Second thoughts..

[Selenaa]

So, I realllyyy wanted to become a doctor (specifically, a paediatrician).. I was so passionate about it..and I STILL AM. There are parts about being a doctor and medicine that I LOVE and would enjoy... BUT.. here's the HUGE BUT...

I do not think that I could give someone injections...and I KNOW that I could never sew someone up with stitches..
would I have to give someone stitches as part of my training?

did anyone feel this way (queasy about needles, stitcing)? did you get over it?

should i consider another career - maybe a psychologist?.. should i do an undergrad (like in psychology or something), and then maybe 'mature/get over my fears or queasiness' and apply for medicine after my undergrad

pleaseee help - any advice or insight at all would be appreciated!

[dances_with_lamposts]

i think at some point, everyone has their 'thing' that they get queasy about - for me its eyes, i dont like looking into them, dont like the idea of operating on them, i just dont like them! (i cant even look at a picture of them)

i know that at some point in my training that ill have to deal with it to a certain extent, i hope that ill be able to get through it and know that im never going to be an opthalmologist!

im not sure what im trying to say here, i guess its that you shouldnt give up on a dream because of something like that. it will be difficult, but you will have plenty of people offering support. you wont have to give injections or suture on real people until you've mastered it on plastic models.

[Lizzie-Beth]

I don't know you, and I don't know how severe your phobia is (or whether it's a 'dislike' rather than an actual phobia) but from experience, people get through all sorts of fears in medicine and face their demons ... only to find they weren't really that scary at all, it was just the idea of them which was anxiety-provoking.

There have been many times during this course, I've thought that I couldn't do something or face something and *everytime* I've been absolutely fine (if I told you what my fear was, you would actually laugh out loud). Everyone I know has something they dislike, but we all cope somehow!

What I'm saying is, don't change your career plans because of this - whether you take another degree or not, the fear will still be there. The only way to kill it is to face it. The only other sensible suggestion I can make (!) is to ask if you've perhaps thought of CBT or something along those lines to help you with your problem?

Good luck!
x

[rjm]

Is it specifically injections, as in the type you give into a muscle when you have a vaccination, or is it sticking needles generally into things? If the latter, you are going to have to overcome that to be a doctor, there is rarely a day gone by in my career over the last nearly 3 years when I havent stuck a needle into someone at some point either to take blood or to site a drip. I dont very often give intramuscular injections though, thats usually the nurses, but still a skill that you will have to learn.

As for suturing (stiching) it will depend on the specialty that you do, but again something that you will probably do at least once in whatever medical career you choose because even as a career medic/physician you still stich in lines. A&E/surgeons/dermatology gonna do a lot more suturing though.

[rjm]

And dont be fooled that you will get to practice anything on a plastic model first. First time we took blood it was on each other, no plastic models around. Very scary!

[Gizmo says -]

you sound like someone who hasnt really fort about wat career they want , if you want an onest answer.

tek time out to decide now. do summat you r drawn to.

[sara7000]

I dont think u shud change ur career path becus of a fright. I'll reveal sumthing really funny: I am 17 and till now in my life, ive never taken a tablet, except once after which ive always feared it. Dont know why but i have weird thoughts that it might get stuck going down my throat and ill die or sumthing lolzzz it's true, but yet I wanna be a doc and evry1 makes fun of me esp in my house that how will I give others tablets if I fear them myself? I know one day ill have to overcum this irrational fear, u shud think the same and go on to adapt the career u have always wanted.

[hoonosewot88]

So, I realllyyy wanted to become a doctor (specifically, a paediatrician).. I was so passionate about it..and I STILL AM. There are parts about being a doctor and medicine that I LOVE and would enjoy... BUT.. here's the HUGE BUT...

I do not think that I could give someone injections...and I KNOW that I could never sew someone up with stitches..
would I have to give someone stitches as part of my training?

did anyone feel this way (queasy about needles, stitcing)? did you get over it?

should i consider another career - maybe a psychologist?.. should i do an undergrad (like in psychology or something), and then maybe 'mature/get over my fears or queasiness' and apply for medicine after my undergrad

pleaseee help - any advice or insight at all would be appreciated!

You will have to stitch someone up at some point in your career and you will definitely have to use needles, they are fundamental parts of being a doctor. Frankly, compared to some of the things you will encounter they are nothing. In your training you will see surgeries and people with horrific traumas, if you can't handle that then you will be in trouble.

As was said above, it depends on the severity of this phobia/dislike. If it is crippling and you would freak out upon seeing someone with a bone sticking through their skin then you would have to try and sort it with therapy or look at another career path.
If you could grit your teeth and get through it then you should be OK.

Everyone gets queasy sometimes, i was watching some A&E programme the other day where a guy had a metal spike sticking out of his eye and i wanted to hurl. I know though, that if i was a doctor working in A&E and that guy came in distressed and desperately in need of help, i could get over my shock and work to help him. The question you have to ask is whether you could.

[rjm]

I dont think u shud change ur career path becus of a fright. I'll reveal sumthing really funny: I am 17 and till now in my life, ive never taken a tablet, except once after which ive always feared it. Dont know why but i have weird thoughts that it might get stuck going down my throat and ill die or sumthing lolzzz it's true, but yet I wanna be a doc and evry1 makes fun of me esp in my house that how will I give others tablets if I fear them myself? I know one day ill have to overcum this irrational fear, u shud think the same and go on to adapt the career u have always wanted.

Totally different situation. You can be a doctor and never take a tablet yourself (it is not fundamentally necessary for your career, although many would consider it is with the hangover paracetamol and proplus!), however, you can't be a doctor and not stick needles in people. Even if your gonna be a psychiatrist, you still have to do medical and surgical house jobs.

[Gizmo says -]

him. The question you have to ask is whether you could.

just about anybody could. more accurately, whether you would choose to let that kind of shit into your life, when you could be working in a million other different roles that all offer you the aspects of a career that you seek.

if you dont like blood, dont do a 'ealthcare career, period, becos it you should choose to live your life in a way that you enjoy, each day, not one that puts the shits up you repeatedly everyday.