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Herniated Disc Chronic Low Back Pain And Starting Med School.


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Hello everyone, 

 

I will be starting med school this fall. Due to extremely strenuous activity earlier in life, I'm afflicted with a herniated disc in my lower back causing low back pain. My doctor's told me that more than likely this low back pain will persist for the rest of my life, and all that I can really do is try to control it with various physical therapy exercises. My back pain causes my leg to ache when standing for long periods of time (>1.5 hours I'd say). Sitting down and walking are okay; it's the standing still that causes my pain to flare up. I feel like I have to take some time to either sit down or lean against something after I've been standing for long periods of time, and I've never really taken any type of NSAID for management of the pain.

 

I've been able to get through the pre-med lifestyle as well as research experiences just fine with my back pain, but now that I've been accepted into medical school, something that's been worrying me is how this condition of mine is going to affect my lifestyle in the medical profession. Can someone speak to how chronic lower back pain affects the life of a medical student/resident/doctor?

 

Thanks all.

 

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Hello everyone, 

 

I will be starting med school this fall. Due to extremely strenuous activity earlier in life, I'm afflicted with a herniated disc in my lower back causing low back pain. My doctor's told me that more than likely this low back pain will persist for the rest of my life, and all that I can really do is try to control it with various physical therapy exercises. My back pain causes my leg to ache when standing for long periods of time (>1.5 hours I'd say). Sitting down and walking are okay; it's the standing still that causes my pain to flare up. I feel like I have to take some time to either sit down or lean against something after I've been standing for long periods of time, and I've never really taken any type of NSAID for management of the pain.

 

I've been able to get through the pre-med lifestyle as well as research experiences just fine with my back pain, but now that I've been accepted into medical school, something that's been worrying me is how this condition of mine is going to affect my lifestyle in the medical profession. Can someone speak to how chronic lower back pain affects the life of a medical student/resident/doctor?

 

Thanks all.

Mind if I ask what strenous activity caused this? 

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Mind if I ask what strenous activity caused this? 

 

A combination of being on a sports team, as well as heavy gym activity. My physical and workout life just got too strenuous and resulted in this.

 

 

I feel like this might play a role more in your choice of specialty than anything else, i'm not a surg resident but i can imagine that this specialty in particular involves standing and leaning over for very, very long periods of time

 

 

 

I sort of understood from the get go that the specialty/residency I do will be affected by this issue in one way or another. I'm only just starting medicine but even throughout my volunteer and shadowing experiences I've always leaned really heavily towards emergency and I'm really hoping that this won't get in the way of me being able to get a really good emergency medicine experience. Although I know emerg involves a lot of walking around which doesn't really cause my back to flare up too much.

 

If anybody's got any kind of thoughts or input to contribute, I'd really appreciate it.

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A combination of being on a sports team, as well as heavy gym activity. My physical and workout life just got too strenuous and resulted in this.

 

 

 

I sort of understood from the get go that the specialty/residency I do will be affected by this issue in one way or another. I'm only just starting medicine but even throughout my volunteer and shadowing experiences I've always leaned really heavily towards emergency and I'm really hoping that this won't get in the way of me being able to get a really good emergency medicine experience. Although I know emerg involves a lot of walking around which doesn't really cause my back to flare up too much.

 

If anybody's got any kind of thoughts or input to contribute, I'd really appreciate it.

I thought herniated discs could be repaired surgically

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I thought herniated discs could be repaired surgically

 

They can be. I am still in the process of trying to alleviate the problem using physiotherapy exercises before I go the surgery route.

 

The concern I have at the moment is how the herniated disc condition that I've got is going to affect my life as a medical student and resident. I understand that physicians are not expected to have perfect physical conditions but I do wonder how my experience in the medical profession specifically will be affected by this condition assuming it lasts throughout medical school; I.E. Will my experience as a clerk be way harder type of thing.

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Based on your description, the only thing I can think of where you stand for hours is your surgery rotation in clerkship. And if you explain your situation to the school, I can't see it being an issue for them to help you out. People have all kinds of modified clerkship responsibilities due to medical conditions.

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Based on your description, the only thing I can think of where you stand for hours is your surgery rotation in clerkship. And if you explain your situation to the school, I can't see it being an issue for them to help you out. People have all kinds of modified clerkship responsibilities due to medical conditions.

 

This is the kind of response that I was looking for - A general, objective assessment of how this condition may affect my life in medical school. Thank you for that. As somebody who only just got into medical school I have no idea about the responsibilities of residents and/or clerks in the different rotations.

 

I was wondering, do you guys have any idea of how a med school might react to this kind of news - would they be understanding to my situation or angry that it wasn't brought up earlier? I ask because truth be told, this condition has been present in my body for about a year and a half prior to applying to medical schools. I didn't feel the need to list it as a physical disability since I'm still able to walk, sit and stand without a crutch or something like that. Not only that but the condition itself has never gotten in the way of my studies or research responsibilities in undergrad (It was much more something that presents itself as an uncomfortable nuisance at the end of a long day involving lots of standing, walking and carrying around a ridiculously heavy backpack). 

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This is the kind of response that I was looking for - A general, objective assessment of how this condition may affect my life in medical school. Thank you for that. As somebody who only just got into medical school I have no idea about the responsibilities of residents and/or clerks in the different rotations.

 

I was wondering, do you guys have any idea of how a med school might react to this kind of news - would they be understanding to my situation or angry that it wasn't brought up earlier? I ask because truth be told, this condition has been present in my body for about a year and a half prior to applying to medical schools. I didn't feel the need to list it as a physical disability since I'm still able to walk, sit and stand without a crutch or something like that. Not only that but the condition itself has never gotten in the way of my studies or research responsibilities in undergrad (It was much more something that presents itself as an uncomfortable nuisance at the end of a long day involving lots of standing, walking and carrying around a ridiculously heavy backpack).

I don't think they'll be angry, but I know that when I got in, it was stated in the acceptance letter that you should let the school know about any disabilities by a certain point so that they have time to make accommodations.

 

Just tell them. I get that you don't see it as a disability but it's better to get the process started now so that if you do need accommodations later on, everything is already in place. Better for you that way, and also more fair to the school so they have time to work things out.

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I don't think they'll be angry, but I know that when I got in, it was stated in the acceptance letter that you should let the school know about any disabilities by a certain point so that they have time to make accommodations.

 

Just tell them. I get that you don't see it as a disability but it's better to get the process started now so that if you do need accommodations later one, everything is already in place. Better for you that way, and also more fair to the school so they have time to work things out.

 

I agree with the above poster. They won't be angry. If you feel like it's better to talk to someone in person, go in the first week of classes/oweek. But the sooner you tell people, the easier it will be for them to make accomodations as necessary.

 

Thank you guys a lot. I definitely am more comfortable speaking to somebody in person, so I'll consider telling them in the first week of classes or during O-week. In all honesty I don't see myself in the future really needing accommodations to the same magnitude as somebody who has a serious physical disability but I suppose it is worth it if it would make my clerkship life during the surgery rotation a tiny bit easier.

 

If anybody else has some thoughts or words of comfort/wisdom to pitch, I would appreciate it  :wub: Having received my acceptance very recently I'm overwhelmingly excited, but also very nervous and anxious.

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I agree you should tell your school as early as possible, and don't forget to ask your doctor for documentation regarding your condition and how it affects your activities. You are certainly not alone in that I personally know people in my class who also had health conditions, including lower back pain. Some received accommodation during clerkship or extra time off.

 

Surgery rotation would be difficult for you, see if they can arrange some less strenuous rotations like ophtho, surg path or radiology; long procedures in neuro and cardiac will kill your back for sure. gen sx procedures can be quick (lap chole, non urgent hernia, etc) but there'll always be the big resection cases that are 4-5 hours. Probably good idea to tell your senior resident beforehand so maybe you can take a quick break during the case. ENT also has some quick procedures (and some very long ones), maybe that rotation can work for you.

 

Other than surgery I don't think any other rotation have long periods of standing. Medicine is a lot of running around but not standing still. 

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

FM - mosly sitting

Peds - lots of standing on inpatient service

IM - too much standing

Surgery - standing too freaking much

Psych - variable amount of standing but probably manageable

Obs - too much standing

 

Your program can certainly accomodate you but expect for a painful clerkship. They can't excuse you from avoiding but they can accomodate you which probably means frequent and short breaks.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Sorry to hear about your back pain. I have a similar problem involving my back (my back pain becomes very severe after even 30 min of standing in one spot); clerkship was painful at times, but totally manageable. Just make sure to communicate with the appropriate people well in advance of rotations so that they can modify things if needed. I worried excessively about my surgery rotation etc., but the worry was really unnecessary. No accommodations were actually needed in my case as I was able to adapt in small but important ways (e.g. leaning against walls). Of course it would be prudent to have accommodation in place just in case your back suddenly got worse. Medical school should be a very supportive place for you to manage your health issue. I wish you all the best! 

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