Dexterity required for dermatology

[CuriousMSII]

I'm currently an MS2 (soon to be MS3) that is interested in dermatology. When I was 12 I suffered a spinal cord injury that left me with some deficits in the muscles of my hands. The thenar muscles in particular are the weakest. This has not presented an issue thus far in my medical education. I can do basic suturing without much trouble.

I'm curious as to whether ya'll think that this will present an issue for me in residency and beyond. Do you know any dermatologist with physical disabilities? Is this something I should disclose?

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[asmallchild]

I'm currently an MS2 (soon to be MS3) that is interested in dermatology. When I was 12 I suffered a spinal cord injury that left me with some deficits in the muscles of my hands. The thenar muscles in particular are the weakest. This has not presented an issue thus far in my medical education. I can do basic suturing without much trouble.

I'm curious as to whether ya'll think that this will present an issue for me in residency and beyond. Do you know any dermatologist with physical disabilities? Is this something I should disclose?

If you can handle basic suturing then you should probably be fine. Like anything else, you'll get better as you practice even with muscle deficits. I've known dermatologists (multiple actually) who are color blind (try taking a dermpath exam with that) and they are able to make do.

I'm of the mindset that you shouldn't disclose weaknesses unless it truly impairs your ability to get the job done.

 

[Tamahawk]

I'm currently an MS2 (soon to be MS3) that is interested in dermatology. When I was 12 I suffered a spinal cord injury that left me with some deficits in the muscles of my hands. The thenar muscles in particular are the weakest. This has not presented an issue thus far in my medical education. I can do basic suturing without much trouble.

I'm curious as to whether ya'll think that this will present an issue for me in residency and beyond. Do you know any dermatologist with physical disabilities? Is this something I should disclose?

Agree with everything asmallchild said. Suturing is the only thing manually challenging that you need to be able to do, and it sounds like that isn't a problem. Wouldn't bother mentioning it as a disability.

 

[CuriousMSII]

Agree with everything asmallchild said. Suturing is the only thing manually challenging that you need to be able to do, and it sounds like that isn't a problem. Wouldn't bother mentioning it as a disability.

If you can handle basic suturing then you should probably be fine. Like anything else, you'll get better as you practice even with muscle deficits. I've known dermatologists (multiple actually) who are color blind (try taking a dermpath exam with that) and they are able to make do.

I'm of the mindset that you shouldn't disclose weaknesses unless it truly impairs your ability to get the job done.

Thanks for the replies. That is reassuring. I was also wondering if there are particular residency programs that have relatively less surgery?

 

[asmallchild]

Thanks for the replies. That is reassuring. I was also wondering if there are particular residency programs that have relatively less surgery?

Bad ones

In all seriousness, you don't want to go to a program that has less surgery. If you are interested in those, just head where the other students are running away from.

You want a program that will give you strong surgical volume/exposure and more importantly, some level of independence (programs linked with a county hospital, VA, etc)

If you choose to be less procedural upon becoming an attending, that's certainly fine (although that typically means decreased income). But I think the surgical aspect of residency is an important part of training and having that knowledge will make you a better, well-rounded dermatologist.

 

[CuriousMSII]

Bad ones

In all seriousness, you don't want to go to a program that has less surgery. If you are interested in those, just head where the other students are running away from.

You want a program that will give you strong surgical volume/exposure and more importantly, some level of independence (programs linked with a county hospital, VA, etc)

If you choose to be less procedural upon becoming an attending, that's certainly fine (although that typically means decreased income). But I think the surgical aspect of residency is an important part of training and having that knowledge will make you a better, well-rounded dermatologist.

Lol good to know. Thanks for the reply!