How to Succeed in Clerkships as a "Quiet" Student (Introverts Rule!)

I struggled throughout my clerkships because my quiet introverted self had a hard time with public speaking and just putting myself out there in general. I spent the last several years working on skills that I now wish I had had back in medical school. So here's my biggest advice for my fellow quiet people - work on your public speaking skills, and more specifically, your oral presentation skills! This will take you a LONG way towards stellar faculty evaluations.
ABOUT ME:
I'm Monica, an Internal Medicine attending living in Los Angeles. I'm here to provide high-yield videos for medical students and residents. My favorite topics include how to succeed on clinical rotations, clinical skills, and some good old pathophysiology!

[@ConanLiuMD]

Another amazing video Dr. Jeong! It can honestly feel kind of sad how much the medical education system favors outgoing people who are charismatic and confident, but that is something that I think us introverts just need to adapt to because those are skills that really are important in real life too! Even if we don’t feel that confident or greater presenting, it’s always important to work on those skills as much as we can :)

[@MonicaJeong]

Thank you!! I used to complain about how extroverts had a leg up in everything, but I should've spent that time working on myself and getting better at those skills! Haha.

[@keiraferrari7764]

You can only conquer fear by facing it head-on. When I graduated with my BA, I was afraid of public speaking. I volunteered to give a weekly presentation. Later, I was afraid of heights, so I started doing aerial circus.

[@MonicaJeong]

Amazing!! So inspiring 👏👏👏thanks for sharing!

[@storispinner]

As a life-long introvert who also considers public speaking to be probably my top skill....as you hinted at, public speaking is where introverts can thrive! All that time we introverts spend thinking and listening can be distilled into extremely clean and logical structures that really help a listener understand. And since public speaking means you can practice ahead of time, there's time to make it sound polished and professional. Many "extroverts" I know actually aren't great at public speaking because they assume they can talk well and just wing it, but there's SO much more that goes into a good talk. And frankly, delivering a speech/presentation is a good way to connect with people on a big idea without having to first preface it with a bunch of small talk.

[@MonicaJeong]

Great point!! I agree that when given time to prep, we can definitely use public speaking as a time to shine! Thanks for watching :)

[@Jps277]

Hi Dr. Jeong, I enjoyed watching this and thanks for sharing your journey with us. Truly inspiring.

[@serellamadole]

This is great advice. I definitely needed to hear this.

[@bgizzles420]

Would have never suspected it! Thank you for sharing the inspirational tips.

[@MonicaJeong]

Thanks for watching!! :)

[@tao072002]

Best videos Dr. Jeong!! Definitely helpful for my fellow clerks going through these rough times :)

[@MonicaJeong]

Thank you so much for watching!! :)

[@fangyuanchen8997]

I was actually asking my senior exactly about the same question - thank you so much 😊

[@MonicaJeong]

Yay thank you for watching!! :)

[@claudiaescalante5235]

Thank you so much Dr. for the tips!! Hopefully I’ll become great a public speaking, really working on it

[@MonicaJeong]

Thank you so much for watching!! :) Good luck! Just have to force yourself to practice through the discomfort.

[@lynel2765]

This is a very encouraging video. What you went over are so true. thanks.

[@MonicaJeong]

So glad it was encouraging!! :)

[@mariajosemartin3753]

Amazing advice 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@larissasidze812]

Thank you so much Dr!!!

[@MonicaJeong]

Thanks for watching!!

[@vidyareddy6402]

Loved your video Dr Jeong! Please please please do a video on how to do a good chart review. You mentioned once before you would do a video on how to do a good chart biopsy. I know it’s more work intensive, but it would be greatly appreciated! Love your videos ❤

[@MonicaJeong]

Yes!! Posting in 2 weeks!

[@Be1smaht]

Good for you

[@motiabera8887]

You are so generous
10x.

[@hamzamasbahi]

Hey Doc ! You’re truly an inspiration ! Surely diving in and facing your fear is the way. Thank you for the reminder. May I ask how do you navigate your life of an internal medicine attending as in introvert ? Being one myself, and loving IM and radiology, the choice is hard to make !
Greeting ❤

[@michaelle545]

Thumbnail is GOLD

[@MonicaJeong]

Thank you!! :)

[@Max-yt5by]

Very useful video🙂👍

[@MonicaJeong]

Thank you! :)

[@anjalisah1736]

Can you please mention your university name???

[@cynthiamartinez6583]

Clerkship? As in post law school?

[@MonicaJeong]

We use that term for core clinical rotations in medical school!