Will red/green and blue/purple colorblindness stop me from being a surgeon?

[ShadowHuskey]

Question is in title. Thank you.

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[Winged Scapula]

Please do a search before posting a new thread; this question has been asked (and answered) before.

 

[ShadowHuskey]

I did I just wanted new insight.

 

[SLUser11]

I did I just wanted new insight.

Red/green color blindness will eliminate your ability to differentiate between blood and bile, so you'll end up cross-clamping the aorta for a cystic duct stump leak, and doing hepatico-jejenostomies for ruptured aneurysms.

Blue/purple color blindness will prevent you from telling the difference between KU and K-State, which is a huge problem where I trained. Also, it will cause you to confuse Viagra (the little blue pill) with nexium (the little purple pill). Next thing you know, all your reflux patients will be walking around with boners.

In summary, you'll have to find another specialty. I'm sorry.

 

[lykyamy00]

we just had a talk from the residency director for ophtho and she said they test all the m4's they bring on interviews for depth perception and colorblindness. if you are color blind or have a depth perception problem.... no ophtho for you unfortunately

 

[ShadowHuskey]

Wow this is very unfortunate. There has been very successful gene therapy experiments to cure colorblindness in monkeys I really hope it will be applicable to humans in the near future.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I did I just wanted new insight.

Why? The answer hasn't changed.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Wow this is very unfortunate. There have been very successful gene therapy experiments to cure colorblindness I really hope it will be applicable to humans in the near future.

Did you even read the previous thread where many of us stated that we specifically knew of colorblind surgeons?

 

[ShadowHuskey]

Why? The answer hasn't changed.

There might be other people who haven't had the chance to answer because they never saw the forum.

 

[ShadowHuskey]

Did you even read the previous thread where many of us stated that we specifically knew of colorblind surgeons?

And I did read them. Like I said I want new insight from new people.

 

[ShadowHuskey]

Red/green color blindness will eliminate your ability to differentiate between blood and bile, so you'll end up cross-clamping the aorta for a cystic duct stump leak, and doing hepatico-jejenostomies for ruptured aneurysms.

Blue/purple color blindness will prevent you from telling the difference between KU and K-State, which is a huge problem where I trained. Also, it will cause you to confuse Viagra (the little blue pill) with nexium (the little purple pill). Next thing you know, all your reflux patients will be walking around with boners.

In summary, you'll have to find another specialty. I'm sorry.

I have very moderate color blindness and thus I can tell the difference between the color of grass and for instance a rose. So I think I should be able to tell the difference between bile and blood. Although Viagra and Nexium may have similar colors for me aren't there other ways of identifying medication other than by color. Isn't there usually other means of identifying something other than color, such as texture or shape? Do you guys think I can get by?

 

[SLUser11]

Although Viagra and Nexium may have similar colors for me aren't there other ways of identifying medication other than by color. Isn't there usually other means of identifying something other than color, such as texture or shape?

Nope.

All you can do is take the pill yourself...either you get a boner or your heartburn goes away. For people with color-blindness, it's all trial and error.

 

[ShadowHuskey]

Nope.

All you can do is take the pill yourself...either you get a boner or your heartburn goes away. For people with color-blindness, it's all trial and error.

That's encouraging....

 

[Butler]

Nope.

All you can do is take the pill yourself...either you get a boner or your heartburn goes away. For people with color-blindness, it's all trial and error.

This whole thread is epic win 👍

 

[ShadowHuskey]

I know its funny to ridicule a disabled person but I'm trying to reach out to the community for help.

 

[Winged Scapula]

And I did read them. Like I said I want new insight from new people.

There are no new people here. The Surgery forum is made up of the same embittered users since SDN began, with a few newbies here thrown in for laughs.

Seriously. There are colorblind physicians in all specialties, including surgery. Why don't you wait until you've done your clinical clerkships in medical school and see what specialty really interests you and then try and define a profession for yourself, within the framework of your altered ability?

 

[LucidSplash]

I know its funny to ridicule a disabled person but I'm trying to reach out to the community for help.

In this particular instance, you are being ridiculed for being intentionally obtuse, rather than for being handi-capable.

 

[ShadowHuskey]

.

In this particular instance, you are being ridiculed for being intentionally obtuse, rather than for being handi-capable.

Why am I being obtuse? I was just asking for help? And "haha" on the viagra and the K and KU State jokes. Yes it took a little time for me to get it but I thought K and Ku were some medical abbreviations. I'm not in medical school so I had no idea.

 

[Picchu127]

.

Why am I being obtuse? I was just asking for help? And "haha" on the viagra and the K and KU State jokes. Yes it took a little time for me to get it but I thought K and Ku were some medical abbreviations. I'm not in medical school so I had no idea.

Just a few of the points from the "Read Before posting" sticky

New users are welcome in the Surgery and Surgery Subspecialty forums. Really, we like to make new friends. But please observe some general rules or expectations for the forum.

1) Please do a search for your question before posting a new thread; chances are its been asked before

2) Please do not ask the following questions because we honestly don't know or cannot answer:

c. I'm a HS student who must be a surgeon or die. What can I do now to improve my chances? (Ok we know the answer to this one...its NOTHING. Relax, have fun, get laid, whatever.)

4) Finally, we really don't mean to be rude or mean to you. Many of us do not tolerate silliness, laziness or attempts to derogate us or our field. Surgery tends to be a very hierarchical field, thus we expect that members treat others with due respect given their experience and station in life. Hang around awhile, get the mood of the forum, make a few posts and you will be welcomed in most cases. You can disagree with us but understand that it stymies us a bit to have a pre-med student lecture us on how our training should change or how life as an attending really is. When you get there, you can talk about it.

--My take on this

Your question has been asked and answered many times. It's not going to somehow fundamentally change. Asking it again and then not liking the response when people are short/curt with you about it is your own issue.

If you arent in med school yet, you have a long way to go before you decide what field of medicine you want to go into. Thus, your question is just a hypothetical which, again, has been clearly asked and answered.

You have more important things to worry about first like the MCAT if you havent taken it, the first two years of medical school, Step 1, third year, step 2. Focus on those before you worry about what specialty of medicine you are going to practice.

Bottom line: surgeons are busy; asking them a question that's clearly been answered is a waste of your time and theirs. It's not that surgeons are any meaner or shorter than any other field of medicine; the demands of surgery just force them to be more efficient IMHO.

 

[SLUser11]

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Why am I being obtuse? I was just asking for help? And "haha" on the viagra and the K and KU State jokes. Yes it took a little time for me to get it but I thought K and Ku were some medical abbreviations. I'm not in medical school so I had no idea.

The reason you didn't get those jokes is that to you, KU and K-State have the same colors....so what's funny about that?

Here's a link to a previous thread on colorblind surgeons. Here's another.

The truth is that your colorblindness will not prevent you from having a career in surgery. However, there are many other variables (med school, changing interests) involved in the equation, and the likelihood of you actually becoming a surgeon is low....especially if you feel particularly "disabled" by your condition, which affects 7-10% of all males according to trusty wikipedia.

 

[bleeker10]

I know its funny to ridicule a disabled person but I'm trying to reach out to the community for help.

I have the same colorblindness traits and I have never considered myself to be disabled. If anything, it's a funny joke with my friends/classmates. I have never had any issues during surgery and I am going into surgery as a career.

 

[ShadowHuskey]

Thank you for the replies I didn't mean to cause any trouble.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Thank you for the replies I didn't mean to cause any trouble.

No trouble (really).

 

[bleeker10]

Thank you for the replies I didn't mean to cause any trouble.

You aren't causing any trouble. Just make sure you don't consider yourself disabled because you are colorblind. Disadvantaged? Sure. Disabled? No. The only way I'd consider colorblindness as a disability would be if someone had complete colorblindness (only saw in shades of white, gray, black)

 

[45408]

we just had a talk from the residency director for ophtho and she said they test all the m4's they bring on interviews for depth perception and colorblindness. if you are color blind or have a depth perception problem.... no ophtho for you unfortunately

Eh, you can fake your way through the Ishihara test. My friend is totally red/green colorblind and made it into the Navy by memorizing the test.

 

[45408]

I have very moderate color blindness and thus I can tell the difference between the color of grass and for instance a rose. So I think I should be able to tell the difference between bile and blood. Although Viagra and Nexium may have similar colors for me aren't there other ways of identifying medication other than by color. Isn't there usually other means of identifying something other than color, such as texture or shape? Do you guys think I can get by?

I know its funny to ridicule a disabled person but I'm trying to reach out to the community for help.

You're not disabled, no matter how dramatic it sounds when you say it. I've got deuteronomaly as well, and I'm a PGY-2 surgery resident. People only know when I tell them. The only thing that has held me back are the little colored stickers on the chart. I've never had an issue in the OR.

 

[ShadowHuskey]

Thanks everyone. I feel much more confident now.

 

[agranulocytosis]

No, I don't think it'd prevent you from becoming a surgeon. However, it'd be quite hard to decipher which patients are from the green team/red team/blue team, etc. You'd have to round on EVERYONE just to cover your bases.

 

[DHT]

I know its funny to ridicule a disabled person but I'm trying to reach out to the community for help.

You are absolutely not disabled and I have lost all respect for you for insinuating that you are. The only thing keeping you from being a surgeon is your "disabled" mentality.

 

[VisionaryTics]

You are absolutely not disabled and I have lost all respect for you for insinuating that you are. The only thing keeping you from being a surgeon is your "disabled" mentality.

Come on, the kid's in high school. When your sum-life experience can be summarized on the back of a stamp, everything seems monumentally important.