<p>Im a rising HS senior right now, and looking into what I want to do in college. But more to the point...I'm really interested in eventually doing med school, I've always found, for example, surgery (no specialty in particular) to be extremely interesting and just really cool (for lack of a better adjective)</p>
<p>The blood grosses me out though....do you get used to it?</p>
<p>In the end, I think very few people turn away from surgery because of the blood. It's everything else about surgery as a specialty.</p>
<p>So yes, I think you get used to it.</p>
<p>Blood never bothered me to begin with, so I may not be the best person to ask. In general though, I know that I find it pretty easy to disassociate the patient's personality from what I'm seeing in a surgical field. In other words I disconnect from the fact that I'm holding "Jane's uterus" or "Mr. Carter's colon". Basically the experience becomes an academic one (surprisingly I've found similar things to happen when doing female pelvic exams - though to slightly lesser extent). </p>
<p>Whether it's a skill or habit or adaptive (or maladaptive for that matter) behavior, I don't know, but it definitely came about during anatomy, and I think that's part of the reason why medical schools so often start out with anatomy - to force you to deal with death and body fluids. </p>
<p>And anyways, there are way, WAY grosser things than blood that come out of the human body...I've seen things that will haunt your dreams.</p>
<p>^^Agreed with Bigredmed... though i am not in university, ive been accepted into programs/gained mentorship programs at local hospitals and 2 hospitals overseas... Ive been in the OR first hand... and have seen everything up close... I am primarily interested in neurosurgery, so many visits to the OR and theory work before heading into OR, have been on neurosurgery... though i have watched endocrine surgeries, gastrointestinal surgeries... though most of the GI is becoming minimal invasive surgeries... meaning using laparoscopes... </p>
<p>My dad had a huge fear of blood but entered medicine... he dropped out not due to the reason of blood, rather religious problems associating with him and his mother... Its safe to say that, when you enter medicine, you'll have to put up with blood, but if you cant handle it stay away from surgery and do research... that way you can do surgical trials etc... and still not experience blood daily cuz ull only do surgeries as a part of ur research...</p>
<p>Ambitious - will you please stop and think before you post? So far, from the posts I've read most recently, you have just enough knowledge to be dangerous. You come close, and get about 85% of your facts straight, but then miss on some important details...</p>
<p>1) Most people know what minimally invasive means.
2) There will always be cases that must be open surgeries. Not everyone is a good enough candidate. Sometimes, the surgery goes to hell in a handbasket. And in some cases - like colorectal cancer - there are significant bad outcomes associated with minimally invasive surgery.
3) "Do surgical trials"? What the hell is this? There are plenty of medical specialties in which there are no surgery and minimal blood from day to day (ie radiology, general practioner, etc)...</p>
<p>but the OP specifically said he was still interested in surgery.. maybe you forgot to read that.... hence the idea of clinical trials is what i meant... and like people who do surgeries to test out stuff...</p>
<p>Give me a break im only 16 bro... i am not even in med school... heck not even in university... and im still learning the basics to medicine buddy...</p>
<p>If you give me time with a couple of textbooks, ill make sure to post more accurate stuff... till then this forum is open to anyone... and i do have something to say so ill post it...</p>
<p>
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If you give me time with a couple of textbooks, ill make sure to post more accurate stuff... till then this forum is open to anyone... and i do have something to say so ill post it...
[/quote]
Which is exactly why he's telling you to refrain from posting about these things unless you know exactly what you're talking about. That's the whole point. If you're unsure, you could unintentionally be giving out information that actually points people in the wrong direction.
[quote]
Give me a break im only 16 bro... i am not even in med school... heck not even in university... and im still learning the basics to medicine buddy...
[/quote]
Which only reinforces the point.</p>
<p>Okay but i did not need a sense of arrogance picking on someone who hasnt been through the system already...</p>
<p>you could of indicated that i made some faults and told me politely that i am wrong on this account but because of this this and that that... not straight up attack me... its pathetic how people take advantage... i was just stating what i know okay.. it is a free forum... it wasnt even constructive criticism... </p>
<p>I dont think BigRedMed needs someone to talk for him... so you can bud out GoldShadow...</p>
<p>
[quote]
I dont think BigRedMed needs someone to talk for him... so you can bud out GoldShadow...
[/quote]
Since this is a public forum, I'm allowed to throw in a comment or opinion like anybody else. I'm not even necessarily "speaking for" BRM, just throwing in support on an issue on which I agree with him.</p>
<p>I'm no expert on all of this either, but one of the reasons I agree with BRM is that I occasionally peruse the College Admissions and AP/SAT forums, and the problem is prevalent there too: people who don't know what they're talking about spreading misinformation. It annoys me there just like it annoys me anywhere else.</p>
<p>Which is why I either refrain from posting when I don't know exactly what I'm talking about, or when I do post on something I am not 100% sure of, make sure to mention that I'm not sure or that it's only my opinion.</p>
<p>Also, BRM's a 4th year med student, so cut him some slack :)</p>
<p>Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand, I can't speak from a med student or doc's perspective but I can from an EMT's perspective. I haven't seen nearly the volumes of blood that docs/MSs do, and there never seem to be any major traumas/MVAs/women in labor when I've been staffing, but I have seen blood in less severe traumas, and also while shadowing.</p>
<p>First time I saw blood in a medical setting (not counting getting my finger pricked during physicals) was when I was shadowing in an ED. It was a needle going into some guy's upper arm, and there wasn't a lot of blood but there was just enough that it turned my legs to jelly and forced me to leave the room and sit down. It surprised me because I never was squeamish or had a problem with blood in movies and pictures. It might've had something to do with my empty stomach.</p>
<p>Anyway, I've seen blood on and off since then as an EMT and gotten more comfortable with it, so hopefully you won't have as much of a problem with it as you get more exposure to it.</p>
<p>I'm more than willing to allow GoldShadow to talk for me on this one. Especially when I happen to be on-call (as I was yesterday) and don't have the time or access to respond.</p>
<p>And I'm not a 4th year yet...but in 11 days I will be! ;)</p>
<p>It's not arrogance. I reserve the right to call anyone and everyone out who is posting incorrect information. Message boards are great sources of information, but if you're posting things that aren't right, it needs to be pointed out. This is even more imperative when a lot of the information you're posting is correct because it makes you come across as a reliable source. As such, you're doing a disservice to others.</p>