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Autism and medicine - is it worth pursuing diagnosis or will it be a barrier?

Panda

Hi guys! This is my first contribution the community, and a question has probably been asked before, but here goes...

In less than a month's time, I'll be submitting my ucas application to 4 universities, to study medicine. As a volunteer for a medical charity's youth programme, I've been given autism awareness training - when the trainer spoke about features of ASDs, how young people with autism might view the word differently from other people, I was shocked. I thought all of what she spoke about was normal, or if not normal then just one of my funny idiosyncracies. I went home, did some research and discovered that I meet many of the traits I read about and had the same difficulties. Now I'm debating whether a diagnosis is a good thing - I really don't like the idea of self - diagnosing, but I genuinely think I have it - confirmation I think would just be a trigger for looking at things differently and a way of explaining what has always been my "oddness".

Medicine is a career where empathy, teamwork, communication etc are essential, so the big question is will seeking diagnosis affect my chances? Admittedly nothing will happen until after applications have gone, but I'm still concerned that future employers may look at something like that, and, true to the stereotypes, doubt my competence and fitness to practice.

Any advice, comments or thoughts are welcome, and thank you all for your help.

Parents
  • Former Member
    Former Member

    According to

    www.oxforddictionaries.com/.../empathy

    Empathy is "The ability to understand and share the feelings of another."

    In autism, this ability is normally impaired as we are unable to spot and interpret the non-verbal clues that indicate what another person's feelings are. i.e. in my opinion it isn't a myth. I feel sympathy for others, and their problems, without any difficulty. I often imagine their problem happening to me but sometimes don't know what to do or how to express this feeling to them.

    @Panda: have you tried the free test at aspergerstest.net/.../ This is fairly reliable at indicating who might have problems in this department. Self diagnosis is problematic as you don't really have anything good to compare yourself to.

    There are lots of people in the NHS who have problems in this area so you won't be alone! Many senior doctors and nurses have progressed by using their academic and practical skills and knowledge without letting their lack of social skills getting in the way.

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  • Former Member
    Former Member

    According to

    www.oxforddictionaries.com/.../empathy

    Empathy is "The ability to understand and share the feelings of another."

    In autism, this ability is normally impaired as we are unable to spot and interpret the non-verbal clues that indicate what another person's feelings are. i.e. in my opinion it isn't a myth. I feel sympathy for others, and their problems, without any difficulty. I often imagine their problem happening to me but sometimes don't know what to do or how to express this feeling to them.

    @Panda: have you tried the free test at aspergerstest.net/.../ This is fairly reliable at indicating who might have problems in this department. Self diagnosis is problematic as you don't really have anything good to compare yourself to.

    There are lots of people in the NHS who have problems in this area so you won't be alone! Many senior doctors and nurses have progressed by using their academic and practical skills and knowledge without letting their lack of social skills getting in the way.

Children
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