immunization exemption

[persenmi]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Could any current dental students please comment on their experiences having filed for an immunization exemption for philosophical/religious reasons? I am strongly considering doing this but thought it would be wise to poll the field beforehand. Specifically: Do you regret not getting vaccinated? Has it affected your clinical rotations? Has it affected your dental school career in general? Any insights would be greatly appreciated 🙂.

P.S. Please refrain from lecturing me on the effectiveness of vaccines. I fully understand the risks/benefits of vaccines and I am already aware of the risks I will be taking by not vaccinating myself. I simply want to know if the risks extend beyond health related issues. Thank you.

 

[SoulPower]

Could any current dental students please comment on their experiences having filed for an immunization exemption for philosophical/religious reasons? I am strongly considering doing this but thought it would be wise to poll the field beforehand. Specifically: Do you regret not getting vaccinated? Has it affected your clinical rotations? Has it affected your dental school career in general? Any insights would be greatly appreciated 🙂.

P.S. Please refrain from lecturing me on the effectiveness of vaccines. I fully understand the risks/benefits of vaccines and I am already aware of the risks I will be taking by not vaccinating myself. I simply want to know if the risks extend beyond health related issues. Thank you.

I don't understand, what is more important than your own well-being? And what religious practices would be able to rationale foregoing vaccinations?

 

[7 Iron]

At my dental school entering students are required to have certain immunizations, such as Hep B and Tdap, otherwise we aren't allowed to matriculate.

 

[hoylematt]

I'm under the impression that with all the blood we will come in contact with, it seems impossible (and foolish) to accept a student who has waived immunizations.

I could be wrong though.

An aside:

I know in my immunology class we had this massive debate on the topic of immunizations causing Autism. In most recent years this seems to be the "religious or philosophical" reason not to get immunizations and the cause of an ever increasing number of home schooled children in the United States.

Ironically this year, the researchers responsible for initial findings related to autism being caused by immunizations came forward to state that they had been pressured by certain autism awareness groups to claim what they did before their final results were concluded. After years and years of continued research they said that their findings were in fact inconclusive at best and retracted their initial findings.

I was just glad that our team won the debate.

 

[dl9006]

Could any current dental students please comment on their experiences having filed for an immunization exemption for philosophical/religious reasons? I am strongly considering doing this but thought it would be wise to poll the field beforehand. Specifically: Do you regret not getting vaccinated? Has it affected your clinical rotations? Has it affected your dental school career in general? Any insights would be greatly appreciated 🙂.

P.S. Please refrain from lecturing me on the effectiveness of vaccines. I fully understand the risks/benefits of vaccines and I am already aware of the risks I will be taking by not vaccinating myself. I simply want to know if the risks extend beyond health related issues. Thank you.

disease can be transmitted from Dr. to patient as well while the Dr. is unaware that he contracted the disease. it's not only for your own safety.

i think it's irresponsible to avoid vaccinations when your patients could be at risk. it's fine if you want toput yourself at risk. just don't put others at risk because of your beliefs

 

[DrJeff]

YOU will be a providing healthcare to 1000's of patients. YOU will be exposed to countless numbers of infectious diseases and/or YOU could (and in some cases will) expose your patients to countless numbers of infectious diseases. YOU should do whatever you can to both protect yourself and your patients from yourself. YOU need to think of the overall public health issue from the perspectice of a healthcare PROVIDER.

 

[persenmi]

Thanks for the replies. I will contact my school to inquire further. Just for the record, I am not worried about autism 😉. I know that theory was debunked a while back.

 

[Noble6]

you will be a providing healthcare to 1000's of patients. You will be exposed to countless numbers of infectious diseases and/or you could (and in some cases will) expose your patients to countless numbers of infectious diseases. You should do whatever you can to both protect yourself and your patients from yourself. You need to think of the overall public health issue from the perspectice of a healthcare provider.

+1

 

[MatthewLeeDDS]

Could any current dental students please comment on their experiences having filed for an immunization exemption for philosophical/religious reasons? I am strongly considering doing this but thought it would be wise to poll the field beforehand. Specifically: Do you regret not getting vaccinated? Has it affected your clinical rotations? Has it affected your dental school career in general? Any insights would be greatly appreciated 🙂.

P.S. Please refrain from lecturing me on the effectiveness of vaccines. I fully understand the risks/benefits of vaccines and I am already aware of the risks I will be taking by not vaccinating myself. I simply want to know if the risks extend beyond health related issues. Thank you.

So are you saying that health related issues not enough to warrant vaccinations? You say "health related issues" as if vaccinations are good for one or two things... that's not just as simple as "Oh, I might get hepatitis C"... it has to do with doctor to patient transmission as well... it's not just to protect you.

I know where I go, EVERYONE in our class had to get a Hep B titer and if it came back negative, we were required to get a round of Hep B immunizations and have another titer done after those. Besides, you have to bring a list of all past immunizations to orientation (or at some point early on) and have them completed by a certain date. I find it hard to believe that any school would accept or even offer some sort of exemption. I may be wrong, but I've never even thought of that as a possibility to someone who works in health care. I know I personally would not go to a dentist if I was aware that he was not vaccinated.

 

[omaralt]

forget about the dental school for a minute; no state will give you a license if your not vaccinated. you have the right to not vaccinate and the state has the right to deny you a license to practice. choose whats more important; not vaccinating or being a dentist; because unfortunately the two are not compatible

 

[GTFOOMICT]

Could any current dental students please comment on their experiences having filed for an immunization exemption for philosophical/religious reasons? I am strongly considering doing this but thought it would be wise to poll the field beforehand. Specifically: Do you regret not getting vaccinated? Has it affected your clinical rotations? Has it affected your dental school career in general? Any insights would be greatly appreciated 🙂.

P.S. Please refrain from lecturing me on the effectiveness of vaccines. I fully understand the risks/benefits of vaccines and I am already aware of the risks I will be taking by not vaccinating myself. I simply want to know if the risks extend beyond health related issues. Thank you.

It's your responsibility to get the vaccines that the profession and law has designated is appropriate for you based upon current and collective scientific knowledge. This is to protect yourself and your patients. I hope the dental school runs far away from you and doesn't even think about accommodating your request.

Are you going to declare the Tb test not for you also?

I think you're out of line. If I had a classmate present him/herself as you just did I'd think they're crazy and can't think straight.

 

[cjb04]

Care to expand on these religious/philosophical reasons for us? I think most of us have a difficult time comprehending how they could be more important than the health and well-being of EVERYBODY that you come in contact with.