can you be an autistic surgeon?

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I'm a resident in surgery and am Aspie as f**k. People are repelled by me, my weird looks and body language don't help either. I have a weird way of walking and look like an arab terrorist.

I moved countries because of "hoping" to get a better career. I dont speak the language very well, thing that alienates me further (but it doesn't matter, because I know people who don't speak the language very well and still manage to have a successful social life). When I moved, I moved with my now-ex girlfriend. She obviously got very social from the start, she is also a bit weird, but for some reason people managed to ignore that. I know a lot of weird people who can get away with being weird even if that doesn't work for me. My gf always told me that I look too aggressive and unfriendly to people even if I always thought I always was much more friendly than her, and people wanted her around just because she is female and good looking hence she has some sort of social value. I'm obviously wrong and it's all due to my aspie way of seeing the world.

I grew up playing videogames and having nerdy friends, probably also aspie. When I got into college I had a lot of cool friends but mainly because we used to do drugs together. I always felt distant from them because of my communication deficits. I had girlfriends too but always weird relatinoships.

I've already switched jobs 3 times. In my last job obviously nobody likes me and at the beginning they think I am ret*d. After a while they realize I have superior knoweledge and skills but still don't understand why I am so shy and withdrawn in social situations, they just think I'm arrogant.

My question is: should I change job and go for a more nerdy medical job like laboratory medicine or something that allows me to be away from people to spare them the pain of awkwardness?

Let's be clear, I love being around people and connecting with them, but it's obviously not a shared thing. I just want to stop making them feel the pain of being around me.

I've just stopped being friendly with people and started being aloof, since no one wants to interact with me in a proactive way but they just do it in a reactive way when I do that. Of course now I am without any friends because I'm not looking for anyone or inviting anyone to do anything. No one does it either, big sign that I'm a painful aspie.

I wanted to do medicine in university at one point. My mum encouraged it too. I would read Clinical Medicine textbooks and learn them en masse.

However I was diagnosed with autism when I was a teenager (even though I had a speech delay, it took until I was a teenager when I was diagnosed because my mum was too scared to get me diagnosed - she wanted me to be normal, and didn't want a difference in me; it was only when my dad paid privately for a diagnosis is when I got one).

I was told by my secondary school and psychiatrist that I would not handle the clinical side of medicine. I can learn the academic side very well though.

I don't know how far you are along the spectrum. I've heard of Asperger's / HFA doctors before.

I am diagnosed HFA, but purely due to my high IQ. Apparently if I had a low IQ I would be classified as moderate-functioning.

I won't give you a whole story about my symptoms. I wouldn't handle the sensory / social aspects of being a doctor. I'd have aggressive meltdowns right from the beginning. I need a full time support worker at uni.

BUT if you are milder than me, I advise you to think about the pros and cons. If surgery is really want you want to do, and you feel that you can cope with it without having meltdowns / shutdowns etc, then go for it.

If you're a good surgeon, and get excellent results, who cares if you're autistic?

One might not have anything to do with the other.

The ends are more important than the means.

NO----not unless you WANT to, for your OWN self----don't do it, for OTHER people----that would be a TERRIBLE waste of your brain / talent!! Why should you not fulfill your passion (assuming surgery IS your passion) of becoming a surgeon, just because others think you're weird? What if how they act around you, is because they're intimidated, by you (you said you're extremely knowledgeable)? Why should people think you're a terrorist, just because of how you look? I mean, I understand that people WILL think this----but then, that's THEIR problem / insecurity, and they'll just have to get over it; besides, if you're currently living in the U.S., just about every other doctor is foreign----there MAY be, even MORE foreigners (foreign doctors), than Americans!

I WOULD, however, learn the BEST social skills, possible, because you'll need to not scare / disturb the patients. Also, if you're in the U.S.----or, whatever country, actually----I'd brush-up on my English, and learn some Americanisms (or, whatever country); that'll help, BOTH, with your relationships with "others", as well as patients----but, don't go-around sayin' stuff, just to fit-in, cuz people'll pick-up on that, and then ostracize you, even WORSE; make sure you say things that are appropriate. It'll be a bit difficult----if, for no other reason, but because you've probably got such a crazy schedule, right now----but, watch TV, ALOT, to pick-up on mannerisms, etc., that are common to the country you're in (and, I mean watch the COUNTRY'S shows----like, for instance, if you're in Europe, DON'T watch AMERICAN TV shows, until you've learned THEIR "ways"); and, OBSERVE, every possible second of the day, how others act / react, to stuff.

Bottom Line: STAY A SURGEON----let OTHERS "fix" THEMSELVES!!

Also, you might wanna stay-away from these really good-looking women----they just MIGHT be narcissists who are using you, for your "status" (not ALL, obviously). UGLY might actually treat you better----PRETTY, just might want you to do absolutely EVERYTHING, for them----and, your money'll slip-through your fingers, like water!! (These are OBVIOUS generalizations----not ALL people will fit this.) Just think: "BRAINS over BOOBS", when choosing, and I think that'll "serve" you, well!!

nono, I can speak english well, probably I wouldn't be so much autistic if I worked in america. I work in a german speaking country and I can't understand s**t of what my colleagues say. I can't partake in small talk and in the general banter, which is much more important than being good at your job in today's work. With patients I expose over-the-top social skills, you think this is a paradox, but I think this is part of being autistic because it's always something weird: I can't understand s**t in group conversation but I am over the top in face-to-face conversation with over the top body language reading and empathy feeling (all things that aspies in my opinion have increased respect to the NTs, on the contrary of the myths). It's when it's about being chatty with colleagues that it all goes to s**t. I don't think anyone thinks I'm weird, they probably think I'm just having a hard time with the language because sometimes I expose very good social skills in my NT moments which come randomly.

All my life I have had NT moments or short periods of my life, and I ask myself if cigarette and caffeine addiction has anything to do with my heavy autistic anxiety overwhelming me at times. I remember that I had no problems before I started getting serious with cigarettes and coffee when I was 20. I was a nerd before yeah, but I didn't give a s**t about being autistic, it's only later in life that I began suffering from not being able to fully connect with all the people I wanted to have around.

If you knew the language better, you would be better able to connect with your peers.

If I would, all of a sudden, live in a Spanish-speaking country, I would seem pretty autistic, too, for I know very Spanish.

I seem to remember running into a surgeon around here - might have been in the "Highly Educated Aspies" sticky posting.

If you're good at it I don't see any reason why an aspie couldn't be a surgeon.

I think you probably think that you're worse socially than you are. People might think you're odd, but I'd be surprised if they find you a genuine pain. I know I've had similar thoughts in the past but they usually turn out to be ungrounded.

Do whatever makes you personally happy. If this is really weighing on you and has for a long time, it might be right to switch. If you think you wouldn't be fulfilled if you switched and would constantly want to go back, you're probably best staying where you are.

I'm a psych major, and I've noticed a similar think - I'm really good at talking to someone in emotional distress and helping them to feel better, but I suck at more everyday social skills.

This. You don't need to be too good at social skills to be a surgeon; you just need to be able to work with your team and be polite to patients. Autistic people can and do work in highly-skilled fields. Now, if you'd said you were a pediatric resident and you hated children, that would be a completely different thing--but surgery? Why not?

Your autism affects you in areas that are quite unrelated to surgery. Since you're already a resident, that means you made it through medical school successfully; the interpersonal skills it takes to do that are sufficient to be a surgeon--which is a job with low patient interaction.

You should still be polite to your co-workers. As you probably know, doctors don't work alone--especially not in a modern hospital. If you can manage a formal, polite sort of attitude, they will simply think you are reserved, perhaps a bit arrogant; that's not too bad because it fits the "surgeon" stereotype and shouldn't get in the way too much. Think "Spock"... if you can make people think you are a bit like that, they should be able to work with you.

The one thing I'd worry about most is making sure that other people notify you when they see something you've missed or notice something you could improve on. To encourage them to do this, when someone (especially a subordinate or equal) points out a mistake, thank them for doing it. You want people to know that you are not unapproachable, and you want them to feel free to tell you important things that you need to know. Since you'll be working under supervision for quite a while yet, you have some time to learn what works for you.

Does anyone in your immediate environment know you are autistic? If so, you could try to enlist that person as an interpreter--to notify you about things that you might otherwise not quite understand.

people not liking you can get you sued, which makes lab medicine attractive. i practiced medicine (internal medicine primary care) for nine years until hospital politics got the better of me. i wish now i'd have done something non-clinical. i'd probably still be in medicine.

The mushy parts don't bother me. But I doubt I'd want to focus on surgery; it seems to threatening for a job that pays well and risks other peoples lives and the extreme stress when I already have moderate anxiety.

My bank teller told me about an AS surgeon. I was told that "everyone thinks he is brilliant", yet, "everyone hates him".

The hospital assigned this bank teller's wife as this surgeon's "in between person" so people don't have to deal with him directly.