Dealing with the Unexpected

[FLgirl]

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I know that this sounds silly, but being someone who has fainted before in an emergency room I was wondering if you all had any advice/stories about handling the unexpected/gross/anxiety-provoking situations in medical school.

I have since worked in a hospital for three years and dealt with blood and such numerous times. Still, I was wondering if anyone had similar concerns?

 

[Penguin Poptart]

I have the same concerns FLgirl.

 

[stoic]

FLgirl and Penguin Poptart,
I had a similar experience while shadowing in the ER. I nearly passed out while observing my first real procedure (a lumbar puncture). I thought no one noticed, but afterward the doctor told that he had indeed noticed and not to worry about it because it happens to everyone at some point. That was several months ago and since then I've not had any problems. I think it's something you get used too. You guys will be fine.

 

[Skip Intro]

A friend of mine was doing his third-year FP rotation. It was towards the end of it, and his preceptor was getting really backed-up in the clinic. The preceptor, a female, asked him to go into a room and start working-up a 14-year-old girl who'd come in with some complaint (can't remember what it was - not important here).

Apparently, the nurse had put her in the room and told her to get changed. When my buddy walked in, the girl was standing - not sitting - STANDING by the examination table... buck naked. Now, he assures me - only from a purely clinical standpoint - that this was a fully-developed and quite attractive young lady who'd apparently missed the instruction about putting on the gown. While it's refreshing that she was so comfortable with her body image (still being somewhat of girl at that point and despite the fact that she had "blossomed"), my friend was not.

He saw the girl standing there, turned completely beet red, started stammering, and just managed to get out an "excuse me" before turning and walking out of the room. Now, this guy had seen a naked woman (read that - 'woman') before, but just simply wasn't mentally prepared for this when he walked in the exam room. He was so embarrassed by the whole thing, that he eventually leaned back in the door and told the girl that she should put a gown on and he'd be right back in.

Weird stuff happens in medicine. Some of it's gross. Some of it's funny. Some of it's sad. I got woozy on my first ER case (years ago as a tech) when the attending asked me to assist her in packing and sewing up a scrotal abcess. It's okay to get woozy or embarassed once or twice, just so long as it doesn't happen every time.

 

[starayamoskva]

Don't lock your knees and make sure you eat at regular intervals and you should be fine.
If you start to feel woosey excuse yourself and go sit down for a few minutes.
Don't be embarrassed it happens to the best of us.

 

[millmm]

Hey all,

When your in the OR make sure you eat first. If you dont you will get light headed from all the standing and may pass out.

 

[PublicHealth]

Pursue a career in psychiatry or another cognitive specialization instead of surgery.

 

[FLgirl]

Thanks everyone for your posts. I'm sure that everything will be fine once I get a few more experiences under my belt.

PublicHealth: I don't want to pursue a career in psychiatry. I think your advice seems a little short-sighted. Doesn't everyone get nervous in the OR at some point? You know there is such a phenomenon as desensitization. And if I could come to terms with the seemingly endless years of training for surgery maybe I would consider it.