4 answers
Nixon
Student
Glendale, Arizona
2
Questions
Asked
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What does it take to be a doctor?
I wonder about the mental fortitude of Doctors and their ability to be strong during emotional times.
#Medicine
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4 answers
Doc Frick
Career Coach and Mentor
1616
Answers
California, CA
Updated
Doc’s Answer
Nixon choosing to become a doctor isn’t a decision to be taken lightly. After all, it takes a lot of dedication and preparation to even be accepted into medical school, and once you’re there, you’ll be subjected to an intense learning schedule that will take up the majority of your peak years. To put it mildly, it’s not a career path for the light-hearted – or light-headed. If you have the correct adeptness, though, it is also a highly rewarding job, both in terms of satisfaction and financial recompense. Medicine is just as much about your soft skills as your education, after all, so don’t overlook the importance of these essential qualities.
1) COMMUNICATION SKILLS – Communication is important in every career, but none more so than in medicine. Interacting with patients and colleagues will form a huge part of your day-to-day program, and if you have poor communicative skills, then not only will it make your job harder, but it can also put people’s lives at risk. For example, communication is a key part of initial diagnosis. Tests and scans can confirm or rule out certain theories, but in order to understand what is going on with a patient, you need to be able to ask the right questions, read between the lines with their answers and convey to them in simple terms what your thoughts are. Likewise, you need to be able to understand what other professionals (such as nurses, paramedics or pharmacists) are telling you and give them clear directions in return.
2) PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS – It’s said that much of medical diagnosis is essentially detective work, gathering clues and evidence and then working towards a cause and solution; therefore, it helps if you are a natural problem solver. Of course, your training will provide you with the technical knowledge you need to understand such cases, but the ability to decompose problems and construct an internal algorithm that implements that knowledge is a skill that needs to be cultivated and developed. You’ll need to be able to think outside the box, too. Not every patient presentation is clear-cut, and the test results might not align with your assumptions; in such instances, don’t be afraid to get in touch with your inner Gregory House and approach the problem from a different perspective.
3) ATTENTION TO DETAIL – When dealing with drug doses, patient histories, allergies, physiological differences, cultural customs and every other single aspect of a busy hospital ward, it’s naturally imperative that you don’t neglect the little things. In other words, attention to detail is an essential skill for any medical professional. It’s not just about getting dosages right or being aware of drug contraindications, either; it’s about noticing red flags and leaving no stone unturned in your initial patient interactions. For instance, if a certain patient keeps presenting every few months with new injuries, it might be clumsiness – or it could be something more sinister. The point is that good doctors notice everything – even at the end of a long and busy day – and they don’t allow anything to get past them.
4) DECISION MAKING SKILLS – When it comes to patient care, all final clinical decisions are the remit of doctors; therefore, you’re going to need to be comfortable taking responsibility and making tough calls. This means managing and overseeing patient treatment plans, as well as having to explain and justify them to relatives – this can be difficult if they are not cooperative to your ideas. It also means being able to make snap decisions. If you work in the emergency department, for instance, you may have a patient who is fine one moment and arresting the next. Being able to remain cool, calm and professional under intense pressure – and make sound clinical calls – is the hallmark of a good doctor.
5) RESILIENCE – Admittedly, resilience is not so much a ‘skill’ as a ‘quality’, but it’s still possible to train yourself to be more robust; you will need to, as well, as becoming a doctor means exposing yourself to things that will undeniably have an impact on your worldview and your sensitivities. From a very early part of your career, you will see things that will upset you and change you, and while you will receive all the support you need to process and deal with this, it’s a reality that some people react better than others. If you’re easily upset or shaken by things, then this isn’t necessarily a bad trait – it shows that you are compassionate, after all – but you will need to learn to manage this and ensure that it never affects your professionalism, judgement or your ability to treat.
Human bodies are immensely complex to the point where it’s near impossible for one person to know everything about them; doctors, however, have to get pretty close. Of course, you don’t need to be a walking encyclopedia; you can always consult specialists and, well, actual medical encyclopedias. But throughout medical school and, indeed, the rest of your career, you are going to be taking on and absorbing absolutely massive amounts of technical information. If you’re not particularly ‘book smart’, then there’s a high chance that, at some point, it’s going to catch up with you and you’re going to fall by the wayside. You’ll never truly leave the classroom, either. Medical discoveries and technologies move quickly, so even as a highly-qualified professional, you will need to be up to date and aware of the latest treatment developments and trends.
Hope this was Helpful Nixon
1) COMMUNICATION SKILLS – Communication is important in every career, but none more so than in medicine. Interacting with patients and colleagues will form a huge part of your day-to-day program, and if you have poor communicative skills, then not only will it make your job harder, but it can also put people’s lives at risk. For example, communication is a key part of initial diagnosis. Tests and scans can confirm or rule out certain theories, but in order to understand what is going on with a patient, you need to be able to ask the right questions, read between the lines with their answers and convey to them in simple terms what your thoughts are. Likewise, you need to be able to understand what other professionals (such as nurses, paramedics or pharmacists) are telling you and give them clear directions in return.
2) PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS – It’s said that much of medical diagnosis is essentially detective work, gathering clues and evidence and then working towards a cause and solution; therefore, it helps if you are a natural problem solver. Of course, your training will provide you with the technical knowledge you need to understand such cases, but the ability to decompose problems and construct an internal algorithm that implements that knowledge is a skill that needs to be cultivated and developed. You’ll need to be able to think outside the box, too. Not every patient presentation is clear-cut, and the test results might not align with your assumptions; in such instances, don’t be afraid to get in touch with your inner Gregory House and approach the problem from a different perspective.
3) ATTENTION TO DETAIL – When dealing with drug doses, patient histories, allergies, physiological differences, cultural customs and every other single aspect of a busy hospital ward, it’s naturally imperative that you don’t neglect the little things. In other words, attention to detail is an essential skill for any medical professional. It’s not just about getting dosages right or being aware of drug contraindications, either; it’s about noticing red flags and leaving no stone unturned in your initial patient interactions. For instance, if a certain patient keeps presenting every few months with new injuries, it might be clumsiness – or it could be something more sinister. The point is that good doctors notice everything – even at the end of a long and busy day – and they don’t allow anything to get past them.
4) DECISION MAKING SKILLS – When it comes to patient care, all final clinical decisions are the remit of doctors; therefore, you’re going to need to be comfortable taking responsibility and making tough calls. This means managing and overseeing patient treatment plans, as well as having to explain and justify them to relatives – this can be difficult if they are not cooperative to your ideas. It also means being able to make snap decisions. If you work in the emergency department, for instance, you may have a patient who is fine one moment and arresting the next. Being able to remain cool, calm and professional under intense pressure – and make sound clinical calls – is the hallmark of a good doctor.
5) RESILIENCE – Admittedly, resilience is not so much a ‘skill’ as a ‘quality’, but it’s still possible to train yourself to be more robust; you will need to, as well, as becoming a doctor means exposing yourself to things that will undeniably have an impact on your worldview and your sensitivities. From a very early part of your career, you will see things that will upset you and change you, and while you will receive all the support you need to process and deal with this, it’s a reality that some people react better than others. If you’re easily upset or shaken by things, then this isn’t necessarily a bad trait – it shows that you are compassionate, after all – but you will need to learn to manage this and ensure that it never affects your professionalism, judgement or your ability to treat.
Human bodies are immensely complex to the point where it’s near impossible for one person to know everything about them; doctors, however, have to get pretty close. Of course, you don’t need to be a walking encyclopedia; you can always consult specialists and, well, actual medical encyclopedias. But throughout medical school and, indeed, the rest of your career, you are going to be taking on and absorbing absolutely massive amounts of technical information. If you’re not particularly ‘book smart’, then there’s a high chance that, at some point, it’s going to catch up with you and you’re going to fall by the wayside. You’ll never truly leave the classroom, either. Medical discoveries and technologies move quickly, so even as a highly-qualified professional, you will need to be up to date and aware of the latest treatment developments and trends.
Hope this was Helpful Nixon
Rahul Arora
Doctor
44
Answers
New Delhi, Delhi, India
Updated
Rahul’s Answer
Sincerity, hardwork, a deep seated intent of purpose and originality. First and foremost, you should be ready to justify all your choices to yourself and not be offended by having to justify them to others. Of course, you have the right to be offended and it is not a privelege.
Amitha Ganti
Physician
1
Answer
Chicago, Illinois
Updated
Amitha’s Answer
There are all kinds of doctors out there and all kinds of tasks that need to be done by doctors, which require different skills. If your question is, "Do I have the mental fortitude for this?" my answer is that you're not going to be alone. Sign up, show up, plan to do the best you can do and seek friends; the process of becoming a doctor builds mental and emotion aptitude (think one step at a time). If you're question is more a comment - "I am dubious of the mental fortitude of doctors to be strong during emotional times," I would say that doctors are human beings and we have good days and bad days with careers that change in character and in their demands throughout our lives. Overall, though I am biased, I believe doctors have an incredible stamina in succeeding for themselves and their patients despite very traumatic, stressful times, perhaps best illustrated by the pandemic.
Dan Nguyen, DO
Psychiatrist
104
Answers
Phoenix, Arizona
Updated
Dan’s Answer
You develop these skills during the path in becoming a doctor. It's rigorous and competitive but is apart of the process.