Med School & hospital work; Flu & COVID Vax requirements?

[clayman117]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hello,

I came here for some better and maybe more clear answers from a professional forum, as I’ve had trouble finding answers on the internment elsewhere (articles and the opinionated Reddit).

What are requirements for the flu shot for med school & hospital work (any position at all)? What about Covid?

It’s sad that I feel obliged to say this, but I’m not a political guy or have any heavy opinions. Vax issues are vax issues, and sadly, any type of issue somehow gets connected to political issues and people’s opinions get swayed and simple answers become rash.

I’ve gone my whole life not getting a flu shot. Never a reason why, just kind of happened. It didn’t really hit me until after Covid that some jobs require vaccine requirements. It sounds like Covid vax has been less strict for places now. I’m not covid vaxxed either.

I’ve been really considering medical school and taking classes, but something totally went over my head. And it was vax requirements. Is this a requirement? I’ve had trouble finding a consistent answer. I hear Covid may depend on the school/state. But I hear it’s a requirement unless religious or medical exemption. For the flu I’ve heard mega mandatory every year, but I’ve also heard of people working every year and not getting it.

I mean, to be honest thinking about getting any shots is scary to me. Especially hearing about the Covid side effects and death. I won’t go too much more into it. But has anyone here been in my position or similar? Or anyone know anyone who has? How have you or yourself gone about it?

Thanks

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Every school should be able to disclose their vaccination requirements. It was easy to discover with a simple Google search. Furthermore, you should discover the vaccination requirements for each health system.

First responders are all generally required to be vaccinated too, so becoming an EMT or any healthcare worker, you are generally required. Please correct me if I'm wrong about this.

Health Sciences Immunization Requirements | University Health Services

med.uc.edu

 

[Wistfulness]

It's going to vary based on which school/hospital system. They almost certainly have it posted somewhere online.

I mean, to be honest thinking about getting any shots is scary to me. Especially hearing about the Covid side effects and death. I won’t go too much more into it. But has anyone here been in my position or similar? Or anyone know anyone who has? How have you or yourself gone about it?

You're going to be working around people who are sick and can make you sick. If you get sick, you risk making people who are already sick much more sick, possibly dead. Hospitals aren't going to compromise on vaccine requirements, for good reason. If this is a major hang-up for you, there is a poison in your mind.

 

[LizzyM]

If you want to work with the sick, you have an obligation to protect them from harm. And one potential harm is carrying germs to their bedside. Those germs can be in your body and can infect others before you even feel sick. You can greatly reduce the likelihood that you will become infected by joining the herd of co-workers who have immunity. Diseases can't get a foothold within a group if the vast majority are immune. And that herd immunity protects the vulnerable who are not immune because they are very young or because their immune system is malfunctioning.

And, as mentioned earlier, working in a clinical setting, you may be exposed to people who are carrying communicable diseases that can make you sick. I would not wish the flu on my worst enemy but when I first worked in a clinical setting I got a terrible headache one afternoon and then came the fever and body aches; I was laid low by the flu for a week during which I was not available to take care of patients.

Dying from the Covid vaccine is very rare. Assessment of Risk for Sudden Cardiac Death Among...

If you want to do what is necessary to take on the responsibilities of a clinical provider (physician, nurse, allied health provider), you will need to make some sacrifices and do things that are not required of the general public. One of those things is likely to be mandatory vaccines. If "the jab" is standing between you and a career that is appealing, then maybe it isn't that appealing after all.

 

[Med Ed]

All a vaccine does is give your immune system information on a potential threat. If/when the real threat is encountered, the immune system is primed and ready to mount a rapid and highly specific response.

If you learn even basic immunology this makes perfect sense. It also becomes clear that vaccination is likely the most significant medical advancement of the last 250 years.

Unfortunately this carries with it a paradox. As infectious diseases themselves become less of a threat, the means of prevention appear more sinister. And bad actors will always find ways to co-opt ignorance and profit from fear, distrust, and misinformation. Often while accusing others of doing just that.

Rather than worrying about vaccine requirements, your time would be better spent becoming more educated on immunology. After that you’ll have no fear of shots anymore. In fact you may even look forward to them.

 

[Wistfulness]

Dying from the Covid vaccine is very rare. Assessment of Risk for Sudden Cardiac Death Among...

There has been no causal link established between the COVID vaccine and sudden cardiac events. It's not a thing.

Per the article:

These data do not support an association between receipt of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine and sudden cardiac death among previously healthy young persons. COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for all persons aged ≥6 months to prevent COVID-19 and complications, including death.

 

[polymerization]

Don't think too deeply about it, escalating hesitancy is going to find a hard stop at the end of the story. If and when you are admitted, you'll log in to the AMP portal to accept the school's offer of admission.

You are only given two options, accept or decline. The verbiage probably varies at different schools, but at my school, the offer of admission is explicitly contingent on meeting all compliance requirements, which include immunizations and expanded technical standards. There are "exemptions," but they are usually written in such a way to make it difficult to qualify for them.

It would not just be COVID and the flu, either. My school required several boosters for early childhood immunizations.

Resist, and you draw negative attention to yourself before ever stepping foot on campus, at best. At worst, you lose your seat altogether (and they will write the admissions language to make that very hard to refute legally, you are not being coerced).

After the emotional tumult of the application cycle, I could not imagine drawing the line in the sand here.

 

[Goro]

This is not a hill to die on.

At my school, both immunizations are are required.

If you want to set foot in a hospital as a student or a doctor, it's also required. HepB (3 shots) as well if you don't have good titers. Then there's also the annual PPD test for TB, where tuberculin (not a vaccine, although it was originally developed as one over 100 years ago, until it was quickly found to not be protective) is injected into the dermis.