yes, I know that sounds weird).</p>
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<p>Definitely, it’s not going to pop on its own. </p>
<p>You shouldn’t just do it for your future career though. Your social life will be leaps and bounds better, the more you get out there the more comfortable you will become. Trust me, been there done that. Do your really want to live your whole life inside your own head? You only have one life to live.</p>
<p>Stargazer, I’m still going to disagree with you on whether it’s enough to say “i’m an introvert, that’s just the way I am”</p>
<p>What I’m trying to get at is that it’s fine to identify oneself as that (or anything) but you have to use that information and determine what it means. At no point during my post did I say the OP should become extroverted. I think it’s important to make sure that your personality, talents and likes fit into whatever goals you have…especially something as major as a career which can have a lot of impact on your happiness. Given the difficulty of becoming a doctor, if you’re not going to love being one, it’s not a good idea to begin down that path. It simply isn’t worth it. I’m absolutely not saying an introvert can’t be a physician - there are many doctors who hate dealing with patients (for various reasons, not just because they’re shy) and they end up doing things like pathology or radiology where patient contact is limited.</p>
<p>All I’m saying is that OP needs to examine his or her life within the context of their newly defined role and see if there’s anything that might need to be changed, altered or tweaked slightly.</p>
<p>The key word here is not “introvert” or “extrovert”. The key word or rather trait is “empathy”. Does your circle of friends consider you to be “empathetic”? Networking at a Xmas party or at an AMA convention is not the same as showing a concern for your patient’s health. If you go into general or family practice, you will probably only have ten or fifteen minutes at most to connect professionally and emotionally with a patient. Your patient needs to feel assured that you (the doctor) understand what the health issues are and the best course of treatment. Can you show that you have your patient’s best interest at heart? If not, there’s always accountancy…</p>
<p>BigRed - I don’t disagree with most of your post, I think the OP also needs to become more comfortable with interacting with other people for his job. But I think a lot of people (this is not directed at anyone in particular) don’t understand what an introvert is. I bet the majority of Doctors are introverted people. They think an introvert is a shy person and it’s a problem that needs to be resolved or something…this is a good definition imo:</p>
<p>*Definition: Contrary to what most people think, an introvert is not simply a person who is shy. Shyness has an element of apprehension, nervousness and anxiety, and while an introvert may also be shy, introversion itself is not shyness. Basically, an introvert is a person who is energized by being alone and whose energy is drained by being around other people.</p>
<p>Introverts are more concerned with the inner world of the mind. They enjoy thinking, exploring their thoughts and feelings. They often avoid social situations because being around people drains their energy. This is true even if they have good social skills. After being with people for any length of time, such as at a party, they need time alone to “recharge.”</p>
<p>When introverts want to be alone, it is not, by itself, a sign of depression. It means that they either need to regain their energy from being around people or that they simply want the time to be with their own thoughts. Being with people, even people they like and are comfortable with, can prevent them from their desire to be quietly introspective.</p>
<p>Being introspective, though, does not mean that an introvert never has conversations. However, those conversations are generally about ideas and concepts, not about what they consider the trivial matters of social small talk. Introverts make up about 60% of the gifted population but only about 25-40% of the general population.*</p>
<p>ok i get what you mean now…it sounded like you were saying he needs to be more extroverted to be a physician. but like klockan said, they usually just talk to patients 1-on-1 and about medical stuff, so you don’t have to be really social or whatever. But he’ll probably become less shy about this in college and Med school and his residency when he’s forced to interact with patients a lot…i wouldn’t worry about it too much in undergrad, although college is a good opportunity to develop your people skills.</p>
<p>Being introverted is by no means a disadvantage in any field. I’m quite introverted and I’ve had many positions in which require me to be assertive towards communicating with strangers. I find it easier to communicate with people on a business basis because you have a consensus of what is trying to be accomplished, what information is being past, and what kind of end solution is to be discovered. It’s easier then simply talking to a stranger at a party and trying to convince them that you are an interesting person.</p>
<p>I also want to study medicine and I do not enjoy social situations. I was very shy in high school and dreaded opening my mouth to strangers, even when approached. I grew out of this stage simply by maturing as a person and asserting myself through jobs and discipline. I was scared of what others though about me which prevented me from gaining the courage to speak to new people and communicate effectively. You eventually realize that there are too many people in the world to worry about whether or not they will become your friend or admirer.</p>
<p>Being introverted means that you prefer your space rather then excessively needing social interactions. Not all introverted people are shy, many of them are quite, but they are also comfortable with themselves alone and around others. I prefer reading a book over going to a party; it’s not because I’m shy, I just prefer to not be around others at certain points of the day.</p>
<p>You do have to break out of your bubble, not only to be a physician but to have any position in life since you will almost always be interacting with others, patients, customers, and coworkers. You become less shy the more you force yourself to interact with people. Once you’re comfortable doing this you’ll learn that being comfortable with yourself is the key to being comfortable around others, regardless of the circumstance :)</p>
<p>You just need to separate your professional personality from your personal personality.</p>