I am also in the medical field as I am a registered nurse who was also recently diagnosed with ADHD. What I have kearned is to take to someone an educator who can explain what ADHD is and help you understand you aren't crazy or dumb. If you are involved with someone please have them accompany you as they need to be educated also. Go see a psyciatrist regarding the possibility of medication and be closely monitored. Responding to you has made me feel better about myself. Good luck, Lost Hodag

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I am also work in the medical field as a nurse. There have been times when my ADHD got in the way of my job. I talked to my charge nurse about it and told her that sometimes I needed to be redirected. She acted as a coach for me and would give me ques when I was about to blurt something stupid out or got misdirected by the details of something else. She was very good for me. When she left I was lost at first, but then I realized that I was starting to catch myself in certain behaviors.

Especially the impulsiveness. Although Impulsiveness was what made me awsome in a code situation. I didn't have to think of what to do. I just did it. Hope that this helps you with your future needs. Stress was a tough one for me.

Sometimes I had to stop everything that I was doing, no matter how busy I was and step into the staircase to catch my breath and reorganize my thoughts and then jump right back in to get something done instead of spinning wheels which I did at times. Hope this helps.

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I too am in the medical field, as a physician who late in my career was diagnosed with ADD I have had time to reflect on my Pre-dx and post diagnosis issues. Pre: sometimes it is helpful to deal with 4-5 people coming at you with questions (now known as multi-tasking) and it was also difficult to focus and block the conversation outside the exam room door without appropriate medication. Post dx: more focused and more time (as in behind much of the time) but also much more thorough when I look back at medical records especially. The hardest thing for me was accepting the type of medications-stimulants. ADD is not a curse and it can be a blessing but it will take time to understand who and how you fit into this world that is sometimes a cluster----. Hang in there and just do your best and your nitch may emerge as you experience medicine and dont feel bad if you dont enjoy everything but migrate to and accell in the things that you enjoy.

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My school decided to "dismiss" me with only 4 months until graduation! I now have over $105,000 in tuition debt and no Masters degree. I easily passed through 23 of 27 months of intense medical training...but the school decided to "dismiss" me only 1 week after the school psychiatrist diagnosed me with severe ADHD. I am going to fight all of this of course, but I am having a hard time getting back on my feet. I feel so tired from the struggle. Meanwhile, I lost my student loans and my fiance' lost his job due to depression. We are falling deeper and deeper in debt and of course, being ADHD, I find it hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel at times. I just don't understand why we are looked upon as we have something wrong with us. I think that we have something special about us. We have passion, energy, compassion, creativity, and we love all the little things in life!

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I too have ADD (not hyperactive) and am a PA student finishing my graduate degree. I was diagnosed when I started PA school because all my classmates could sit down and read for hours but I realized I had never, ever done that! Not even while earning my bachelor degree! So I went and got formally tested, it took about 4 hours to get tested but it was worth it because I finally knew what made me "creatively different". I also found out I have a high IQ and that's how I accommodated and made it through school up until then. Having a "solid diagnosis" to hold on to gave me the strength to push forward.

Yes, sometimes ADD gets in the way and I "spin my wheels" wasting hours "trying" to study and NOTHING I READ STICKS IN MY HEAD, even when I'm on ADD medication. But other times, I get really into the subjects and I really do well.

Once the didactic year is over it is so much more fun in the clinical setting! I like when I am in the room with a patient and things I had learned "come back" to me and my hands just "know" what to do! I have been told by my preceptors that I have a great "bedside" manner and that my patients have secretly told the preceptor how much they liked me. So...my point: Having ADHD and going for a career in healthcare is DO-ABLE. Like me, you may not have an A+ average, but you can be a GREAT clinician even with ADHD.

On a side note: I too have the fear, similar to patropic_kel, who wrote earlier, that I will someday be "dismissed" for not keeping up. I have been on academic probation more than once, and pulled it together each time with a LOT of work. But I am doing well now.

To patropic_kel: I hope you win that battle and are given a chance at remediation, or something. That's a REALLY tough situation, and I sympathize with you.

Good luck to all in Healthcare with ADHD!! I bet there are a lot of us out there!

justcr8ive, PA-S

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KC, don't give up. I found out I had ADD and an auditory processing deficit after I was already in private practice for 6 years. Suddenly, it made sense why medical school was a struggle for me, especially the didactic years. But I always knew that I was going to be a doctor. I kept telling myself, "If this is what I have to do, I'll push and muddle through." Luckily, I absolutely love medicine.

If medicine is your passion, you'll make it. I tend to hyperfocus when I'm working, and I think it makes me a better doctor.

Two years after my diagnosis I made a dramatic change in careers. I was extremely stressed out in private practice because my employers wanted me to see more and more patients and spend less time with each patient. I just couldn't work that way. Plus I had some major life stresses going on.

When it's time to choose a practice setting, you need to know your strengths and weaknesses. For example, I need to practice in a setting with few interruptions and no outside noises. I work in a group because I need the stimulation of colleagues and love the curbside consultations. I finish my notes with each patient before I see the next one, because I know I won't remember office visit details later in the day. I don't work quickly and I'm lousy keeping track of time, so I'm now in a non-profit setting and don't feel the pressure to see high volumes of patients. The auditory processing deficit gets worse as I get tired, so I don't work 12-hour days any more and I don't do much evening work.

If you haven't already been assessed for other learning disabilities, get tested. Medication doesn't help the auditory processing deficit, and knowing I have it means I feel okay asking patients and colleagues to repeat themselves.

If you don't have a PDA, you should consider getting one. I have complete medical databases, algorithms, guidelines, drug guides (with prices), and medical illustrations on my Palm, and it makes me feel like the smartest doctor in my practice. I can find most answers within seconds while I'm in the exam room. Plus it impresses my patients.

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I wanted to follow mdbrownmd's words and say that it has not been an easy road in med school for me. My diagnosis was several years ago, while an undergrad, and before working several years in a ill-fit career. It was only because my significant other at the time thought I should get tested, that I did it. School was never an issue until I hit med school, especially this 3rd year. For example, today is our 1/2 day of seminars. After 2 hours of these lectures, my brain is ready to move on, get back to the wards. Fortunately, there are many options after residency, and every 1-2 months we are on to different rotations for now. So I think choosing this field of work may initially be bad if you struggle in school, but that does not set you up for a difficult career from what I understand. I keep my fingers crossed, and started medication and seeing professionals to identify where this hurts me as a student, and help make up those deficits asap. Second, I am glad to see mdbrownmd's words about getting tested for other learning disabilities. That is something I am in the process of trying to do. I have a difficult time with auditory processing, and this year on the wards is dense with conversational learning. The reason I point this out is because I this is the first time I've had to repeat a month of school. Additionally, the school is aware, but I think they say little more than they support me in my education -- I don't sense that they really know alternate ways to help educate someone like me... just see professionals and get back to business. I must add that this positive for other ADHDer's: several attendings said I have great bedside manner. In conclusion, this is a work in progress that I wanted to share with you. I rely on family for moral support, as well as religion... clinical days drain my energy, and having these supports is key to staying the course. Good luck

TP

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My I.Q. helped me go through my pre-meds. I got good grades! However, I struggled tremendously with all the other areas of my life--most important, my relationship with wife, children, and sibblings; work, research, leadership projects, and spirituality. I hyperfocused on sciences for years, was never home, and had problems communicating with my wife. My personal problems got do bad that I almost got a divorce. I was then diagnosed with ADHD/ADD, anxiety, among others. I feel that my ADHD and anxiety is so bad (even with medications and counseling) that I need to take care of it first if I want to go to medical school. I am affraid to go back to school because I can loose my family. I know that study comes very hard for me now that I have to study for hours at the time in preparation for the MCAT, that I need a lot of down time in between, some of it by myself... I have an important role as a provider (my job is very demanding), husband , and father and I feel that I am failing at all of those roles and other... How can I add medical school to all of this when my wife's faith in my ability to make it is worse now that we have discovered my ADHD/ADD? I want to become a physician with much determination. But I am affraid to loose my family in the process. I do not know if medical school is for an ADDer that has much anxiety when his wife gets frustrated as often as she does ( she has many emotional problems and prefers that I choose a different profession), and when it seems that I cannot find a balance in my life. I need hope because I really want to go to medical school but would never do it if that means loosing my family ( my wife has a lot of emotional problems and does not take risk, economic distresses, lack of help at home, and the unknown very well).

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My I.Q. helped me go through my pre-meds. I got good grades! However, I struggled tremendously with all the other areas of my life--most important, my relationship with wife, children, and sibblings; work, research, leadership projects, and spirituality. I hyperfocused on sciences for years, was never home, and had problems communicating with my wife. My personal problems got do bad that I almost got a divorce. I was then diagnosed with ADHD/ADD, anxiety, among others. I feel that my ADHD and anxiety is so bad (even with medications and counseling) that I need to take care of it first if I want to go to medical school. I am affraid to go back to school because I can loose my family. I know that study comes very hard for me now that I have to study for hours at the time in preparation for the MCAT, that I need a lot of down time in between, some of it by myself... I have an important role as a provider (my job is very demanding), husband , and father and I feel that I am failing at all of those roles and other... How can I add medical school to all of this when my wife's faith in my ability to make it is worse now that we have discovered my ADHD/ADD? I want to become a physician with much determination. But I am affraid to loose my family in the process. I do not know if medical school is for an ADDer that has much anxiety when his wife gets frustrated as often as she does ( she has many emotional problems and prefers that I choose a different profession), and when it seems that I cannot find a balance in my life. I need hope because I really want to go to medical school but would never do it if that means loosing my family ( my wife has a lot of emotional problems and does not take risk, economic distresses, lack of help at home, and the unknown very well).

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Hi - good to hear about other's trials and tribulations. I was diagnosed with ADD while in my Ob/Gyn residency. I basically was forced to have diagnostic psyciatric evals, I was struggling, trying SO HARD, working 80 hours a week, and I couldn't figure out how to please all my attendings and senior residents. I was miserable. Unfortunately, after I got help my program expected everything to just get better overnight, but by that time I had a huge anxiety problem and a reputation for not being reliable. Even if I had brilliant insights and the best patient reviews in the department, the minute I made a mistake, came a minute late to rounds, or had to look up details I was supposed to know, then I was seen as fufilling my bosses' predictions of failure. I was dismissed after 18 months. I got legal advice about trying to appeal under the ADA, but in the end it didn't seem worth it. I was severely depressed and my whole undergrad and med school seemed a waste, not to mention I have $205,000 of educational debt.

It's been a big strain on my relationship, but so was residency. Now our woes are financial. I'm working as an advocate, making less than $28,000 a year. I don't know when I'm going to try to go back to residency - if ever. I'm scared and traumatized by the whole system. Therapy and medication are helping, but it's been a hard road. I take things a few months at a time, trying not to set myself up for failure by making 5 year plans.

I don't know how to advise. I am an Ivy-league graduate and a doctor, but I have fallen so short of where I want to be or what I thought I was capable. I am thankful that I have love in my life that is not contingent on my salary. My fiance, my parents, and my siblings save my life everyday.

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For anyone with ADD, it's important to know your limits and what you can handle. I thought that I could do 30 hour shifts 6 times a week. because lots of other people had done it before me. But my brain shuts off after 14 hours, tops.

So, choose clinical work, pathology, or very structered environments like the ER. Avoid surgery or surgical subspecialties. The environment is very unforgivable. If you're in nursing, choose a unit/specialty where you can focus on one patient at a time, rather than juggling a number at a time. There are places for everyone in Medicine, even those of us with ADD, but to find it you have to look at more than just what is cool or most interesting. You HAVE to consider the work environement and culture.

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