COLORBLIND SURGEONS{urgent}

[chow]

Any red- green colorblind surgeons or residents in this forum? please share your experiences..does colorblindness cause any difficuilty in surgery???im red green colorblind and im really interested in becoming a surgeon... share your experiences and guide me

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[SLUser11]

Any red- green colorblind surgeons or residents in this forum? please share your experiences..does colorblindness cause any difficuilty in surgurical branches???im red green colorblind and im really interested in becoming a surgeon...everybody openup and share your experiences and guide me and other colorblind doctors interested in surgery...


your comments will decide my life..please share

I refuse to respond to your post. It isn't dramatic enough.

 

[chow]

I refuse to respond to your post. It isn't dramatic enough.

sir, this isnt a joke..its really imp to me...

 

[LucidSplash]

I think the point is you don't need to be so dramatic. The simple answer is wait until you rotate on surgery and see if you have issues with differentiating tissues at that time.

 

[chow]

I think the point is you don't need to be so dramatic. The simple answer is wait until you rotate on surgery and see if you have issues with differentiating tissues at that time.

i finished my rotations..i felt i was fine with differentiating tissues..but im in a state of confusion because my opthomologist in med school insisted me not to take a surgical branch...so i just wanted to hear all your experiences and take a right step..so that i dont to regret later for taking this step

 

[VeryVeryTired]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/archive/index.php/t-49809.html

 

[JackADeli]

aside from the link VeryVery posted, I am certain there was an entire discussion thread talking about all the maladies one can have and still be a surgeon.... I don't have the link. Maybe WS may know it.

 

[chow]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/archive/index.php/t-49809.html

real experiences from colorblind doctors during rotations or practice would be encouraging...

 

[Scrubbed In]

Any red- green colorblind surgeons or residents in this forum? please share your experiences..does colorblindness cause any difficuilty in surgurical branches???im red green colorblind and im really interested in becoming a surgeon...everybody openup and share your experiences and guide me and other colorblind doctors interested in surgery...


your comments will decide my life..please share

real experiences from colorblind doctors during rotations or practice would be encouraging...

...Or possibly discouraging. I agree with LucidSplash and go based on your own experience and comfort in the OR. In the meantime, try to work on your spelling and grammar, and remove the term "surgical branch" from your vocabulary. Best of luck.

 

[Winged Scapula]

The limiting factor is not RG colorblindness but rather how it affects you. One of the technically best surgeons I ever saw was one of my former Chiefs. He was widely regarded as being gifted. He's now a surgical oncologist at Hopkins.
He's also colorblind.

This is not to say that you will be as successful but you are asking us to perform an impossible task:

1) in the small world of SDN surgery there are unlikely to be a significant number of members (if any) who are colorblind and can advise you;

2) even if there were, we cannot experience what YOU see and how YOU perform.

Only you can decide whether you are sufficiently hindered by your malady.

 

[Smurfette]

I know of a couple (2) colorblind general surgeons. Usually it is a non-issue when operating. The biggest problem they complain of is not being able to identify different colored sutures and sometimes have to ask what color something is. They don't have difficulty identifying structures. I do not know if they are both RG colorblind (likely) or not...I am sure colorblindness varies in severity and color spectrum to the point that it could be a major problem for *some* surgeons in *some* specialties, but RG is *normally* not too problematic. But as WS pointed out, we on SDN cannot see things through your eyes to tell 'how bad' it is.

PDs will not ask you on interviews about it. It's a problem if you cannot see things in the OR that you otherwise should see to be a safe surgeon---and would be discovered pretty early on in residency if it is a significant impairment for you.

 

[JackADeli]

real experiences from colorblind doctors during rotations or practice would be encouraging...

You need to encourage yourself. Just because one person earned a gold medal in the olympics does not mean you can. The oposite is also true, just because one person lost in the olympics does not mean you will.

Your malady is yours and only you know what your limits are (or will know) through med-school clinical rotations. We can point to good and bad colorblind surgeons all day. Is that somehow comforting/encouraging to you? If so, great. I can also tell you with great certainty that the majority of colorblind individuals in this country never succeeded in surgical residency. The same is probably true in reference to medical school.

But, those realities are probably very much based on determinants and decisions other then being colorblind. So, you go and figure out what works for you and if you feel encouraged based on what YOU can do with YOUR unique set of visual findings and NOT what others have done with THEIR unique set of visual findings.

For those interested... always curious exactly what this colorblind issue meant in practical reality. I mean, we have on several occasions talked about excellent colorblind surgeons. I was curious what does that colorblindness mean and what is the degree of obstacle, if any, they overcome? So, I found this link. I don't know how representative it is, but it is interesting:

http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/2.html

 

[bbydoc]

For those interested... always curious exactly what this colorblind issue meant in practical reality. I mean, we have on several occasions talked about excellent colorblind surgeons. I was curious what does that colorblindness mean and what is the degree of obstacle, if any, they overcome? So, I found this link. I don't know how representative it is, but it is interesting:

http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/2.html

great link!

 

[MossPoh]

http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/2.html

Great, now I wonder if I have a little bit of colorblindness..thanks. 😛

 

[winthug]

I'm not a surgeon yet, but I'm applying for gen surgery residencies and I'm RG colorblind. From my limited experience, I can differentiate 99% of things including bile from blood. The hardest thing for me to do is to tell erythema on the skin. If it's obvious, I can tell for sure, but the more subtle and light ones are difficult and I'd only notice it sometimes or if someone mentions it and I take a closer look. Remember that as a RG colorblind, you are obligated to not make decisions that are dependent on subtleties between different colors and that you should ask someone if there is a question about colors (ie urine dipstick, path, etc.). Other than that, I haven't had any issues but that's for me and RG colorblindness is a spectrum so what I see is different from what you see. Hope that helps.