Do you get sick as a med student...

[dancerdoc89]

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...especially when you start seeing patients? Do you find yourselves more prone to illness when working in hospitals/public settings? Really curious if I have this to look forward to...increasing my immunity when I (nor anyone else) can afford to be out of commission for a period of time...

 

[Frozen]

...especially when you start seeing patients? Do you find yourselves more prone to illness when working in hospitals/public settings? Really curious if I have this to look forward to...increasing my immunity when I (nor anyone else) can afford to be out of commission for a period of time...

Don't worry
Once you get into med school you get imbued with special powers, complete immunity is one of them.

 

[DrBowtie]

You're pretty much expected to take a few days off during Peds clinic due to viral illness.

 

[Druggernaut]

It wasn't as a med student, but when I got a job working in the ED, it seemed like I started getting sick much less often, which some of my coworkers had noticed for themselves as well. We chalked it up to getting just a little taste of a lot of pathogens. Not enough to get sick from, but enough to prime your immune system.

During the big H1N1 flu season, lots of nurses went down sick with it, but no physicians or midlevels. Again, we attributed it to the length of time spent with patients.

It did dawn on me a few days ago how bad it would be to get sick as a student. Inefficient studying for a few days to a week? Ouch.

 

[silverhorse84]

So far after 2 months of 3rd year I've been sick once. But it wasn't because I was seeing patients...it was because my roommate got sick from a patient (pediatrics), and I got it from him.

 

[MilkmanAl]

General peds clinic was the only time during the clinical years I've been sick at all. I'm sure I'm a carrier of all sorts of crazy drug-resistant bacteria, though.

 

[2012mdc]

General peds clinic was the only time during the clinical years I've been sick at all. I'm sure I'm a carrier of all sorts of crazy drug-resistant bacteria, though.

I may have been the only person who didn't get sick on Peds. I got sick on Thanksgiving break during 3rd year which really sucked.

There were plenty of times where I was "sick" aka hungover and this usually happened on Fridays or Mondays 😛

 

[mmmcdowe]

...especially when you start seeing patients? Do you find yourselves more prone to illness when working in hospitals/public settings? Really curious if I have this to look forward to...increasing my immunity when I (nor anyone else) can afford to be out of commission for a period of time...

I got sick once during pre-clinicals, but not during clinicals (done everything but obgyn and neuro)

 

[OveractiveBrain]

...especially when you start seeing patients? Do you find yourselves more prone to illness when working in hospitals/public settings? Really curious if I have this to look forward to...increasing my immunity when I (nor anyone else) can afford to be out of commission for a period of time...

At the start of intern year I was sick 14 days out of the first two months. Nothing to keep me out of work, but enough to keep me out of the gym and frustrated all the time.

 

[Morsetlis]

If you have worked in the ER / wards before, you'll get sick much less often.

Pretty much everybody told me this and I found it to be true.

My mom told me health is the most important thing you can have in life 😎

 

[p30doc]

I got sick several times as a m1/2 being locked up with a large group of stressed sleep deprived people in the same small spaces for 8 hours a day is the perfect incubator of disease. Practically the whole class was sick 4-5 times during the first 2 years. So far I've done Peds-Hospital and Pysch and I haven't been sick. It would be amazing not to get sick during 3rd year, but I'm not betting on it. At least on the wards you have to opportunity to use contact precautions and plenty of hand sanitizer.

 

[Elbowstoopointy]

...especially when you start seeing patients? Do you find yourselves more prone to illness when working in hospitals/public settings? Really curious if I have this to look forward to...increasing my immunity when I (nor anyone else) can afford to be out of commission for a period of time...

I did like twice in MS1...both viruses from clinic. I'm pretty tough now. COME AT ME BRO

 

[Lil Mick]

Yes. Just from my class (MS2 now), we've had a few people out with mono, accidents, and really bad infections. I'm not sure how many are from clinic, but we do still get sick--just like pre-meds...

 

[drizzt3117]

I got a bad strain of mycoplasma on peds, grr, it took three courses of Azithro and a month for me to lose that cough. A friend of mine got it too and fractured two ribs from coughing.

 

[DrCoffeeBean]

I got a bad strain of mycoplasma on peds, grr, it took three courses of Azithro and a month for me to lose that cough. A friend of mine got it too and fractured two ribs from coughing.

Ouch.

I am in 'let's-get-sick-during-peds-rotation' club too. During my 7 weeks of peds, I have been ill at least twice with URTIs.

 

[bomgd3]

I got sick about 4 times during MS1 and the following summer, including 2 coughs that took nearly a month each to fully resolve. Hopefully MS2 will be better.... I probably got sick twice in all of undergrad.

 

[projectlogic]

I got sick more in med school than I did in undergrad. I think it was mostly due to the stress.

 

[Muffincakes]

Not so far. I haven't been sick for real since starting med school (3rd year currently) except maybe a little bit of a sore throat two times or so. One of those times was during the one week of a pediatric rotation I had on family med rotation. Children are filthy little germ-filled creatures, but I love them anyways. 🙂

 

[bioteach]

I got sick once during family and once during peds. Both viral sore throat things. Its not really a big deal to miss clinical days for illness in my experience. Actually it gave me more time to lay in bed and study....

 

[FalcorMed]

I was told during orientation that roughly 25% of medical students experience depression or some form of mental illness during their four years.

 

[projectlogic]

I was told during orientation that roughly 25% of medical students experience depression or some form of mental illness during their four years.

I've heard the same figure.

 

[Morsetlis]

I was told during orientation that roughly 25% of medical students experience depression or some form of mental illness during their four years.

The ones that don't recover become psychiatrists.

 

[miui]

The ones that don't recover become psychiatrists.

 

[isoquin]

Wash your hands! Especially before you eat.

Oh and licking a pediatric patient's forehead is not a diagnostic test.
except for CF.