Does being a doctor require you to...

[Guest dentisthopeful]

I'm a high school student considering medicine as a career. There is just one thing that I always wanted to ask, does being a doctor require one to put up with a lot of grossness, such as vomit, soiled linen and EXTREMELY disturbing sights of certain sickness (such as the flesh-eating disease once reported on CTV)? Is that kind of contact necessary and required for all fields of specialization?

[Guest Ian Wong]

During med school, you will see all sorts of things that the average person would consider disturbing. Whether that's dissecting the face of your cadaver during Anatomy, or getting coughed on, puked on, peed on, seeing a patient with third degree burns over their entire body, seeing and smelling a seizuring patient lose complete bowel and bladder control, seeing festering open wound ulcers, seeing a patient die in front of your eyes, medicine really stretches the human experience to its very limits.

 

Each medical student here will see probably most if not all of these scenarios at least once throughout his her education, and depending on the type of residency chosen, may well continue to see several of these examples throughout his/her career.

 

With that said, most people, if not all of them, learn the self-control and objective detachment that comes with experience. The first time I smelled and saw a necrotic, pus-filled ulcer down to exposed bone in a diabetic patient's foot, I wanted to run out of the room. Thankfully, you get desensitized to these things. I guess what I'm trying to say is that medical school isn't a clean and sanitized experience. You will undoubtedly see a lot of nasty stuff during your medical school years. But, everyone manages to get through it, so I wouldn't let that be an obstacle.

 

After medical school, there are several specialties where you wouldn't be routinely exposed to many of the above issues (ie. Medical Genetics, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, Ophthalmology, etc) and others where the exposure would probably be less than that of a surgical specialty (ie. Pediatrics, Family Medicine, Anesthesiology, Radiation Oncology, Psychiatry, etc), but you'll still have to finish medical school first.

 

Luckily, almost everyone who starts medical school does finish it.

 

Ian

[Guest Lorae]

What a tastily descriptive answer Ian

 

It is true though. Medicine will expose you to some pretty nasty sights and smells. Working as a nurse has landed me some stories that make my non-medical friends turn green.

 

We all develop coping mechanisms that get us through the gross stuff. Sometimes there's something we just really can't get over though - for me it's anything having to do with eyeballs!! YUCK!! But still you manage to get through almost all of it without too much trauma.

 

Although most healthcare workers find ways to cope and separate themselves from all the "gross" things, there are many emotional events you never forget. Some things stick with you. Some things make you cry. Sometimes you have nightmares. There are some things you never forget.

 

We deal with suffering and pain in their worst forms. Being affected by it is what makes us human and what keeps us compassionate.

 

You'll definitely learn how to pull maggots out of a homeless person's necrotic wound without gagging.... it's learning how to deal with grief, pain, death, and the randomness of life that is most challenging.

[Guest codloghorn]

what's so bad about eyeballs?

[Guest archchivalry]

Just quick short question:

What kind of person will consider medicine as a career then?

 

I'm just really confused whether I will be do well

if I become a doctor or in medical school.

BTW I'm a highschool student, too.

[Guest Lorae]

I guess that's why being a doctor is considered a "higher calling" by many.

 

Obviously there's a tremendous number of reasons why people go into medicine, some more altruistic then others. I imagine there are many people who don't find the emotional aspects as difficult as me. But I am proud to think that's what makes me good at what I do.

 

I think one of the most important things to remember is that medicine has sooooo many areas to choose from. You have to endure many areas that don't particularly interest you (or maybe they gross you out or maybe they make you too sad) but eventually you get to practice in the area that's right for you!!

 

If you absolutely cannot deal with "gross" things, you will definitely not choose to be a burn specialist. If death/pain/suffering/grief send you home in tears then pediatric oncology won't be for you.

 

What it comes down to is knowing that you want to be a doctor and knowing you have the dedication and strength to get yourself to the final area you want to practice in.

 

Since you're still in high school, my best advice to you is get volunteer jobs in hospitals... try to get clinical experience!! Get some contact with patients. See if there's a job shadowing program where you can follow a physician around. Try to expose yourself to the areas and test out your fears.

 

Good luck!

[Guest UWOMED2005]

It's amazing how you get used to the "gross" things in medicine. I rarely flinch anymore, and that's not really something I could say premed.

 

It's actually gotten quite bad how I've forgotten how somethings can be considering gross. A couple of weeks ago I sat down for a bite to eat at a restaurant, pulled out a textbook with pictures of throat ca, and started to eat & study. I couldn't figure out why the laymen sitting next to me got up and left until it dawned on me that other people (such as MYSELF pre-med) might find such pictures distasteful while eating.

[Guest McMastergirl]

There are lots of med students who faint at the sight of blood, needles, necrotic flesh, etc. Usually it's a funny story, but overall people are sympathetic - it happens to the best of us! I had to sit down after witnessing my first vaginal birth... and my supervisor, an experienced ob/gyn, told me that she was the same way during her first. It's funny how quickly you get used to it - that particular birth was very clean and quick, while later that night there was a particularly painful and bloody one and I was fine! When I was in highschool I wouldn't go near a hospital, even when my mom was sick. Now, after graduating med school, hospitals feel like a second home. Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can!

[Guest UTMed07]

Luckily, almost everyone who starts medical school does finish it.

Dependent on how one looks at it... that's not quite true.

 

A foriegn trained resident once told me a story about a guy in his home country that was failing an oral examination. He said the exam ended with the examiners asking "Who doesn't finish medical school?" The student got that one wrong and that was the end. The correct answer to the question is -- people that never started it.

 

As for grossness... some stuff can be bad--I spent some time in autopsy. That said, I think it isn't a problem as long as you don't hit your head too hard that first time when fainting...

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

As for grossness... some stuff can be bad--I spent some time in autopsy.

I can imagine. Not having been exposed to as much of such grossness, someone referred me to the website, rotten.com. The website's reason for being is pretty tasteless, but at a minimum, it certainly provides exposure to the shock and horror of some atrocities that can involve the human body.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest 4EverRose]

Hello,

 

As a pre-med, I imagine autopsy would rank pretty high up on the list in terms of grossness, with forensic autopsies being much worse than hospital/medical autopsies. (for instance, in forensic autopsies you might be dealing with rotten bodies, maggots, smells, etc). I know of one pathologist from Russian - he has been in pathology for years and have done hundreds of hospital/medical autopsies. He describes the procedure as 'unplesant; lots of blood and bowel stuff; strong smell'.

 

However, I think what is more 'gross' than the graphical nature or smell of autopsies is the fact that you are basically disassebmling a human. Autopsy is the most invasive medical procedure you can do to a human being. You take out the entire heart, lung, GI organs (this part, sometimes called 'running the gut', smells the worst as you can imagine), brain, etc, weight these organs, take tissue/cell samples from them, and finally after they are done you either incinerate them or just put them back inside the body cavity. To me, it is just that doing all these to a human fellow somehow doesn't sound too appealing to me.

 

Anyways I have yet to see an autopsy yet so maybe it isn't really that bad when I get to experience it. Pathology is one of the two specialties that I am aiming towards now, and whether I can tolerate autopsies could be what ultimately decides whether I want to get in pathology or not. Hopefully doing an elective in autopsy pathology during 4th year will help with this decision.

[Guest FastEddy]

Back in 01' my 12th grade anatomy/physiology teacher, a bizarre fellow, invited the class to the Detroit Medical Examiner's Office to view an autopsy (we had dissected cats, sharks and pigs, but Mr.Mikula was fond of "taking it up a level")

We were behind glass so we didn't catch a whiff, but I had clear view of it all.

It was the colors that shocked me most. The guy's skin was a familiar color, but as they cut into his chest cavity, the yellows of the fat, and the red muscle were totally foreign and I found it interesting that such unknowns lie within ourselves.

anyway.... the pulling of the face over itself and popping off the skull cap :eek were two particularly disturbing moments but I'd definitely say that veiwing an autopsy will either confirm that a person can't handle blood and guts (some of my classmates had to lay down on the floor) or strengthen one's interest in human anatomy. Of course, as physicians we may have to see the internal anatomy of a living person, which could be a lot different. But hey, thats what discovery health channel is for!

I wonder how difficult it is to get in on an autopsy viewing. If my teacher could get a whole class in to watch one then I shouldn't think it would be too hard for a single doctor-to-be who is coming to grips with bloody viscera to slip in and take a peek.