color-blindness

[1813314]

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Hello all,
Will color blindness (red/green) be an issue for an individual pursuing a career in medicine?
thank you!

 

[Jwalker9]

Hello all,
Will color blindness (red/green) be an issue for an individual pursuing a career in medicine?
thank you!

I have wondered about this question as well. I myself am red green colorblind and i always have trouble identifying when someones skin is red or irritated. How bad can that be for my career?

 

[45408]

No. I'm moderately red-green color blind, and the guy I study with is quite color blind. Kind of sucks for histology, but it shouldn't be that big of a problem. There aren't many green structures in the body anyways, so just go with red.

 

[Blade28]

Some good links below.

 

[helpfuldoc2b]

Hello all,
Will color blindness (red/green) be an issue for an individual pursuing a career in medicine?
thank you!

Good question lol, thought of asking the same thing for long but felt stupid asking it, I have the SAME EXACT problem. It is so bad with me that sometimes I need to ask people what color stuff is when shopping. I have a hard time differentiating between purple and blue, reds and greens, and lighter shades of other colors. I got so anxious when I found out, which I only found out in recent years of my mild color blindness. You know those numbers at the optometrists you have to find, I can never find a single number, lol. I get so angry and fustrated. But ya, I was wondering the same, do histo/path classes offer some type of adjustments for people like us? Would it hurt in exams or practicals?

 

[speeter]

I'm slightly red/green colorblind too. It didn't stop me from getting a pilot's license. I'm sure there are similar ways to adjust in medicine. I wonder if radiology is still a viable career option?

 

[nu2004]

There aren't many green structures in the body anyways, so just go with red.

Ha. Awesome 🙂

To the OP: you can probably get by just fine by memorizing the colors of various internal structures. I'm not exactly speaking from a position of experience, but I bet that your colleagues will be willing to help you out as well. You'll be in a school or hospital setting for the majority of your medical education; surely you can gently lean on people there.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hello all,
Will color blindness (red/green) be an issue for an individual pursuing a career in medicine?
thank you!

Your biggest problem will be getting through histology. Some of the dyes used in the slides require you to differentiate relatively subtle blues, purples, pinks. I know of a number of folks who barely passed that class because they were unable to see what the rest of the class was seeing. You want to talk to your professor early in the course on this and they may be able to offer some helpful hints. Otherwise, I see no real hurdles and know several colorblind physicians.