<p>If you watching videos of surgery and seeing (my own) blood drawn make you nauseous, can this be overcome? For some reason I can handle seeing injuries that involve a lot of blood, but when they're done deliberately in surgery and whatnot it gets to me.</p>
<p>It's not severe, and only in certain circumstances. I can watch certain things and have no nausea, while other things will make me really dizzy as if I'm going to pass out. I watched a documentary on lobotomies and saw one performed and that was particularly nauseating. I think usually the nausea only comes if I imagine whatever is happening being done to myself. I don't think I have much control over what I'm imagining though, and when the nausea starts to come taking my mind off of it won't make it stop.</p>
<p>Can this problem be overcome? Do people with this issue go on to become successful physicians? If you're interested in a field like psychiatry, could you make it through med school with this problem?</p>
<p>Can this be overcome?
Yes, it will take time and most likely repeated exposure, but it sounds like you already found 1 step for improvement.</p>
<p>Do people with his issue go on to become successful physicians?
I’m assuming you are referring to people who can’t overcome it, because if you’re able to function and do your job in spite of maybe feeling a little uncomfortable you’ll be fine. If you literally can’t see blood without passing out and can’t find a way around it, you’re going to have to figure out a path that doesn’t involve seeing as much of it (e.g. family medicine, outpatient psych, radiology compared to any surgical field or pathology). Also, don’t forget that all the specialties require residencies such that even if your goal is to be a talk therapist, you might still have to spend time in a hospital during psych residency. As a psychiatrist in a hospital, you would treat not only the psych diagnosis but any comorbidities as well.</p>
<p>Could you make it to psych with this problem?
It’s certainly easier to make it to psych than plastics, but that doesn’t mean it’s by any means easy. There are still required electives with lots of blood regardless of field of interest that one has to partake in (e.g. surgery, medicine, ob/gyn), and well before that anatomy lab. With something like psych, not only does the career not require dealing with as much blood, but it’s also generally the least competitive specialty such that a bad grade in a clinical elective won’t hurt as much as it would if you were interested in radiology which is very competitive. Don’t forget there is also residency, which even for psych requires hospital work where you’ll be treating psychiatric patients’ non psychiatric issues also.</p>
<p>Alright so can this be said for the sight/smell of vomit? I don’t pass out, I don’t throw up because of the sight/smell, but it just makes me uncomfortable? PS I wanna be a gyno, so although blood doesn’t bother me that much, vomit kinda does. I’m actually surprised more people are afraid of blood than vomit.</p>