Germophobic doctor?

[Bookish_future_mergrey]

So the last couple of weeks (& especially these last few days) I've been heavily pondering my pre-med track. As of late (since COVID, really), I've been what some people would call "excessively cautious" about not catching COVID or any other illnesses, for that matter. I wash my hands a lot and use hand sanitizer often... maybe too much. When someone in my household is sick, I wipe things down and use Lysol like it's going out of style. All of these things combined have left those around me that know my future plans questioning me. "How good of a doctor would you really be if you were worried about becoming sick after visiting a sneezing, coughing patient?" Keep in mind my goals are not currently internal medicine or anything like that. They're surgery, forensic pathology, or something else along those lines. (Yes, I know these routes involve possible exposure, too) Still I can't help but to feel as if the words they're saying carry some truth... am I afraid of germs? Or am I afraid of COVID because of the traumatic experiences of the last year and a half? If you've stuck around this long, waiting for me to get to the point, here it is: does being a little freaked out about germs make medicine a terrible career path for me? I'm not sure if it's the fear of failure keeping me from letting this long-time dream of mine go or if I truly just have a passion for becoming a physician one day. Change is difficult for me...and changing my path away from medicine would leave me completely lost. What are your thoughts? I could really use some advice here.

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[DNAJB6]

You're going to be exposed many things during your career. You're probably not going to enjoy your clinical rotations in medical school very much. If you pursue medical school, I'd aim to match into radiology (preferably) or maybe psych.

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

This is a question best answered by pursuing clinical experience. Thinking that doing surgery or forensic pathology involve less exposure to pathogens is simply... silly at best. Out of the things you listed, outpatient IM probably has the best potential to avoid pathogens anyhow.

Ultimately you need to answer the question of "Can I compassionately care for a patient when provided appropriate PPE?" If yes, go for it, if not, then nope. Only you can really answer that question for yourself.

 

[DNAJB6]

This is a question best answered by pursuing clinical experience. Thinking that doing surgery or forensic pathology involve less exposure to pathogens is simply... silly at best. Out of the things you listed, outpatient IM probably has the best potential to avoid pathogens anyhow.

Ultimately you need to answer the question of "Can I compassionately care for a patient when provided appropriate PPE?" If yes, go for it, if not, then nope. Only you can really answer that question for yourself.

That wouldn't be a safe bet either. Based on actual data from my health system, IM (including outpatient) and EM had some of the highest COVID infection rates initially.

 

[Bookish_future_mergrey]

This is a question best answered by pursuing clinical experience. Thinking that doing surgery or forensic pathology involve less exposure to pathogens is simply... silly at best. Out of the things you listed, outpatient IM probably has the best potential to avoid pathogens anyhow.

Ultimately you need to answer the question of "Can I compassionately care for a patient when provided appropriate PPE?" If yes, go for it, if not, then nope. Only you can really answer that question for yourself.

Do you have any suggestions for specific types of clinical experience that may help me make a solid decision on this matter? I have some prior experience working in a nursing home/rehab facility but that's about it.

 

[DNAJB6]

Sports medicine maybe? It's still not immune from germs, but it's better than IM or surgery.

 

[DNAJB6]

Do you have any suggestions for specific types of clinical experience that may help me make a solid decision on this matter? I have some prior experience working in a nursing home/rehab facility but that's about it.

Did your germophobia inhibit your ability to function comfortably in the nursing home? Maybe geriatrics is your calling, but you're going to be vulnerable to potential pandemics/seasonal illnesses like the flu.

 

[Bookish_future_mergrey]

Sports medicine maybe? It's still not immune from germs, but it's better than IM or surgery.

This makes a lot of sense. I've thought about other fields, but I'm hung up on this because my way of thinking is not "oh there are pathogens in blood so I should avoid it at all costs!" That's not my way of thinking. Blood and other bodily fluids do not bother me in the way that I couldn't care for someone bleeding out. It's more the thought of someone sneezing on my face (which is bound to happen) that unnerves me. It's almost as if I would feel safer doing something like surgery because proper PPE is involved.. if that makes sense?

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

Do you have any suggestions for specific types of clinical experience that may help me make a solid decision on this matter? I have some prior experience working in a nursing home/rehab facility but that's about it.

EMS. If you can handle being stuck in a box full of germs, you can probably handle being a doc.

 

[Bookish_future_mergrey]

Did your germophobia inhibit your ability to function comfortably in the nursing home? Maybe geriatrics is your calling, but you're going to be vulnerable to potential pandemics/seasonal illnesses like the flu.

No. I washed my hands and used germx...but mainly only between patients, as one should, obviously. I wouldn't say it was excessive at all, which is what has me wondering if my fear is from a traumatic covid experience, as I mentioned earlier, I believe. I still interacted comfortably with those I was responsible for. The only noticeable difference between myself and my classmates was the use of hand sanitizer a bit more often, depending on our tasks.

 

[DNAJB6]

This makes a lot of sense. I've thought about other fields, but I'm hung up on this because my way of thinking is not "oh there are pathogens in blood so I should avoid it at all costs!" That's not my way of thinking. Blood and other bodily fluids do not bother me in the way that I couldn't care for someone bleeding out. It's more the thought of someone sneezing on my face (which is bound to happen) that unnerves me. It's almost as if I would feel safer doing something like surgery because proper PPE is involved.. if that makes sense?

You're still seeing patients on an outpatient basis in clinic before and after surgery. Most surgeons operate only 2-3 days per week and have clinic ~3 days a week.

 

[Bookish_future_mergrey]

You're still seeing patients on an outpatient basis in clinic before and after surgery. Most surgeons operate only 2-3 days per week and have clinic ~3 days a week.

Very true...I've been accompanying a family member who had their knee replaced to see their doctor & this is the case for him as well.

 

[Goro]

You'll get over it after you clear your first impacted bowel or do the first prostate or vaginal exam.

 

[deleted50541]

You'll get over it after you clear your first impacted bowel or do the first prostate or vaginal exam.

Exactly. I've been elbow deep in more body cavities than I can count. Nothing phases me anymore.

Nonetheless, I still use a lot of hand sanitizer at work and come home with fair bit of residue on my hands and forearms.

 

[Blueprint Med School]

So the last couple of weeks (& especially these last few days) I've been heavily pondering my pre-med track. As of late (since COVID, really), I've been what some people would call "excessively cautious" about not catching COVID or any other illnesses, for that matter. I wash my hands a lot and use hand sanitizer often... maybe too much. When someone in my household is sick, I wipe things down and use Lysol like it's going out of style. All of these things combined have left those around me that know my future plans questioning me. "How good of a doctor would you really be if you were worried about becoming sick after visiting a sneezing, coughing patient?" Keep in mind my goals are not currently internal medicine or anything like that. They're surgery, forensic pathology, or something else along those lines. (Yes, I know these routes involve possible exposure, too) Still I can't help but to feel as if the words they're saying carry some truth... am I afraid of germs? Or am I afraid of COVID because of the traumatic experiences of the last year and a half? If you've stuck around this long, waiting for me to get to the point, here it is: does being a little freaked out about germs make medicine a terrible career path for me? I'm not sure if it's the fear of failure keeping me from letting this long-time dream of mine go or if I truly just have a passion for becoming a physician one day. Change is difficult for me...and changing my path away from medicine would leave me completely lost. What are your thoughts? I could really use some advice here.

It'll certainly make clinical rotations a Struggle Bus. But there's two ways to sort of thinking about a career. The first is somewhat obvious diagnostic radiology where you can hide in a dark room chilling (somewhat literally, those reading rooms are freezing) and reading scans all day. Or you could embrace your need to be clean and do something surgical which requires sterile fields in order to do the major part of your work.

David D MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
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