Are there any doctors here?

Question

I was wondering If you knew what your IQ number was. My IQ is about 130. Do you think I am smart enough to become a physicain.

Answer 1

IQ is just a number which can vary by 10-20 points throughout the day. Do not put too much stock in imaginary numbers. In my experience thus far there are a lot of idiot doctors and a lot of very smart doctors. If you can work hard and endeavor to understand everything you can become a physician (assuming you pass your classes, MCAT, interview, and boards blah blah blah). The difference in being a physician and being a great doctor is the ability to relate with your patients and treat them as a person and not a problem. There are some very intelligent people in my class who cannot talk to / work with / relate to / or understand patients. Maybe they will be pathologists. As much as you learn in the classroom there is no amount of preparation that can take the place of the wisdom of experience.

Answer 2

Some stupid answers here... first off, a score of130 is not a great IQ, nor is it on the border between an exceptional IQ and genius, at least this is true if you are going by the American system. This is pretty average. I scored higher and my father scored in the range of 150 but neither one of us were impressed since we were working to the American system that has recently changed the range of IQ scores in order to make people smarter by raising the mean score. A score of 130 in America is not the same as a score of 130 in the UK. Those internet tests are particularly unreliable.

Gruff is a little off with his thoughts about doctors. Perhaps he failed to get into medical school. Doctors are taught to think and not just to memorise facts. Most of the medical exams require lateral thinking to pass.

But I do think you are smart enough to get into medical school. Whether you can cope with one of the more competitive residency places (neurosurgery) will depend on your ability and how dedicated you are.

Answer 3

Yes. (my IQ is about the same!) 130 is the border number between high intelligence and exceptional intelligence. In fact, most standard IQ tests stop counting at about 130, so to get a true evaluation of your IQ you might need to do a test for exceptional intelligence! PS: the emotional quotient is a much better way of measuring the ability to learn.

Answer 4

somewhere I had read that most doc's IQ was 120 or 130 .. smart, but not super genius .. that kicks in at 160+ . the mensa croud.

my pa was a doc. doc needs to have LOTS of drive, will power to overcome the current allopathic system. First the school and then the residency. And they need to memorize a gazillion things. .. more than IQ points. For example I was told that one med school had a progress indicator that was how people LIED on their MMPI on trying to seem ok for the med school.

Honestly I don't know why we are still encouraging war time mentality medicine where doc's are encouraged to be over paid, short staffed and have to stay up 30+ hours on a shift.

See the recent "the lake house".. fiction, but this garbage is still going on.

Answer 5

i am planning on becoming a doctor and i am still in school so my IQ isnt that much but it is the 120 to 130s so i think it might be enough to start through.

Answer 6

Quite impressive IQ. With such IQ used the way it is supposed to be in combination of interest, dedication, diligence, perseverance and commitment I can say you can be a physician.

Your IQ tells you how much intelligence you have. More important than it is to know how you will make use of it and benefit from all potentials it may give. With such good IQ added to your effective building of a good personality, a remarkable chance of becoming a physician is within your reach. You need to start to know the things or steps you should know and do. Good studies and better preparation need to be given emphasis to achieve such dream. Good luck!

Answer 7

IQ has very little to do with your choice.
What really counts is aptitude and the hunger for science, you must be infected with what i call the virus of observation.

I myself was 132 back when i was 17, but what really made me choose a career in medical science is the love for science and human beings.

Choose what you wish, but choose wisely.

p.s. there are things they don't tell you about a career in medicine you need nerves of steel and aptitudes more then anything.

Here's a little example: When you get pinched or pricked or spilled with blood from an HIV + patient you need to start taking retrovirals and have an HIV test every six months.
The things you see have no comparison.
You will get plenty of diarrhea when you go to pediatrics.
And there are many more things that IQ doesn't help in.

Answer 8

I'm a paramedic, not a Dr. . My IQ is 147. But 130 may cut it

Answer 9

I think that 130 is adequate, your retention and memorization skills are really important along with organization. I see that your secretary didn't use spell check, so you'll be perfect!!

Good luck!! And please take the joke as a joke :-)

Answer 10

You're perhaps too smart. You'll be tempted to think for yourself, and you might even be open-minded enough to actually listen to patients. (That last part is really heresy in the medical profession.)

Did you see the Robin Williams movie, "Patch Adams," based on a true story?

That's what happens to smart people who become doctors.

The typical doctor has to be dumb enough and lazy enough to accept what he is taught, without asking questions. The doctors who think for themselves and challenge conventional wisdom get in trouble with their peers.

Eventually, the smart independent-thinking doctors either get their licenses revoked ... or they hang around for the next paradigm shift, and then they win a Nobel Prize.