Thank you for reading.Decisions decisions!!
Decisions decisions!!
Hi Everyone, I am currently a student at an university in central Florida working on my BS in Health Sciences. I was a cardiovascular sonography student for a year but withdrew from the program because I found it monotonous and when I got to my rotations in the hospital I was scared of being around sick people and exposed to yucky diseases. I love medicine and would love to learn more about the human body and how it works. Now my problem is doing my clinical rotations at clinics, hospitals, emergency rooms, or just places where I would have to be exposed to things my stomach will not be able to handle. I consider myself a bit of a germaphobe and I'm scared this will keep me from fulfilling my dream. I also know that after i graduate i will make the decision on where i want to work so its not something i have to do my whole life. I would just need to get through the clinical rotations. Has any of you that are now Physician Assistant's went through something similar before making your final decision? I love working with people and be able to make a change in their lives. I am on the edge of healthcare administration and PA. Just confused and very indecisive. Any suggestions will help. Thank you for reading.
Thank you for reading.
Re: Decisions decisions!!
I rarely come out and say this, but based on what you're telling me, maybe medicine isn't the best choice for you.
There are plenty of PAs/nurses/medical students people who get squeamish at the site of blood or wounds, or vomit or whatever. But having a problem with something so general as germs, diseases, and other "yucky stuff" should be a HUGE warning light.
As a PA, your job will be identifying and treating diseases of ALL kinds. In primary care you will run across stinky, unhealthy feet, halitosis, morbid obesity, pus, blood, body odor, and all manner of yucky things. Not all the time, mind you, but if you can't get to a place where you fully accept that dealing with those things is your job, you're going to have a hard time being a PA.
There are some specialties that have minimal patient contact - psychiatry and radiology come to mind. There aren't many radiology physician assistants - that's usually the province of MDs, but there are some. In psychiatry though you may not do a lot of touching patients, you will deal with illnesses, poor hygiene (very common), and sometimes their chronic mental illnesses will make them combative and antisocial (throwing stool, spitting at you, etc.). Again, not all the time, but it's there.
So before you go signing up for a degree in this field, you really should think it over. Maybe changing people's lives in other ways would be more for you (attorney, psychotherapist, psychologist, social worker, educator, etc.).
There are plenty of PAs/nurses/medical students people who get squeamish at the site of blood or wounds, or vomit or whatever. But having a problem with something so general as germs, diseases, and other "yucky stuff" should be a HUGE warning light.
As a PA, your job will be identifying and treating diseases of ALL kinds. In primary care you will run across stinky, unhealthy feet, halitosis, morbid obesity, pus, blood, body odor, and all manner of yucky things. Not all the time, mind you, but if you can't get to a place where you fully accept that dealing with those things is your job, you're going to have a hard time being a PA.
There are some specialties that have minimal patient contact - psychiatry and radiology come to mind. There aren't many radiology physician assistants - that's usually the province of MDs, but there are some. In psychiatry though you may not do a lot of touching patients, you will deal with illnesses, poor hygiene (very common), and sometimes their chronic mental illnesses will make them combative and antisocial (throwing stool, spitting at you, etc.). Again, not all the time, but it's there.
So before you go signing up for a degree in this field, you really should think it over. Maybe changing people's lives in other ways would be more for you (attorney, psychotherapist, psychologist, social worker, educator, etc.).