Phlebotomy in MS

[oceanmist]

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I'll be starting medical school this August and am excited for the journey. One thing which has me concerned is my (abnormally intense) discomfort with needles. Up until this point in the hospital I would tend to look away at any type of needle sticking to prevent myself from feeling queezy or worse yet dizzy. It's the concept of inflicting pain combined with sticking thin and rolling tubules that makes me feel very sick pretty quickly.

I know that it will probably be important for me to at least take the curb off of this reaction. My question is how important (and frequently used) is phlebotomy type skills in medical school? I've heard students practice taking blood on other medical students and I thought it may be beneficial to take a basic phlebotomy course to try and get at least a little more comfortable so that by the time I do this during medical school I'm not passing out / feeling sick every time this comes up. I don't want to spend a lot of time really learning the ins and outs of phlebotomy, I'm thinking just trying to get more used to it by seeing it more and doing it myself may be helpful?

Thanks for any suggestions or words of advice !


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[Awesome Sauceome]

Hey I dont think that a phlebotomy class would be worth it (especially since some are becoming so long and expensive).

Here is my advice, its broken down into a couple steps.
1) First and foremost, acceptance. You need to really sit yourself down and understand that hey, this is a common thing. This is not weird to be uncomfortable with this, lots of people (including in the medical field) have this sort of problem. With that you really find peace that you will still be able to be a physician, you can still do your dream. As someone who in the past overcame a serious phobia (mildly debilitating), that is the first step. The anxiety that you produce causes most of the problem. Internally you might worry about whether or not you are really meant to be a physician, how can you have this problem etc. Most importantly you need to minimize the effect that this has on your life, and the first step to that is internal understanding. Even posting it on here is awesome. Hiding it can really make it worse (again for fear of what people would think - seeing as you are going to medical school and cant handle blood/needles).

2) Now the physical part. This takes exposure (exposure therapy is a powerful tool). This advice was given to me by a physician who actually had this problem when he first started. I was shadowing him in the ER and I was feeling woozy and he said to take very very slow but deep breaths. Focus on the breathing and nothing else. You wouldnt believe how many people drop because they simply stop breathing due to anxiety or whatever haha.... Deep, slow, concentrated breathing is the key.

3) Continual exposure. The more you see it, the more your body gets used to it. You have effectively removed the problem. Maybe get a shadowing gig in the ER over the summer. I bet you anything just from the sheer exposure you would find relief.

Thats my take at least.

 

[sinombre]

If I were you I would just follow around a phlebotomist in an ER or in a phlebotomy lab at a clinic. A lab might be better way to expose yourself because you can sit down and minimize the likelihood of vasovagal-ing or at least injuring yourself from it. You have plenty of time though... you probably won't really be exposed to anything clinical in your first two years (although how much clinical stuff you have to do during the preclinical years varies from school to school).

 

[oceanmist]

These are all really great suggestions. I really appreciate it. I agree that exposure is key and maybe real life exposure as opposed to an actual phlebotomy course may be the best route as suggested. At the school I am most interested in I am pretty positive (heard from MS3 at the school) they practice on each other in the first year.


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[oingoboingo]

Don't stress about it too much! You'll probably have an opportunity to practice in a lab during first or second year. Plus in my experience, it is WAY easier to be on the non-pointy side of the needle - I have to look away when I get a shot/blood draw, but I have no problem injecting/drawing other people.

 

[jturkel]

Practicing doing blood draws/inserting IVs in med school on each other wasn't THAt bad. Just wait till you practice pelvic and prostate/DREs on each other



....I kid, I kid.

 

[Priapism4tooLong]

I didn't know medical schools were accepting 12 year old girls

 

[Rendar5]

huh? the only people who seem to faint on me when I do procedures are big guys watching the procedure. Never had a girl faint on me so far.

 

[Priapism4tooLong]

huh? the only people who seem to faint on me when I do procedures are big guys watching the procedure. Never had a girl faint on me so far.

lol I'm just teasing the OP i knew plenty of people who weren't comfortable with taking bloods even well into their third year. Its quite common.