not allowed to scrub in the o.r.

[bcrosspac]

Has anyone had the experience of being told they could not scrub in the OR because of psoriasis or other "not infectious" skin condition. I was just told this on my OB/GYN rotation. I did an entire month of surgery at (2) other hospitals in the same district without problem and now here at the "mother ship" they have told me that because I have psoriasis on my arms (not hands!) that I cannot scrub. This has gone all the way to the director of infection control and epidemiology and they stand behind the policy. Now I cannot scrub in on the OB-GYN surgeries and next month, I have trauma surgery here but what is the point of doing the rotation when I can't scrub in. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have already spoken with the "big guys" at my school and they are looking in to it. Thanks.............

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[GO_MEDPEDS]

I also have psoriasis on my arms, but I have never actually been told that I could not scrub in for a case (well, not because of the psoriasis, anyway). I did a quick search for any policies or literature anywhere that would prevent you from doing this, and I really couldn't find it anywhere that psoriasis should inhibit your surgical/OB-GYN experiences. The one thing that I did see is that people with psoriasis do have an increased bacteria load on their affected skin, but it stated explicitly that normal washing precautions would not increase the risk of infection (though this was concerning the individual, not infecting others). I would strongly urge you to contact the National Psoriasis Institution or find some reputable Dermatologist/Infectious Disease Physician to defend your claim. I think it is a travesty for medical schools to try and limit or experiences because of a handicap... especially one that is fabricated. Please let me know how your issue resolves and best of luck to you!

Grant

 

[JasonDO]

Originally posted by bcrosspac
Has anyone had the experience of being told they could not scrub in the OR because of psoriasis or other "not infectious" skin condition. I was just told this on my OB/GYN rotation. I did an entire month of surgery at (2) other hospitals in the same district without problem and now here at the "mother ship" they have told me that because I have psoriasis on my arms (not hands!) that I cannot scrub. This has gone all the way to the director of infection control and epidemiology and they stand behind the policy. Now I cannot scrub in on the OB-GYN surgeries and next month, I have trauma surgery here but what is the point of doing the rotation when I can't scrub in. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have already spoken with the "big guys" at my school and they are looking in to it. Thanks.............

If you're a NSU-COM student and are talking about Broward General Medical Center...my advice to you is to talk with the iron fist known as Elaine Lefkowitz and ask her to move you to a different place for your surgery rotation(s)...as a 3rd year I did one month of General Surgery @ Coral Springs Medical Center w/Dr. Shachner and Dr. Zaragoza and the other month @ Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood which by the way is a Level I trauma center w/Dr. Lottenberg...from years past the vast majority have found surgery at BGMC to SUCK!!!

 

[Annette]

My surgery attending was covered from head to toe with psoriasis lesions!

For trauma surgery, I never scrubbed during my rotation, but I didn't miss it (I'm interested in EM, not surg).

 

[Samir Desai]

I agree with many of the comments made by GO_MEDPEDS. By not allowing you to scrub in, they are compromising your education during this rotation. In addition, your evaluation may very well be affected. It would be one thing if the reason for not allowing you to scrub in had some basis, but it does not.

I discussed your situation with a faculty member in the Department of Dermatology here at the Baylor College of Medicine who agreed that there is no reason for you not to participate in the OR. It sounds like you have approached some of the higher-ups at your medical school and I'm glad you did so. Hopefully, they will be able to resolve the situation for you but if not, I would encourage you to seek out a faculty member in the Department of Dermatology at your own medical school. You may even have someone who is an expert of psoriasis at your institution. Have the OB faculty provide them with documentation that backs their stance. If need be, you can consider contacting an expert at another insitution or even the National Psoriasis Foundation. The latter group would really be interested in hearing about your experience.

Samir Desai, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine

 

[maxheadroom]

Sounds like crap to me.

Only reason that someone with psoriasis might not be able to scrub would be the friability of the psoriatic lesions. If you started bleeding from the lesions, you might have to put some Tegaderm on it.

Challenge the rule. Assault the paradigm. Kick some ass.

 

[bcrosspac]

😉

Thanks everyone for your advice. The school does not want to challenge the hospital so I am doing a surgical rotation somewhere else. Everyone agrees what a bogus policy it is but it is not going to change on my accout. Thanks again.

Bill.