Career in medicine?

Question

atm, i find myself unable to give or be given an injection without breaking down, and if i see my own blood, i also feel VERY queasy

i want to take chemistry, latin, german and maths A levels, and am looking at a career in medicine, but is this posssible with my current dificulties with injections?

if yes, what sort of job in medicine should i look at?

Answer 1

Go for it bud. You're probably 17 yrs old....you'd love medicine. The big thing you have to overcome is anatomy...cutting the corpse up. They do this early on in the course and if you freaked out you'd probably be able to transfer to another course. But you gotta remember all the kids have the same fear and the demonstrators know this so they introduce you to the concept of the dignity of the person you are autopsying...the core concept in medicine. This introduces you to the "person" and you'll find it makes life easier because when you treat real patients the blood etc becomes irrelevent.....you focus on helping the patient. Medicine is about the most interesting course you could do! So give it a go:)

Answer 2

There is only one medical degree, no matter where you do it you will not avoid blood or learning to give injections - it is basic stuff. You can get treatment for phobias so you would need to get your needle phobia seen to - if you are lucky your GP might help out there.

I would also check out the entry requirements for medical schools to check out the entry requirements - with only 2 sciences you might only qualify as an arts A level student and have to do an extra year and not everywhere offers that option.

Answer 3

I think if you really want to have a medical career, you will be able to overcome your fears and live with them.

Remember, bravery isn't about not being frightened, it's being frightened but doing what you must anyway ;-)

At 'A' levels, if you want to study medicine, you would really need Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Maths, and you'd be looking to get top marks, AAB minimum, I would think.

Whatever you ended up specializing in, you'd have to go through the generic medicine degree first, so I'm afraid there's no way of avoiding injections / blood, and you'd also have to face up to the prospect of cutting up a corpse, which is where I would have ducked out.

Like I say, if you really want to do it, you will find the strength to cope. Best of luck, and I really hope it works out for you!!!!

Answer 4

I wouldn't want a medical student who had not done biology