Is the "gross" factor something you just get desensitized to?

[Undecided22]

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Just wondering. If any of you were grossed out by things in medicine, queasy around blood, etc.

Do you just get desensitized and adjust?

 

[bandgeek0295]

Well, I spent two summers volunteering in pathology in a hospital(mostly down in autopsy) There was definitely a "gross" factor. After the first two weeks I had seen everything. And at some point I think I was even sitting in the autopsy office watching a case while I ate lunch... The bottom line is yes, you will eventually get used to it.

 

[yehhhboiii]

after you finish anatomy, there's not much that fazes you

 

[Ismet]

after you finish anatomy, there's not much that phases you

this. 100% this.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

Haven't been to medical school (work at one though), but from when I started doing animal research I nearly fainted several times from seeing live cardiac perfusions in rats. Fast forward a few years and these days I do live cardiac perfusions all the time without a problem, in addition to sampling from the vena cava (lots of blood), beheading animals, and extracting brains. I guess the desensitization carried over to humans as well because when I helped someone dispose of corpses in the human cadaver lab after anatomy had finished up it didn't even faze me. Hell, I actually forgot to wash my hands before I had lunch.

 

[Ismet]

Hell, I actually forgot to wash my hands before I had lunch.

That's not desensitization, that's poor hygiene.

 

[yehhhboiii]

Haven't been to medical school (work at one though), but from when I started doing animal research I nearly fainted several times from seeing live cardiac perfusions in rats. Fast forward a few years and these days I do live cardiac perfusions all the time without a problem, in addition to sampling from the vena cava (lots of blood), beheading animals, and extracting brains. I guess the desensitization carried over to humans as well because when I helped someone dispose of corpses in the human cadaver lab after anatomy had finished up it didn't even faze me. Hell, I actually forgot to wash my hands before I had lunch.

wat

 

[Geebeejay]

Just wondering. If any of you were grossed out by things in medicine, queasy around blood, etc.

Do you just get desensitized and adjust?

Yes but you might want to wear a helmet during year 3 if you're a fainter.

 

[ventulus18]

Just wondering. If any of you were grossed out by things in medicine, queasy around blood, etc.

Do you just get desensitized and adjust?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=14003651&postcount=38

 

[supafly0]

Don't do this if you are scrubbed in but some of the medical students I observed surgeries with would sneak a jolly rancher or some sort of sugary candy under their masks to keep their blood glucose levels high to avoid any chance of syncope.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Son, I grew up with the internet, messed up doesn't phase me.

 

[KinesiologyNerd]

Gore never got me, but poop/puke/pee took some getting used to working in an ER. Now I'm just like "oh hey poop that's cool." C diff. poop still kind of gets me, though.

 

[survivordo]

You definitely become somewhat sensitized, some people more than others. I think the gore factor almost everyone gets over (although some people just straight up vasovagal at the sight of blood, can't really help that). It is much harder to get over the emotional "gore" for other people.

Survivor DO

 

[Ismet]

C diff. poop still kind of gets me, though.

I don't think anyone is immune to that (other than people with anosmia)

 

[Non Pizza Lunch]

Son, I grew up with the internet, messed up doesn't phase me.

I think this is the primary reason that gore never really phased me... The only exception might be when during a derm lecture when the professor was talking defects in epithelial junction diseases e.g. pemphigus vulgaris, bullous pemphigoid and conveniently didn't put in the picture for "harlequin ichthyosis", and I was thinking, how can you talk about a skin condition without showing the picture?!

And then I did a google image search and I was like (Don't do it, NSFL lol)

 

[bandgeek0295]

And then I did a google image search and I was like (Don't do it, NSFL lol)

The temptation was real y'all. I think I'll see that when I fall asleep now.

 

[Aerus]

I think this is the primary reason that gore never really phased me... The only exception might be when during a derm lecture when the professor was talking defects in epithelial junction diseases e.g. pemphigus vulgaris, bullous pemphigoid and conveniently didn't put in the picture for "harlequin ichthyosis", and I was thinking, how can you talk about a skin condition without showing the picture?!

And then I did a google image search and I was like (Don't do it, NSFL lol)

I had to.

 

[bandgeek0295]

I had to.

So tell me, how does that make you feel?

 

[Non Pizza Lunch]

🤣

The temptation was real y'all. I think I'll see that when I fall asleep now.

 

[Ismet]

I think this is the primary reason that gore never really phased me... The only exception might be when during a derm lecture when the professor was talking defects in epithelial junction diseases e.g. pemphigus vulgaris, bullous pemphigoid and conveniently didn't put in the picture for "harlequin ichthyosis", and I was thinking, how can you talk about a skin condition without showing the picture?!

And then I did a google image search and I was like (Don't do it, NSFL lol)

Haha I remember a bunch of people googling harlequin icthyosis in class.

BTW, you have the best username on SDN, hands down. 👍

 

[Rysden]

Absolutely. You'll get used to seeing the "gross" stuff.

 

[Non Pizza Lunch]

Haha I remember a bunch of people googling harlequin icthyosis in class.

BTW, you have the best username on SDN, hands down. 👍

aww 😀 It's definitely what keeps me coming to those interest group talks haha.


On a side-note though related to the OP, I think one of things I noticed people aren't prepared for is the smell. I did know somebody who had a gag reflex when she smelled cauterized tissue. But either way you'll get used to it fast, I think it was after the 2-3 week of anatomy that me and several of my classmates craved a huge chunk of meat after every lab.