concern about shadowing. (gauged ears)

[jwtaylor]

im a sophomore philosophy major doing the whole pre-med thing. i really need to shadow a physician to make sure if this is something i really want to do. after reading about all of the managed care nightmares in our country i get really discouraged. my problem is that i have kind of long hair, some well groomed facial hair, and (here's my big concern) i had my ears gauged to 3/4 inches about a year back. since then the holes have closed up a bit but there are still 5 millimeter holes in my ears and i fear this is as small as their going to get. i'm afraid to shadow a physician because i don't know what the physician might think about the holes in my ears and how it might make him look if im shadowing him. this really bothers me. anyone have anything to say about this? (besides the fact that i shouldnt have gauged my ears to begin with.)

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[zach1201]

They make piercings that resemble skin colors, maybe you could try that.

 

[butmylipshurtrealbad]

Hmmm.. this is interesting because this just came up at the medical office where I work... there is a woman who has been working as a nurse for years, but recently got some new very visible tattoos, and one of the physicians was very offended by it, and wanted her to wear long sleeves. Well, the nurse threatened to quit, and they ended up keeping her tattoos and all, which I know doesn't apply to your shadowing scenario, but it does bring up the "dress-code" point. In our office, it's mostly because the elderly patients actually make comments about the way the nurses and staff look, and feel uncomfortable when they deem it inappropriate. Maybe you could start off volunteering in a hospital environment and see if anyone reacts to it negatively? (you could even ask some nurses and docs what their opinion on it this) If not, then you'll have nothing to worry about. I'm actually a fan of piercings and tattoos, and so is the doctor I work with closely (the tattooed nurse is his personal nurse), so there is also the possibility that you will find someone who doesn't care either way.... But you definitely have me second guessing another tattoo...

 

[Dov]

Forget shadowing... what are you going to do when it comes time for interviews? The flesh colored earpieces seems like a good idea but you may want to consider a more permanent surgical solution if you are this worried about them now.

 

[jwtaylor]

i'm going to definitely try out the flesh colored plugs. and i will also look into a surgical solution. i have never known of anyone who's ever had this done, my brother tells me he saw it on dr. 90210 though. not too anxious to see the price tag with that procedure, thats for sure. but this whole thing does make me curious about how piercings and tattoos (i have a 3/4 sleeve) are perceived now in supposedly enlightened times.

 

[beaverfetus]

i'm going to definitely try out the flesh colored plugs. and i will also look into a surgical solution. i have never known of anyone who's ever had this done, my brother tells me he saw it on dr. 90210 though. not too anxious to see the price tag with that procedure, thats for sure. but this whole thing does make me curious about how piercings and tattoos (i have a 3/4 sleeve) are perceived now in supposedly enlightened times.

call me old fashioned but I'll drink a beer with a tatooed kid with gauged ears, but damned if he gets near me with a scalpel.

 

[westphi]

as a sophmore, i would say you have plenty of time before you need to make any kind of real commitment/decision to pursue medicine. so that's good that you want to do some shadowing. i guess the first question is if you have allready lined up some interviews with potential doctors? if not, work on that and while you're talking to them just ask what they think about your look. if they sound reluctant then they probably wouldn't be a good match anyways. good luck.

 

[Law2Doc]

i'm going to definitely try out the flesh colored plugs. and i will also look into a surgical solution. i have never known of anyone who's ever had this done, my brother tells me he saw it on dr. 90210 though. not too anxious to see the price tag with that procedure, thats for sure. but this whole thing does make me curious about how piercings and tattoos (i have a 3/4 sleeve) are perceived now in supposedly enlightened times.

Do the surgery -- it will make a nice story for your PS. As for tatoos -- this comes up on SDN a lot. Schools often have pretty specific dress and appearance codes, so I wouldn't plan on getting more. Generally, as long as they stay under your clothes, no one will see or care. But you are going to have some hot summers ahead of you as you may be wearing long sleeves quite a lot. No cut off scrubs (a la Dr. Rey) for you, I'm afraid.

 

[PainDr]

I agree that you should decide whether or not you want to pursue a career in medicine before undergoing a surgical correction. It's just my opinion (just finished my sub-specialty fellowship ) but unfortunately, medicine is still a very old fashioned, very conservative profession. During internship, residency and even fellowship, I saw several different attendings get TOTALLY bent out of shape over little things, like someone coming to rounds without a tie I don't know how they would respond to someone like you. However, you could always just say it was secondary to a congenital abnormality...they'd probably think it was very cool !!

 

[Law2Doc]

I agree that you should decide whether or not you want to pursue a career in medicine before undergoing a surgical correction. It's just my opinion (just finished my sub-specialty fellowship ) but unfortunately, medicine is still a very old fashioned, very conservative profession.

It's not just medicine. Basically unless you plan to be an artist, performer, or work for yourself, you probably will need to undo the holes.

 

[jwtaylor]

welp, this is one of those times i wish i had listened to my parents.