About me

I guess this is my little corner of the web where I can rant and rave about the trials and tribulations of daily life. Most days are pretty trivial, but every once in a while I am reminded of how difficult things can be and I wonder to myself, "Why have I signed myself up for this, again?"

But anyway, a bit about me: I am a medical student in my early 20s, somewhere in the UK (not French at all!) on a five-year programme, except instead of keeping us locked in lecture theatres for two years, we have patient contact from almost the first week. This would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that I am also autistic. "Asperger's syndrome/high-functioning autism", to be more precise. You may be wondering, "If you managed to get into medical school, why does that matter?" Well, before I started it wasn't official. However, it was very obvious very quickly that I was having problems, both at university with my peers and in the hospital with patients.

Things are better now. I'm no longer a freshman first-year with little clue about the world. Admittedly, there is still a lot I don't know and I don't feel any less emotionally stunted than I did way back when, but I can get through a patient consult now without staring at the wall behind the patient the entire time.

One thing I really wish I had at the time I was starting out was some sort of resource on the net - a blog or a support website or something that let me know that I'm not the only autistic med student out there. But alas, all I found was a few blogs that hadn't been updated for a very long time. So my aim with this is to keep things up to date. However, I also want to retain my anonymity to some degree (for now, at least). But one thing I can promise is something not too far from the truth.

Will anybody read this? I have no idea. I'm not a writer, so I won't be publishing anything worthy of a novel any time soon. But that's okay. If there is demand for it, perhaps I might be able to make this a regular thing.

11 comments:

  1. I read it! Your US friend

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  2. I'm not a med student; I'm an Aspie who wants to be a teacher. I'm working on trying to be more open in my blogs, though. I don't know if you'd be interested. I am an Aspie with Tourette's Syndrome, PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder. ...What a wonderful combination, eh?

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    1. I can imagine :P You got a link to that blog?

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  3. I am interested too :)
    I am a medical student from Czech Republic. Would like to read more of your blog in the future :)

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    1. Thanks :) I hope to have new blog posts up soon but so little is happening at the moment.

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  4. I'm 16 and may have Aspergers as well. I am an aspiring doctor but my parents won't let me get tested/diagnosed because they think I don't have it or that I will grow out of it.

    Sometimes I feel like I am socially inept but your post really let me believe that maybe one day I will be a doctor (obviously a lot of hard work).

    Thank you very much from America.

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    1. I can't tell you how much it pleases me to know that this has reached someone like myself who wants to be a doctor despite their difficulties with social integration. You are right that it is a lot of hard work - more than others in some respects, but that does not make it an impossible goal!

      I wish you the best of luck with things, and hope that you are soon well on your way to realising your dreams.

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  5. I can't tell you how much reassurance it gives me to read that you are in the same situation as I am. I've only gotten the diagnosis myself in my second year of med school and I am slowly letting the people around me know. It's frightening, knowing that others will judge me for it, but it is great to know that I will be able to become a capable doctor, and now, knowing that I'm not the only special snowflake.

    I wish us both much luck on this difficult path :) It is all more than worth it in the end.

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  6. Hi there...Just wanted to say hi... . We have things in common.....i notice myself have traits of asperger after I graduated from medical school because I look out why I felt different ..... But the first 3 years in med school was the hardest as I felt totally different compare to the rest and there is no support system....but now I understand myself well and starting to accept who I am....the experience you write off in the blog is almost similar to what I went through...

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    1. Thanks for commenting. It's always nice to hear from others who have had similar experiences and made it through to the end.

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