Dislike Physical Contact with Patients

[shoesthatmelt]

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I have shadowed under PTs and PTAs once before, and have volunteered in both hospital and clinical settings (with nurses and physicians), and noticed that all of them must engage in a lot of physical contact with patients (lifting them up, helping them into/out of wheelchair, etc).

I do not like physical contact with most people who are not family or close friends. Physical contact includes: hugging, shaking hands, pats on the back, etc. So when it comes to working with patients and having to hug them to lift them up, or anything of the like, I get really uncomfortable.

Is this "discomfort" towards physical contact something I will get over? I would like to know if anyone else has ever felt this way and still thrived in the PT profession (or other healthcare professions that involve direct patient contact).

Note: I love interacting with patients.

 

[aroszko]

No one can tell you if you will "get over" your discomfort, one would think that with practice you would but in the end you'll have to make the decision if you want to go in to PT, as it a VERY hands on career, be it helping patients in and out or bed/wheelchairs, localized massage and many other aspects. Also when you get invited for interviews you will need to (or should!) give your interviewer a handshake, as well as you will need to do that through out your career with new colleges and patients.

Not trying to be rude or mean, just putting it out there that, as you have seen, PT is a hands on career and if you don't think you will be able to handle that on a DAILY basis then you should really think if this is something you want to spend your life doing.

 

[shoesthatmelt]

Thank you for your input. On your note about the handshakes, I always give handshakes when seeing any colleagues or meeting anyone new. That is something I have been able to "get over." I do not necessarily enjoy it, but it is something that I know has to be done.

 

[easb]

Like you, I prefer to avoid hugs, kisses, back pats, etc. unless those are people who are close to me. I do not take interaction with patients personal, though. It's just work, so I do not feel uncomfortable doing that. I mean we are not really "hugging" them when helping them to move from a chair to bed. We are "transferring." Maybe you could switch your brain to "work mode" like with handshake. ?

 

[MCWills]

Have you thought about the possibility of other health related fields that are not quite so hands on? You might be interested in being a PA or something else if you're not a fan of so much physical contact. No matter what, you are going to want a career you are comfortable with otherwise you will most likely struggle with being happy with your career.

 

[02143]

I would recommend really thinking hard about doing PT if you prefer not to have physical contact with patients. I'm in PT school now and there is only 1 day of the school week that I am not having physical/hands on contact with classmates. Just with palpation in school, you're touching things like ischial tuberosities and the xiphoid process, and that doesn't even begin to talk about joint mobilizations and other manual techniques. I think that its very important for you to be comfortable with physical contact because when you are getting so close with patients, if you are hesitant or uncomfortable about the matter, that won't make them feel any better about what is going on. Just a personal opinion though...

 

[NewTestament]

me would recommend really thinking hard about doing PT if you prefer not to have physical contact with pateints.

Not only will it be difficult to get through PT school but how will you be a PT for 30 or 40 years if you don't like touching patients? One of the advantages of becoming a PT is that we can touch patients. PTs use their hands like no other clinician.

 

[Azimuthal]

Pharmacy sounds like a better fit for you, but many states allow pharmacists to give immunizations now. I mean, I don't even know if this is a real post. The profession has the word "physical" in the title.

 

[WarriorPT]

I have shadowed under PTs and PTAs once before, and have volunteered in both hospital and clinical settings (with ....

If unable to tolerate physical contact with patients I'd highly recommend another career field. You cannot thrive in PT without being 'hands-on.' In fact you cannot thoroughly evaluate a patient without placing your hands on him/her. Unfortunately you cannot even get out of PT school without having your hands on every student or without every student having his/her hands on you.

It sounds like you really want to help people out with health problems. I encourage you to pursue that. Social Workers do just that without the constant physical contact.

 

[eatbroccoli]

I have shadowed under PTs and PTAs once before, and have volunteered in both hospital and clinical settings (with nurses and physicians), and noticed that all of them must engage in a lot of physical contact with patients (lifting them up, helping them into/out of wheelchair, etc).

I do not like physical contact with most people who are not family or close friends. Physical contact includes: hugging, shaking hands, pats on the back, etc. So when it comes to working with patients and having to hug them to lift them up, or anything of the like, I get really uncomfortable.

Is this "discomfort" towards physical contact something I will get over? I would like to know if anyone else has ever felt this way and still thrived in the PT profession (or other healthcare professions that involve direct patient contact).

Note: I love interacting with patients.

If you have a discomfort with touching patients, I would rethink your career choice...I mean, we all do have some phobias to germs when interacting with patients, but this should not be a primary concern before you even entered the field. Physical therapists are VERY hands on and you cannot just decide to go into this career if you feel uncomfortable even touching a patient. There are many other healthcare careers that involve interacting with patients without ever touching them (social work, nutritionists, dietitions, doctors in some fields even ie. radiologist!). I am not trying to discourage you, but this is really something you don't need to get over if you feel so uncomfortable with it.

 

[noyceguy]

I have shadowed under PTs and PTAs once before, and have volunteered in both hospital and clinical settings (with nurses and physicians), and noticed that all of them must engage in a lot of physical contact with patients (lifting them up, helping them into/out of wheelchair, etc).

I do not like physical contact with most people who are not family or close friends. Physical contact includes: hugging, shaking hands, pats on the back, etc. So when it comes to working with patients and having to hug them to lift them up, or anything of the like, I get really uncomfortable.

Is this "discomfort" towards physical contact something I will get over? I would like to know if anyone else has ever felt this way and still thrived in the PT profession (or other healthcare professions that involve direct patient contact).

Note: I love interacting with patients.

Definitely do not become a PT.

 

[failureisnotfatal]

I think if you don't like physical contact, you may not want to go into a profession like this. As to whether or not you will get over that discomfort, I will say that one of the best ways to get over these types of things is through repeated instances. For example, the best way to get over a fear of snakes is to be in contact with them often and eventually they will become commonplace to you and you won't be afraid. So, I suppose you might get over the fear of human contact if you spend enough time touching humans.

 

[666666]

I think it is very possible that you will start to feel more comfortable with time. I too was uncomfortable being very touchy feely at one point, but now it doesn't phase me (I haven't started with PT school yet, I start in a month, but I have take multiple classes that include palpations and am involved in research that requires me to be hands on). The question is whether you are willing to go through being uncomfortable at first. If you can push though and tough it out in the beginning I think you will be fine. For me not wanting to touch people was more of a confidence thing. I was afraid of hurting them (pushing too hard, pinching, ect) and I also thought it was uncomfortable because I was nervous about invading personal space or making them uncomfortable/embarrassed. (I am a slightly uncomfortable about the germs aspect but that was not a huge factor) With time I gained confidence in how hard to move limbs/palpate/ ect.. and also realized that when you have patients or are palpating for school the individual you are required to touch knows and expects this from you so they are unlikely to feel uncomfortable by you doing so (though obviously they may also be nervous about touching at first) So if you feel similarly, I wouldn't let it hold you back. Good Luck 🙂

 

[scrawnyguy]

It depends on your level of discomfort. I'm sure most feel a little uncomfortable getting hands on with strangers at first. A little discomfort is one thing, discomfort to the point of borderline phobia is something else entirely. It's not a character flaw. I could never be a dentist. Having my hands in someone's mouth grosses me out. Honestly I would probably look at different careers paths if I were you. Maybe something along the lines of clinical psychology.

 

[AlexFLA]

Accounting... Sit in a cube all day by yourself and make money.

Personally I'd jump off a building before that.

Good luck

 

[DesertPT]

I'd have to agree with the general consensus that you need to seriously consider how big of an issue this is for you before going into PT...hopefully we'll here back from you, nobody likes threads where the OP gets 11 more awesome responses and then never posts back again...

 

[shoesthatmelt]

Physical contact is definitely not a phobia. I enjoy working with patients and their muscles and determination to slowly get them to regain the strength or mobility they once had. From what I am hearing from everyone, I will shadow more PTs for the meantime and see how it goes from there. I will see if I can get comfortable being uncomfortable, if not, I shall look into another field. I still have a year to decide before I can begin to apply.

Thank you for all of your input!