Social anxiety is a huge problem for residency aspirants as
it limits their avenues for opportunities. Often, the applicant especially
international medical graduates are forced to deal with non-familiar social
situations in a foreign country and their response to this is
colored with anxiety, which places them at a disadvantage. There are a few
important way-points in the path to residency which involve social interactions
with people you may not be familiar with. Corresponding with programs, USMLE
step 2 CS and even interviews are a huge factors determining residency chances
and applicants often blow their chances by performing adversely.
In many instances, this shyness or introversion affords
benefits which the person is used to. Protection from perceived threat of
venturing to social unknowns, staying in the comfort zone, and coziness in
perceived stability of familiar situations all provide a support which
superficially seems useful.
However, this 'luxury' is something that the residency
application process does not take kindly to. The ‘social-lock in’ syndrome
prevents you from pursuing new opportunities, reflecting in poor performance
in social interaction heavy situations like residency interview and prevents
you from networking for self benefit.
Just as you prepare for your personal statement and
application months in advance, I recommend that you also prepare yourself
psychologically for months in advance to overcome the social awkwardness. This
will help you on 4 main levels,
1/ Confidence in corresponding with programs and
faculty will advance
2/ Interaction and your impression on departments where
you do USCE will improve
3/ Performance in USMLE step 2 CS will be stellar
success
4/ Finally, during interviews you will come off as a
confident and desirable candidate.
There are several self help guides, site and resources on
line but the key components to self improvement is to recognize the weaknesses
in your conduct. Do you have a problem speaking to new people? Are you
self-conscious of your accent? Is there a habit or a tic that makes you
embarrassed to interact? Work on these, just as you would work on your
application. Many IMGs forget to hone in their social skills and focus purely
on the numbers. If you lack a good personality even a triple 99er will have a
difficult time getting a residency, on the other hand, if you are a great
person to talk to, have no issues communicating with others and overall are
very good company, lower credentials and issues with your application will
often be overlooked and land you the residency spot.
The following are some areas which can help you improve:
Fig 1: Introversion and residency application |
The following are some areas which can help you improve:
1/ Positive emulators
Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.- Vince Lombardi
Look around you, everyone knows at least one person who is
admired and does well with social situations. Study their habits, how do they
approach a group, how do they talk, what body language they use which puts the
other person at ease? Emulate them consciously at first till it becomes a second
nature to you.
2/ Self confidence
One important key to success is self-confidence.
An important key to self-confidence is preparation.- Arthur Ashe
This has to be inculcated and cannot be achieved overnight.
Small things add up to a confident personality. Learn to accept your weaknesses
(physical, emotional or psychological) and this will improve your confidence.
3/ Determination
Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the determination to make the right things happen.- Horace Mann
You have make an effort and decide once and for all you will
make a change. Once you are committed to self-improvement, that in itself will
trigger a positive change.
4/ Communication
We speak with our tongue but communicate with our entire
body. Correct mannerisms like bad posture, slouching, annoying tics and
distracting habits. Read up about body language and what it conveys to the
other person. Learn to seem very attentive to the other person and reciprocate
such that people like you instantly. Nail this aspect and there is no interview
you will have problems with. You match at the program you interviewed – win and even
if you do not match at this time – you made a excellent contact. Win-win.
5/ Practice
Nothing beats practice to hone your talents. This is an
acquired skill which comes easily to some folks but can be improved and applied
to by others who don’t. Try and get out of your comfort zone a little bit every
day and you will soon realize that it is easier than it looks. Make it a habit
to have 1-2 lines of small talk with people you don’t know to break the comfort
of self isolation.
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