Tattoos/Piercings in vet school???

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
4

4paws

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2008
Messages
54
Reaction score
0
Points
0
  1. Veterinary Student
Members do not see this ad.
I am new to the site so I don't know if this has already been addressed. I wanted to know if any vet students have visible piercings or tattoos and how the students and faculty in their program respond to this. Are you forced to remove and cover them? Are students like this even admitted?
 
I have a tattoo on my wrist, roughly 3x3... hasn't drawn any complaints, criticism, or any comments from staff at all really. Granted Australia is a bit laid back in general... although tattoos/Body mods in general aren't as popular over here.

Anyhow, I perception is going to be based on your overall attitude, how much modification is done and well... what generation the person you are interacting with is from. But yeah, I'd expect to encounter some problems at some point if you have blatant modifications outside of social norms.

I've worked with doctors with several visible tattoos and plenty of ear piercings (nothing too crazy on the piercing side)
 
I have large, visible tattoos on my feet, and it's not a problem. There are several students at my school (and I'm sure more than I know) that have visable tattoos on the wrists, arms, and back of the neck and it is fine. Also, there are several people in my class with nose rings, and one of my good friends didn't even take hers out for her interview and she got in. I think it's probably a good idea to keep them out of sight at the interview just to be safe, but I at least at my school, it was never mentioned that we were required or recommended to hide piercings or tattoos.
 
Wore my nose ring to all of my interviews and was still accepted to 3 schools 😉 I've never heard a word about it from any of my professors etc. Same with my 3 tattoos (on my shoulders/back)
 
No visible tattoos and facial piercings beyond ears and one nose while in the clinic. In class, they don't care. A lot of my class actually had or have gotten tattoos since we've started (I got paws on my foot -- I know, so original).

Feet are good, shoes over them!
 
I don't have any tattoos or piercings, but some of my classmates do -- along with hair colors not found in nature 🙂 -- and it isn't a big deal. I don't think the administration here would say anything about any tattoo, because tattoos have cultural significance among Maori.

But, like Australia, New Zealand is pretty laid back about stuff like this. Also, piercings are not as common as they are in some parts of the US.
 
I don't think it's too big of a deal for Vet school, but I think facial piercings are extremely unprofessional for anyone doing clinicals or practicing as a Veterinarian. Things may be a little different on the coasts though than they are here in the small town Midwest.
 
Very few instructors will care in the classroom. Some clinicians will ask you to remove excess jewelry such as nose rings, multiple earrings, and so on while on hospital duty.
 
There are a bunch of my classmates who have tattoos, most are in easily covered places and most are relatively small, though there are a few pretty large ones (but all coverable). I myself have 3, all on my legs (and one is pretty big). I have definitely limited my professional attire to only pants, but I suppose vet medicine is one that pants are pretty much the standard 🙂 I have to say besides ear piercings, nose rings amongst the girls in my class is probably the 2nd most common piercing. I think a small, simple stud is rather innocuous, but I am not sure if our hospital has rules about taking them out. Also not sure if there is a rule about visible tattoos... guess I will find out soon enough and save the capri pants for non hospital activities 🙂
 
I'm just curious... anyone out there have unusual ear piercings? Did you take them out, wear retainers, cover them up, or keep them in for their interview and still get in?

I have my lobes pierced twice, helix, forward helix, and a vertical lobe piercing now. They're all very modest. I had my forward helix pierced for four monthes and my vertical lobe for six monthes before my mom noticed. The dental hygenist saw my vertical lobe during a cleaning once but she was right next to my ear, and I've had one hairdresser ask me about it. Piercings aren't cheap... if it was a matter of me getting into vet school if I took them out, I'd have no choice but to do it, but has anyone gotten away with retainers?
 
Are students like this even admitted?

🙄 Er, I'll hope that the above was a slight foot-in-mouth because it came off a bit supercilious. People should be admitted based on their qualifications, not their physical attributes. Not admitting someone because of a tattoo is like not admitting someone because they are overweight. I have triple ear studs, a cartilage piercing, a back tattoo and a quite visible wrist tattoo. If people don't like it, they can deal with it. The only judgement that is important is people's judgement of my knowledge and skill.

I go to school in a pretty "conservative" area (rural VA) and haven't had a problem either in school or during my whole time here. If my school suddenly decided I had to wear a watch or overly long sleeves to hide my wrist tattoo, I'd leave. If a clinic refused to hire me because I had a tattoo, I wouldn't want to work with people like that anyway.

There is a large difference between appearing sloppy and unprofessional and having tattoos/piercings (ie the guy who walks in with shirt untucked, dirty shoes, unwashed hair, etc versus a girl with an eyebrow ring) Sloppy, dirty dress indicates sloppy, dirty medicine and a lackadaisical attitude. Tattoos and piercings mean basically nada, except when people attach stereotypes to them. My 2 cents.
 
Last edited:
Also, in terms of faculty/clinician response, they either have said nothing at all, or "Oh how pretty/neat/what does it mean/etc" None of the other people I know who have visible tattoos or piercings have ever had a problem, either.

I think people's attitudes becoming more mature about body modification (thank God).

The one exception I can think of is going TOTALLY overboard - tattoos and piercinhs EVERYwHERE. Again, it has NOTHING do to with your qualifications as a doctor and student, but you need to take into account that it might make people uncomfortable. Then again, you may make people uncomfortable just because you're black, or Muslim, or anything like that - schools shouldn't discriminate against students just because they think the student's appearance may make some clients feel weird.

Bottom Line: That is for clients and private employers to decide, NOT educators.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the input.

I have a small but visible wrist tattoo and a nose ring. I didn't know how much effort i should put into covering/removing them for my upcoming interview.
 
4paws said:
Thanks for the input.

I have a small but visible wrist tattoo and a nose ring. I didn't know how much effort i should put into covering/removing them for my upcoming interview.
Click to expand...

I had 2 interviews for vet school and my tattoos were covered, but I did leave in my tongue ring (though it is clear but it is a 4g) and all my earrings (not sure the names of them, but there are a few "normal" ones, both traguses (tragi?), and some "others" as I am clueless to their names) and I was accepted to one school and rejected from the other. Though I can assure you the piercings were not the reason I was rejected, I managed to do that all on my own (horrible and traumatic interview)!! I now also have my nose pierced and have had no problems with it anywhere. I work in a professional government office and no one has said a word to me about it (and a few of the vets I work with there have a nose ring as well).

Good luck with your interviews 🙂
 
soxbox said:
I had 2 interviews for vet school and my tattoos were covered, but I did leave in my tongue ring (though it is clear but it is a 4g) and all my earrings (not sure the names of them, but there are a few "normal" ones, both traguses (tragi?), and some "others" as I am clueless to their names) and I was accepted to one school and rejected from the other. Though I can assure you the piercings were not the reason I was rejected, I managed to do that all on my own (horrible and traumatic interview)!! I now also have my nose pierced and have had no problems with it anywhere. I work in a professional government office and no one has said a word to me about it (and a few of the vets I work with there have a nose ring as well).
Click to expand...

That makes me feel a lot better.

I paid a lot of money for my piercings, and I'd hate to have to remove them all in the next couple of years 😛
 
WhtsThFrequency said:
Then again, you may make people uncomfortable just because you're black, or Muslim, or anything like that - schools shouldn't discriminate against students just because they think the student's appearance may make some clients feel weird.
Click to expand...

Big difference between discriminating against someone because of race and requiring professional dress and grooming, not the least of which the first is illegal and the second is not. We can debate what is and is not professional dress but the basic concepts are completely different.

Bottom Line: That is for clients and private employers to decide, NOT educators.
Click to expand...

Part of the educators job is to educate the student on behavior that will be helpful for their intended career. This includes interpersonal skills in relating to clients and future employers, which includes dress and grooming.

In the hospital, the attending is ultimately responsible for everything that goes on in that service including how the students and house officers behave. That includes how they dress.
 
I have tattoos on both my wrists and my back. I have not had anybody say anything to me since I got to school about the tattoos other than asking to look at the ones on my wrist. I think the only time I ever had a comment about them was during my undergrad when I was working at a local clinic and one lady told me I would regret getting them but everyone else has been really laid back.
The only thing that I think would bother our dean is outlandish colored hair. I think as long as it is kept tasteful and professional there is no problem with it.
 
Klhughes said:
I have tattoos on both my wrists and my back. I have not had anybody say anything to me since I got to school about the tattoos other than asking to look at the ones on my wrist. I think the only time I ever had a comment about them was during my undergrad when I was working at a local clinic and one lady told me I would regret getting them but everyone else has been really laid back.
The only thing that I think would bother our dean is outlandish colored hair. I think as long as it is kept tasteful and professional there is no problem with it.
Click to expand...

I think we've already had outlandish colored hair! 😉
 
One of our very much beloved faculty members has a celtic tattoo on her wrist. It's very tasteful and I would never doubt her teaching credentials based on her tattoo. 🙂 I think the same goes for students.

I can see how some offensive sayings/images might not be the best choice for public display, but a tasteful tattoo and/or piercings should not be a problem. I never heard of anybody saying that the reason they didn't get in was their tattoo 😀
 
Part of the educators job is to educate the student on behavior that will be helpful for their intended career. This includes interpersonal skills in relating to clients and future employers, which includes dress and grooming.

Teaching us things that are helpful, yes, I totally agree. But not denying us admission because we may not choose to follow advice on physical appearance that is simply "helpful" and not "mandatory" to be a successful doctor.
 
Yeah, I was speaking more to the first question regarding veterinary students' dress than the second question of admissions.
 
.
 
Last edited:
I will say at two practices I used to work at, no visible tattoos were allowed. There was a vet there with a wrist tattoo that had to cover it with sleeves, a watch, or vet wrap. A few of the technicians had either wrist tattoos or sleeves that had to be covered with long sleeved shirts under their scrubs (even in summer). No facial piercings either.

Of course, this is in Tennessee where it seems like the majority of the population believes that if you have tattoos, you must worship the devil..... Sad, but the south is still pretty backwards like that.
 
We had two techs with visible tattoos on their arms... one was a rose with stars and she was not made to cover it up. The other girl had a pin-up girl on her arm and she had to keep that covered for obvious reasons. All the vets that I worked with that had tattoos had ones that were easily covered so there were no issues there. I would say tattoos probably aren't going to be a big deal as long as you can cover them up easily should the place you work at require them to be covered. Opinions on tattoos are going to vary widely from clinic to clinic so that is just something to keep in mind.
 
It really depends on the area. We have students with nose piercings and ear piercings but that's about it. Most (all?) people that have tattoos have them in a place that's covered most of the time.

Bottom line, I would wait to get any facial piercings or visible tattoos until after the interview season. Even then it's a risk you run with future clientel, and that's up to you to decide.
 
Necrobump from a moderator for personal use.

My daughter is 1st year Vet student at UGA. Has 3-4 tattoos not visible. Now has nose ring in septum.
Wife hates it. I dislike it. I believe it is unprofessional and would not bring my cat/dog/horse to a vet that had that.
Same goes for MDs. Not allowed in my hospital system either. Current thoughts/trends?
 
lobelsteve said:
Necrobump from a moderator for personal use.

My daughter is 1st year Vet student at UGA. Has 3-4 tattoos not visible. Now has nose ring in septum.
Wife hates it. I dislike it. I believe it is unprofessional and would not bring my cat/dog/horse to a vet that had that.
Same goes for MDs. Not allowed in my hospital system either. Current thoughts/trends?
Click to expand...
A piercing seems like a weird thing to be this worked up about. If she likes it, who cares, it’s her face. In what way would a piercing hamper one’s ability to do their job?

Some corporations may have guidelines that police things like piercings and tattoos. Others will not care. Your daughter can just work at the places who value her for her skills as a doctor, and avoid those who care more about appearance.

Edit: It’s not like a piercing has to be permanent. Should she later decide she no longer wants the piercing, she can stop putting jewelry in it. The hurt caused by overly critical parents may take longer to fade.
 
Last edited:
JaynaAli said:
A piercing seems like a weird thing to be this worked up about. If she likes it, who cares, it’s her face. In what way would a piercing hamper one’s ability to do their job?

Some corporations may have guidelines that police things like piercings and tattoos. Others will not care. Your daughter can just work at the places who value her for her skills as a doctor, and avoid those who care more about appearance.
Click to expand...
This. A piercing has no effect on someone's clinical aptitudes.

Personally, I think that feeling like one's best self probably makes them be a better doctor, if for no other reason than it increases their self-confidence. If that's having unnaturally colored hair, or piercings, or whatever brings them joy, that's great for them. I'm fortunate to work for an employer that feels the same way.
 
(Granted, I'm also biased because I feel my best self when my hair is a fun color, particularly since I'm in a hospital with a color-coding system and clinicians have to wear a very boring color. And I also have several variably visible tattoos.)
 
(I have no piercings or tattoos and my hair has never ever been dyed, so no bias from me!)
 
Wow, necrobump indeed.

16+ years after my reply to this very thread and nowadays I still have all the ear piercings (including small gauges) and the visible wrist tattoo....and I'm now a specialist and dual-appointed faculty member 😆

However, my opinions remains the same. A septum piercing and a few non-visible tattoos is not a big deal. Now, if she had tattoos all over her face and a mohawk, that might be different and I would counsel her that although it has no effect on her ability to practice medicine, it may be more difficult for her to find an accepting place of work since her appearance is on the extreme end. But a septum? Minor.

If she misses out on a few clients because they have a problem with a septum piercing, that's their loss.
 
Last edited:
I'm not adding anything new here but we don't really care in vet med. Clients with their own beliefs/ideals may care, but the number of people that will actually refuse to see a doctor over tattoos/piercings is exceptionally small.

I have classmates and current colleagues with full sleeves, nose piercings, lip/eyebrow piercings, various ear piercings, etc. We don't care, as long as there is nothing objectively offensive.
 
lobelsteve said:
Necrobump from a moderator for personal use.

My daughter is 1st year Vet student at UGA. Has 3-4 tattoos not visible. Now has nose ring in septum.
Wife hates it. I dislike it. I believe it is unprofessional and would not bring my cat/dog/horse to a vet that had that.
Same goes for MDs. Not allowed in my hospital system either. Current thoughts/trends?
Click to expand...
FWIW, she will definitely not be alone in that at UGA. There plenty of other students (and DVMs!) here with tattoos and jewelry of all kinds
 
lobelsteve said:
Necrobump from a moderator for personal use.

My daughter is 1st year Vet student at UGA. Has 3-4 tattoos not visible. Now has nose ring in septum.
Wife hates it. I dislike it. I believe it is unprofessional and would not bring my cat/dog/horse to a vet that had that.
Same goes for MDs. Not allowed in my hospital system either. Current thoughts/trends?
Click to expand...
Well I have several bright, visible tattoos (almost a full plant/animal sleeve) and short bright colored hair. No issues getting into school this past cycle, and no past issues getting work in clinics (as a tech), even in rural Appalachia.
Times change. Get that piercing you always wanted ❤️
 
lobelsteve said:
Necrobump from a moderator for personal use.

My daughter is 1st year Vet student at UGA. Has 3-4 tattoos not visible. Now has nose ring in septum.
Wife hates it. I dislike it. I believe it is unprofessional and would not bring my cat/dog/horse to a vet that had that.
Same goes for MDs. Not allowed in my hospital system either. Current thoughts/trends?
Click to expand...
If your daughter is happy, living her best life, pursuing her dreams, and is a generally good person that treats other people and animals well, I'm really not sure why a piercing is a big deal. I'd rather see someone be their best self with piercings/tattoos than be repressed and shunned because they cannot be who they truly are (which may yet evolve as the years pass).
 
lobelsteve said:
Necrobump from a moderator for personal use.

My daughter is 1st year Vet student at UGA. Has 3-4 tattoos not visible. Now has nose ring in septum.
Wife hates it. I dislike it. I believe it is unprofessional and would not bring my cat/dog/horse to a vet that had that.
Same goes for MDs. Not allowed in my hospital system either. Current thoughts/trends?
Click to expand...
Sounds like some pretty outdated views all around.

I've had colorful hair, a visible tattoo, and multiple piercings since I graduated vet school. I don't work in a public-facing role anymore but no client ever refused to see me when I did, and if anything I got a lot of compliments (this was in east Tennessee so a fairly conservative area). I know plenty of doctors with septum piercings.

Regardless of all that, I'm glad your daughter has been able to adorn her own body in a way that she likes, and that there is very little chance her colleagues and clients will think anything of it. Hopefully her parents will come to the same reasonable conclusion instead of judging her so harshly for something so harmless.
 
I actually did have a client refuse to see me because of my hair once (with a bonus of him calling me a slur!), but he didn't remain a client very long due to his behavior. My attending took care of that 😁
 
I'm exclusively ER and you'd be hard pressed to find someone without body modifications at every level. Every single doc on staff has visible tattoos (including myself) and multiple have piercings. One of my best techs has a septum. The best hospital manager I've ever worked with had a septum.

The only issue is piercings and the relatively low risk of a claw or tooth getting stuck on it and the piercing being torn out. I chalk that up to personal assumption of risk that lies on the employee.

Not for nothing, if you're going to be hung up on piercings as a marker for your medical team in vet med, you're looking at weeks to find a new GP provider and you may be going hospital to hospital in an ER situation pending on who is on. My ERs have a single doctor on overnight from 11pm to 7 or 8am. Are you really going to look at the doc, see a piercing, and walk out the door at 2am if your dog is having an emergency?
 
GP managing DVM here with a corporation... two full arm sleeves that are still being worked on and many other tattoos. I haven't had any issues with clients and if they have a problem they can go elsewhere. Tattoos and piercings have no effect on practicing veterinary (or human) medicine.
 
One of our small animal surgery attending has a nose ring, multiple other piercings, and visible tattoos at FL (which can be very conservative in areas). She is an amazing surgeon and teacher and I’ve never seen a client refuse to work with her. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about 🙂
 
supershorty said:
I actually did have a client refuse to see me because of my hair once (with a bonus of him calling me a slur!), but he didn't remain a client very long due to his behavior. My attending took care of that 😁
Click to expand...
Probably should have added in that the people that are going to care are all but guaranteed to be terrible clients anyways, if not terrible people…sorry you were treated that way.
 
I have one tattoo on my upper arm and it's a locket with a portrait of my cat-- I like to think that if anything, it is a comforting signal that I, too, am a pet parent and that I love my cat more than anything, I will treat your baby like my own, etc. Also, nobody really sees it because it's high enough that scrub sleeves cover it.

A lot of veterinary professionals have tattoos-- lots of pet portraits which I always find endearing!

I also have a nose piercing.. gasp. I like to think that my parents have coped with it by this point.

edit: if I ever have a second thought about if someone will judge me for the piercing, I easily take it out. I took it out for my vet school interviews, job interviews, etc. Then I look around and see literally everyone else has them and it's chill and I wear it again.
 
battie said:
The only issue is piercings and the relatively low risk of a claw or tooth getting stuck on it and the piercing being torn out. I chalk that up to personal assumption of risk that lies on the employee.
Click to expand...
never had an issue with any piercings but I have learned the bitter lesson of remembering why I need to take my necklaces off, I have on more than one occasion had them broken by being pawed at by an excited dog.
 
The only time I've ever seen/heard of piercings interfering with someone's ability to practice (aside from a client having an issue with them) was:
1) An avian/wildlife vet once told me she usually instructed her staff to take out or cover piercings when working with animals that were attracted to shiny things (ie, raccoons, most birds) as they could pose a risk to staff should an animal get loose
2) An ER vet I worked with had a piercing in the cartilage of her ear (there is probably a specific name for it that I am unfamiliar with) that interfered with her ability to (comfortably) use her stethoscope.
Other than that, I'd say a good portion of the vets I've worked with have at least some kind of tattoo, if not piercings as well. I think the most important thing about "dress code" is functionality; it's important to remember that unlike human MD's, a lot of DVMs work outdoors, so there's not much point in trying to relentlessly uphold "professionalism" when at the end of the day a lot if not mostof us will wind up covered in mud and feces😆
 
DressageEnthusiast said:
2) An ER vet I worked with had a piercing in the cartilage of her ear (there is probably a specific name for it that I am unfamiliar with) that interfered with her ability to (comfortably) use her stethoscope.
Click to expand...
Stethoscopes kept me from getting my daith or tragus done. Idk how vets/techs with those piercings can use stethoscopes honestly, anytime one of my current cartilage piercings gets knocked somehow it will be sore for a few days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
Clubs in Vet School
Replies
5
Views
2K
Koffeekat
K
breezywonton
maximizing surgery experience in vet school
Replies
3
Views
1K
bernerluvah
B
M
Vet tech after vet school
Replies
15
Views
3K
DVMDream
DVMDream
vampyrica
Should I still be working in vet med while in school?
Replies
9
Views
2K
katiemcat
katiemcat
D
Entered to Vet school but...
Replies
2
Views
1K
Drjc1977
D
Top Bottom