Can you be a dyslexic doctor? Dyslexia at medical school

[@ConnorDibblin]

SO excited to watch this one with you all when it premieres Sunday 11am GMT. Remember you can give it a cheeky like before it even goes live! 😍

[@ZZzz777ZZ]

I can’t wait for more content. I really hope that dyslexia can become my feature rather than a source of frustration and depression

[@ConnorDibblin]

Thank you so much! Is there anything specific you'd like to know about or get help with?

[@Pink_Chanel_Princess]

I've been looking for a video like this! I'm currently a 3rd year nursing student , dyslexic as well, who wants to go into medicine I was told so many times I am not good enough and so forth Thank you for this video!

[@ConnorDibblin]

I’m so sorry you were discouraged, people can be so shit! You absolutely are good enough! Let me know if you want to talk about applying to medicine at any point, DM on Twitter or Insta

[@jessranieri4263]

@@ConnorDibblin I'm in the same boat though a second year nurisng student. What are some of your coping mechanisms?

[@ConnorDibblin]

I tend to chunk everything, so I have smaller pieces of info at a time. I also mix up how I’m reading across multiple devices and paper so my eyes get less fatigued

[@kirstywilliams6729]

This both fills me with hope and dread!! I've recently been diagnosed with dyslexia at 26 years old. I am in my 3rd year of psychology at uni, hoping to become a psychiatrist as my end goal. I didn't do my A levels in school, I hopped straight to college to study Art! 👎🏻 Now I'm having to study my A levels to get into med school. I'm hoping I'm "bright" enough to get in! I got good grades in school, but not great. (A, B, C, C, D) Science being a D 😱😱 so I'm going to have to work super hard in a subject I HATED. I mainly suffer with retaining information as a pose to written skills, and I struggle with verbalising my thoughts and writing sufficient notes (memory doesn't serve me well in writing down everything my tutor says). So yeah, I'm feeling rather deflated, but I don't want to give up. Especially after watching your video, so thank you!

[@ConnorDibblin]

Hi Kirsty! First of all, thank you so much for commenting! If you are currently finishing your Psych degree, have you thought about applying for graduate medicine somewhere? It would be tricky, particularly if the sciences are a struggle for you, as the graduate courses often condense the preclinical sciences into a single year! But, it might be a route for you to get onto a course? Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about studying or uni, I am sure you won't be the only person with those questions and hopefully I can either help or point you in the right direction. Good luck with everything!

[@CarolineBlackwellCary]

I absolutely love this, I am a dyslexic problem solver….engineer! Love seeing that it doesn’t stop people, by all means getting to master black belt in statistics is hard.

[@ConnorDibblin]

That’s amazing! What type of engineer are you?

[@PrincePalmUwU]

Hey its me again, going back to this from 2y's ago and looking at different careers and videos giving me a boost in dedication. 🥰 Thank you so much. I finally made my decision in becoming an Dental Hygienist with LD. I won't let this label allow to put me down. My issue now is the TEAs exam... I don't know what videos to study and so forth. 😅 Thank you again. ❤️

[@farzanamiah3902]

So glad I’ve came across this video as I don’t know many medical students that are dyslexic. I’m currently a grad medical student and I’ve been diagnosed with dyslexia today. I ended up doing the test privately as my teachers/lecturers did not believe I was dyslexic despite constantly struggle with spelling, writing and pronunciation of certain words. There need to be more awareness from teachers about dyslexia for students that are not just under achieving but also over achieving too.

[@ConnorDibblin]

There absolutely does! Thank you so much for commenting Farzana. Sorry that you have had that experience, but hopefully now that you have a formal diagnosis you can access more support?

[@yadiraalban9284]

How did you get diagnosed

[@farzanamiah3902]

@@yadiraalban9284 Done the diagnostic test with the British Dyslexic Association

[@catherinesullivan1823]

This is really interesting. I’m dyslexic but worked as a journalist for 15 years, rising to become an editor. I developed a lot of coping mechanisms during my career. I’m now applying for graduate entry medicine. The UCAT was horrible because my reading speed is below average. I will be retaking it next year as I don’t think I will get in this year, but have just been reassessed so hopefully I will get extra time.

[@ConnorDibblin]

It’s so interesting that even someone like yourself you worked in a role which revolved around reading is disadvantaged in the UCAT. I hope you get your diagnosis and the time you’re owed!

[@bignose3639]

Thank you for sharing

[@ConnorDibblin]

My pleasure

[@ZZzz777ZZ]

Thank you for this. I made it through 2 years of med... I don’t know how I did. Now I am in the throes year and I want to quite because I am failing all my written exams... I am so happy I found you 🙏🏽🎈

[@ConnorDibblin]

I’m so sorry to hear you’re struggling! Hang in there!

[@nelimajanewonekha8530]

I am kind of in the same situation, my professor deducted my presentation grades because of pronunciation and my basic explanations of things yet that is how I understand things. And as dyslexic, I express myself more using my hands than words, he did not understand that.

[@ConnorDibblin]

That sounds really unfair!

[@benmcmanus8192]

Gl dude

[@liapat814]

I might be getting diagnosed with dyslexia soon and I really want to be a doctor when I am older. Thank you so much for this video it makes me feel so much better.

[@ConnorDibblin]

Good luck with your assessment! You can absolutely be a doctor with dyslexia, it is not a barrier at all in this country

[@ConnorDibblin]

Let me know if you have any questions about the process or medical school

[@alexthelion98486]

I'm so excited to see where your channel goes and who it reaches, I'm a medical student who's frustrated everyday, being interested in the course but not able to grasp alot of the material.

[@ConnorDibblin]

Thanks so much mate! I'm sorry to hear you're frustrated about medicine, anything in particular I can help with?

[@CarolineBlackwellCary]

Interesting what you mentioned about university….I always assumed there were more engineers who were dyslexic. I am certainly compensating, was only diagnosed when I was 18. Guess it can make you more determined also.

[@ConnorDibblin]

Yeah a lot of people aren’t diagnosed until university, and those that do make it uni are sometimes never diagnosed because people wrongly believe if you’re doing okay in education then you can’t have it

[@scanella100]

I found out I was dyslexic when I was 26 (around the time I decided I wanted to go to medical school... I didn't know because I was dyslexic because I thought it was people seeing letters backwards. When I found Out i am dyslexic my whole childhood made sense. But the take home for me was that it's more of a difference in processing information (verbal, written etc). The big thing that got me in my researcy was that dyslexics think in pictures and I didn't realize others did not think that way. Anyway I did a career change. I'm in medical school and I'm struggling to keep up with the fast paced content because I learn differently but somehow I'm doing alright grade-wise so far. Will take any advise others have. And I think the low number of medical students being dyslexic has to do with standardized exams telling people they are not the standard

[@ConnorDibblin]

I’m so glad to hear you weren’t too disheartened and powered through! Please let me know if you have any questions about medical school!

[@tq4707]

I have dyslexic and I need help pls

[@ConnorDibblin]

Hey TQ, what do you need help with my friend

[@brittanystorey9460]

Hello I am 26 and I am trying to get into university, I was always told when I was in grade school that I could never do anything in medicine because of it. You have inspired me to go ahead and try to get into health sciences! Thank you!

[@ConnorDibblin]

That is so so amazing to hear Brittany! It's awful to hear that you were discouraged but so incredible that you are pursuing it now. Is there anything at all I can help with? I'd love to hear about how you are getting on!

[@ericnamswife9661]

Thank you so much for this video!! I always thought that because I’m dyslexic that medicine wasn’t an option, but my opinions changed!!!!

[@ConnorDibblin]

I’m so glad that you enjoyed the video! Of course med is an option!

[@Dadpool92]

Wow … this is wonderful. I just started medschool , I am dyslexic too. Please let us know how you are doing all of this…

[@nicholasgomez1351]

Can you make a video of how you studied for mcat CARS section ? Tips for reading passages and how you approached then

[@ConnorDibblin]

Hi Nicholas! As a UK medstudent I didn’t have to take the MCAT. We have the UCAT over here. I’ll have a look into the CARS section, and if it’s anything like the UCAT Verbal reasoning i’m super happy to make a video on that!

[@HussainBukhari]

Such an important topic to raise awareness of. Covered so well and quality is top as always 🙌🏼

[@ConnorDibblin]

Glad you think so! Thanks for the comments Bro

[@BunBUn23557]

I wanna be a EMT but my dyslexia brain 🧠 I feel hopeless. Thank you for making this video

[@tonytonyk]

Doctor here and dyslexic… been difficult but I made it

[@ConnorDibblin]

That's so great to hear!

[@Syncretic.]

Hi, as someone whom is a high-school dropout, my goal is to get into medical school and become a doctor/physician. I’m not aware of my academic ability because I never tried or revised in school. I’ll have to start from GCSEs and build a solid foundation for when I apply to medical school. Is there any advice you could give to someone like me?

[@solenegilbert5850]

Dr.Dibbin we must talk whenever you get a chance!

[@paulhelgesen9216]

What about australia Melbourne australia

[@daylight954]

What are your copping mechanisms?

[@claireturner4937]

Hi Conner. I found your you tube video very informative and helpful. I was diagnosed with dyslexia when studying physiotherapy but dropped out as I don’t think I had enough support regarding using different learning strategies. I’ve worked in hospitals for some time now and have the confidence to apply for a physician associate masters. Medicine was always the route I wanted to take. As my assessment was done several years ago I have mislaid the report. If I get offered a place I’m thinking of paying for an assessment again so that I’m set up at the start of the course in Sept 23. My question is can you recommend a learning strategy to use for coping with the high volume of information medical students need to learn? Thank you!

[@joe_wales]

Wait so did you just cut off the video as you where going to spill the beans on how to cope and do! Where's the rest of the video!

[@ConnorDibblin]

Hey Joe! I go on to talk about how I cope with essays in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nITadWuOmM6ai6M If you’re looking for more exam-based advice check out any of the videos about studying. If you have specific questions just ask, I’d love to help out if I can!

[@joe_wales]

@@ConnorDibblin I really appreciate it. I relate to you're story I've come back into higher education after finishing my degree 2014 and its a shock to the system. The workload and assessments. Keeping up and retaining the quantities of technical information. How where you able to keep up with the workload, get quality studying in and retain and understand information?

[@ConnorDibblin]

@@joe_wales I think that’s probably a bit too much to put into a single chat reply! Let me have a go at getting it down and I’ll get back to you?

[@PrincePalmUwU]

Problem with LD is that we lack english and grammar so that alone makes everything difficult to understand not because we "learn differently"

[@ConnorDibblin]

Specific learning difficulties can affect people differently, but a core feature of dyslexia is information processing, leading to differences in how some learns. It is of course true that some people can really struggle to read and/or right due to text distortion etc. If that is the case I would really recommend chatting to a specialist, or at least checking out a forum like r/dyslexia.

[@PrincePalmUwU]

@@ConnorDibblin that is true I should of mention not all have difficulties with reading or writing but most of them have other weaknesses making it very challenging for anyone that wanna become a nurse or doctor.

[@ConnorDibblin]

Absolutely, there needs to be much more understanding abs support in education throughout a child’s life. That needs to continue into higher education, adult learning and workplace support

[@matthewsargeant8217]

sympathetic nearly 70 and at the other end of your intended career. I didn't beat it, I cope and coped with it, takes a lot more work though because I work more slowly as it were. Do you want to call me a compensated whatever?

[@ConnorDibblin]

That's amazing! Any advice for someone starting out into that world?

[@Alhadi0sman]

I have recently been diagnosed with dyslexia as well. I am 2nd-year pharmacology student at king's. It shocked me when my assessor said I am dyslexic because I didn't expect that. She said that I have learned techniques to overcome my learning difficulties. I am applying to medicine this year, do you have any tips?

[@ConnorDibblin]

Absolutely I have tonnes of tips for applying to medicine! Are you applying to undergrad or grad? That’s great that you made the leap and got yourself assessed dude, well done! Feel free to drop me a DM on IG or Twitter if you have specific questions.

[@Kristen_Roar7]

How would one study with Dyslexia!!

[@Kristen_Roar7]

I only asked because, Im in my second semester of Respiratory School and Im struggling with Dyslexia.

[@beetee7892]

Do you also have ADHD? I've only recently viewed just this one video. How would you describe your normal routine before class? I was also in med school.

[@ConnorDibblin]

Hi Bee. Not as far as I know! WHat do you mean by before class? As in, in the morning before I have a class?

[@beetee7892]

@@ConnorDibblin yes Exactly. With what I know now - ADHD & dyslexia, my mornings were hectic especially with presentations. It's not a topic freely spoken about in my country.

[@ConnorDibblin]

@@beetee7892 I’m sorry to hear that! Did you manage to finish the course?

[@beetee7892]

@@ConnorDibblin thanks all good👍 changed courses to biology & decided to go back Later. Knowing that there's a med school student with dyslexia helps a lot.

[@ConnorDibblin]

Absolutely! It does make some things harder, but with the support available I still am always in the top 10-20% of the year

[@kopitegs]

Please my I ask how bad you dsyecix is. Verbally and in my job am consider by some as being very intelligent. When I was running clothes stores and a buyer I was also an advisor to 3 millniarea. Yet am utterly crippled when it come to writing less so reading. But if it a word I have never seen I will struggle badly. I have practice for decades just to to be able to do this. Embbraressing how long even this take and it spell word for me.

[@ConnorDibblin]

Hi Kopitegs, I think everyone with dyslexia is effected differently and to different extents. As you say, it has no bearing on an individual’s intelligence, and so it is really hard to compare one person’s experience of dyslexia with another person’s. I have to say, it sounds as though the writing side of your experience is particularly challenging, which I’m sorry to hear friend

[@josephruggiero4966]

Not a fun learning disability. People with learning disabilities are very sensitive people. When driving you can now confuse them with the streets. And they have the right to be like normal people. And they are high functioning disability wise. On the job you can change there work because you can confuse them. That’s why you need patience when working with disalic employees

[@rc29254]

I do that aswell trip up on my words hahah I though I was the only one 2:45