Colorblind Pathologist?

[Vox Animo]

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I took that medical aptitude test online. Don't know if it is accurate at all, but i got pathology as my number one specialty independently testing a long time in between. Anyway, i got to thinking, im colorblind (diochromatic more accuratley for multiple color sets). Can you be a pathologist with color blindness?

 

[yaah]

See below, and follow the links on there

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=282227

Personally, I have no idea if I would be able to do the same job if I was color blind. It's impossible to know, because those who are color blind have lived with it all their lives and don't know any different. I don't know if the different colors I see would appear as different shades or still different colors to you. The only way to figure it out, I think, is to try for yourself and see what you see, so to speak.

 

[djmd]

...try for yourself and see what you see, so to speak.

ha!

If you are truely dichromatic what color do you drop? Red? (or are you an more red-green colorblind?)
My brothers are both red-green color blind. Most of their problem is greens vs browns.

But Yaahs, point is the best one. Just see what you can see, literally. Look at a pathology book, look at slides. If you can see a H&E, you should be fine.

(I wonder can Red-green blind people read those DNA microarray studies? Fish?)

 

[Vox Animo]

red-green moderately

Blue-purple

yellow-green-(and orange)

I have a lot of trouble differentiating between the above, or identifying them in general.

 

[pathdoc68]

red-green moderately

Blue-purple

yellow-green-(and orange)

I have a lot of trouble differentiating between the above, or identifying them in general.

I have posted in the thread referenced above that I have met color blind pathologists that have no problems, but your case is interesting. The color combos you mention are a pretty big part of pathology. Like other posters said - check out some slides and some surgical and heme path textbooks and see what you think - or better yet rotate in path for one month. Good luck, I wish you the best, pathology is a wonderful field.

 

[EUA]

One of my attendings is color blind. He seems to do just fine.

 

[deschutes]

I was recently told by a colour-blind attending that he takes cues from the individual components of colour - hue and saturation and brightness.

Doesn't the degree of colour-blindness vary? I'd say definitely try out a rotation (keep in mind it's hard "seeing" stuff as a beginner even for those who aren't colourblind 🙂 ).

 

[GeoLeoX]

I'm a 3rd-year resident in pathology and red-green colorblind. I have trouble with differentiation in the shades between blue and green, mostly. As the previous poster stated I use saturation and hue to distinguish. Luckily, color is rarely a single defining criterion for something - there's usually shape, size, growth pattern, etc. Hemepath gives me a bit of trouble, but run of the mill H&E is no problem (probably for the reason I stated before).

Interestingly, I heard that in order to be certified to read FISH that one must not be colorblind.

I hope that helps,
Geo

 

[Vox Animo]

Interestingly, I heard that in order to be certified to read FISH that one must not be colorblind.

That's why I'm pursuing my back-up choice, medicine.