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As an aspiring doctor, what skills/strengths should I focus on besides the fundamental ones?

I am a rising senior and extremely determined to be a doctor, I would like to know what skills/strengths I should know. #medicine #doctorate-degree #neuroscience #hospital-and-health-care #career #science

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Thank you comment icon If there's an advice I can give to be an aspiring doctor is to have the humility to listen, empathize, and be respectful of the needs of your patients. You will be dealing with many different types of people from all walks of life and you need to be prepared in doing so. A patient doesn't want an egotistic doctor that's an expert BUT a doctor who's an expert and that truly cares about them. Angela Redito Ichinose
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Richard’s Answer

Right now focus on your science classes. Learn everything you can and get good grades.

You will need to get good grades in college in order to apply for medical school. At the medical school I attended, the average GPA is reported to be 3.85, so even one or two B's can hurt your chances of acceptance.

Try to find opportunities to pursue research.
Volunteer at your local hospital or low-income clinic. Ask physicians, PAs or other clinical providers if you can shadow them.
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Cailin’s Answer

This is an answer based solely on my personal experiences but doctors who are thorough and actively listen to patients' concerns, as silly as they may seem, will always be the best doctors. It's ideal to be patient, respectful, and empathetic toward patients as well.

Be honest too. Confidence is great, but I would rather have an unconfident doctor who is honest and gives me a few options and some tests to prove (or disprove) any of their possible theories than a doctor who is potentially wrongly confident and ends up harming me in the long run. Use your best judgment with regard to confidence.

Hone your research skills. There will come a time when you're not going to know the answer on the job and you're going to have to be able to figure it out-- this could be a potential life saving skill!

Passion is a must. If you're not passionate about your career, you're going to burn out and this is not a career one wants to burn out on. It's also a career that requires you to stay on top of up and coming trends, health-related topics, new diseases/treatments, etc. and someone who is passionate about both learning and the subject will have no problems keeping up with it all.

I hope this was of some use to you!
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Caroline’s Answer

Capable of thinking outside the box ( Critical Thinking, Excellent decision making. With each patient must look at the whole picture meaning problem solving . You need to figure out the underline issue in order to help the patient. Would be helpful to learn about laboratory tests and what information you are able to get from doing that particular test this will help with diagnosing your patient. Psychology is helpful also especially if the patient has a history of mental illness or mental illness runs in the family.
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