Squeamishness- Will I Get Over It?

[isy5672]

I'm a high school senior, about to graduate, and am hoping to follow a pre-med track next year in college. I've been interested in medicine since I was a child and feel incredibly drawn to the field. Like most people, I do have my doubts about becoming a doctor. I grew up a very squeamish kid, and even I've been getting better about it recently, I still feel nervous.

There is a program my high school runs where we get to visit the local medical school and tour the anatomy labs. I've done this twice. The first time I had to leave the room after 10 minutes because I was on the verge of fainting. The second time, this fall, I managed to stay calm and cool the entire time I saw the cadavers, and enjoyed getting to hold the organs.

The thing is, I am very interested in the human body and medicine in general, but the few times I've seen something 'graphic', like a cadaver, I get overwhelmed. I know this type of reaction is normal, but I want to know if any other people have experienced something similar to me.

Is it possible for me to get over my squeamishness entirely? Is it silly of me to still want to be a doctor despite my anxieties?

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[Eleithyia]

Is it possible for me to get over my squeamishness entirely? Is it silly of me to still want to be a doctor despite my anxieties?

Short answer: yes, then no.
Long answer: Lots of people are squeamish and for many of them, the squeamishness goes away with repeated exposure--you just have to want to keep going for long enough. For others, it's a permanent consideration that might end up informing what kind of doctor you end up being. I can't get over being weirded out by eyeballs (i.e. the jello balloons in your skull), so ophthalmology isn't for me. But it's not silly to still want to be a doctor.

I'm sure others will answer, but in the meantime I think there are actually several older threads about squeamishness you could check out if you use the search function at the top right side of the page in the navigation bar.

Don't worry too much about it; you're still so early in your education and there's plenty of time to figure out the squeamishness problem

 

[vellez]

Yes. I hated watching surgeries when I was a kid and my dad love it. He'd watch Trauma: Life in the ER (back when TLC has educational shows on it) and I thought it was so gross. Even my first time in the cadaver lab, I thought it was gross. Now it doesn't even phase me. Except hands. I can't get over hands. So gross.