Veiled

[Fortune]

Hello,

I was wondering if there were any female medical students who wear the hijab? What are some issues that you face as a doctor and a woman of Islam? I know that ever since I've donned the hijab people have always been asking me how I will practice with it on. This seems really idiotic on the surface b/c you'll obviously practice like every other doctor. ( No you see now that I wear a hijab I will do a tribal dance around the patient before I commence..:S) But it is reality that because of the hijab you are seen as a much different person. My professors have taken it upon themselves to 'warn' me of possible prejudices I may face in the process of applying to medical school and in medical school itself. So how do you deal with it ?

Some Muslim women I speak with who are removed from the medical profession believe that medicine is not a place for a Muslim women. Although I STRONGLY disagree with their stance, I can appreciate their point -of -view, which stems from perhaps issues of immodesty in dealing with physicals on men and women. However, I find that discussing testicles in biology class and discussing such topic amongst your girlfriends are two COMPLETELY different things. In science the human body becomes a machine, displaced from the social.

Anyways sorry about sidetracking, back to my original question; how do you deal with being a veiled woman in medical school? If you are do not wear a hijab do you not do it b/c of fears of how this will impose of your medical career( I happen to know a lot of bright Muslim women who do it b/c of this, don't wear the hijab due to this reason)?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Hoooba]

I am a guy, so I can't offer you any practical advice; however, I support your values and your decision to wear a hijab. I am proud to be your muslim brother.

I am currently going through the application process as well. I haven't really given much thought to whether being a muslim will have any effect. I imagine that most people in admission commitees are intelligent and mature enough to look past religious beliefs.

Anyway, good luck to you. You should feel proud you're following what you believe

 

[Fortune]

JazakuAllah bro, good luck to you too.

 

[rattlesnake]

I am a guy, I am a fourth yr medical student. My advice to you will be to definatly apply to med school if you like medicine. Unfortunatly, there always be some people who are going to discriminate you because of your hijab no matter what field you go to.
I don't think most admission officials will care about your hijab. But just to be on the safe side, apply to as many medical schools as you can.

Good luck

 

[DMD_2009]

Hello,
I was wondering if there were any female medical students who wear the hijab? What are some issues that you face as a doctor and a woman of Islam? I know that ever since I've donned the hijab people have always been asking me how I will practice with it on. This seems really idiotic on the surface b/c you'll obviously practice like every other doctor. ( No you see now that I wear a hijab I will do a tribal dance around the patient before I commence..:S) But it is reality that because of the hijab you are seen as a much different person. My professors have taken it upon themselves to 'warn' me of possible prejudices I may face in the process of applying to medical school and in medical school itself. So how do you deal with it ?

Some Muslim women I speak with who are removed from the medical profession believe that medicine is not a place for a Muslim women. Although I STRONGLY disagree with their stance, I can appreciate their point -of -view, which stems from perhaps issues of immodesty in dealing with physicals on men and women. However, I find that discussing testicles in biology class and discussing such topic amongst your girlfriends are two COMPLETELY different things. In science the human body becomes a machine, displaced from the social.

Anyways sorry about sidetracking, back to my original question; how do you deal with being a veiled woman in medical school? If you are do not wear a hijab do you not do it b/c of fears of how this will impose of your medical career( I happen to know a lot of bright Muslim women who do it b/c of this, don't wear the hijab due to this reason)?

Salams,
I am a sister who wears hijab and I am applying to dental schools in America. My sister who graduated from med school wears jilbab/abaya and scarf. Her hijab did not limit her to do anything.
If anyone has a problem with ur hijab they just have to live with it! You have your rights as an individual and you are free to practice your religion in America and no one can stop you!
Hope that helps! Good luck.

 

[IsraeliMD]

Hi,

while I am a guy and a jew I still wanted to share my insight.
I wear a kippa (Skullcap). While smaller and more covert than the Hijab it still symbolizes who I am and where I am coming from. Both our accessories come with stereotypes and sometimes prejudices (free of charge) .

In no way should this prevent you from wearing your hijab.

Sure you will be stared at and you might be a victim of prejudice even amongst the medical family. But never take it personally. Keep your head up.

 

[BlondeCookie]

Is it morally right to mix religion and work/school?

There are 2 issues here. What you do in your private practice once you become a doctor, and what you do in a hospital. Legally, if I'm not mistaken, you have a right to wear what you want in your own private practice. In a hospital, you must and ethically should conform to the dress code of that hospital.

 

[Fortune]

Hi,

while I am a guy and a jew I still wanted to share my insight.
I wear a kippa (Skullcap). While smaller and more covert than the Hijab it still symbolizes who I am and where I am coming from. Both our accessories come with stereotypes and sometimes prejudices (free of charge) .

In no way should this prevent you from wearing your hijab.

Sure you will be stared at and you might be a victim of prejudice even amongst the medical family. But never take it personally. Keep your head up.

Thanks for your words of encouragement, you're absolutely correct, the ignorance of others should deter one from being who they are. That's awesome that you wear your kippa!

To BlondeCookie( cool name btw),

You bring up some interesting points. Should religion be separated from work in the sense that the hospital shouldn't be some sort of preaching ground? Yes , totally a doctor shouldn't be an undercover religion propagator, unless of course you're apart of some specific group like a missionary/doctor.

I would have to disagree with your second point about complying to the hospitals dress code. Its like school. There is a dress code that says no baseball caps( well at my school anyways) but they would allow for me to wear my hijab. I took a summer course at the local Catholic school and they were extremely tolerant.

Yes the dress code should be followed but should it be to the extent that one cannot follow their religion? Does it really come down to religion or work? I don't think there should have to be a choice, but it would be interesting to get the opinions of others on the subject.

 

[yesmeena]

i'm eager to hear your impressions regarding your application experience . JAK!

 

[~Rana]

I'm really eager to hear all about your experience too! I've always wondered how it was gonna be because I'm veiled too alhamdulilah. Plus, I don't know any doctors that are veiled so I had no idea and no one to ask. So inshAllah it won't be a problem...but we're all definitely with you, stay strong!!

 

[hzma]

Hello,

I was wondering if there were any female medical students who wear the hijab? What are some issues that you face as a doctor and a woman of Islam? I know that ever since I've donned the hijab people have always been asking me how I will practice with it on. This seems really idiotic on the surface b/c you'll obviously practice like every other doctor. ( No you see now that I wear a hijab I will do a tribal dance around the patient before I commence..:S) But it is reality that because of the hijab you are seen as a much different person. My professors have taken it upon themselves to 'warn' me of possible prejudices I may face in the process of applying to medical school and in medical school itself. So how do you deal with it ?

Some Muslim women I speak with who are removed from the medical profession believe that medicine is not a place for a Muslim women. Although I STRONGLY disagree with their stance, I can appreciate their point -of -view, which stems from perhaps issues of immodesty in dealing with physicals on men and women. However, I find that discussing testicles in biology class and discussing such topic amongst your girlfriends are two COMPLETELY different things. In science the human body becomes a machine, displaced from the social.

Anyways sorry about sidetracking, back to my original question; how do you deal with being a veiled woman in medical school? If you are do not wear a hijab do you not do it b/c of fears of how this will impose of your medical career( I happen to know a lot of bright Muslim women who do it b/c of this, don't wear the hijab due to this reason)?

Girl, i don't know where the guys who say women shouldn't be drs get their sources from, but they obviously haven't read history. Otherwise, they would have heard of Rufaida (Ruwaida) who was a "physician" at the time of the Prophet SAS, and even ran the first "hospital" which was basically tents divided according to different diseases. Please read about her in this book:
http://www.astrolabe.com/product/1263/Islam:_The_Empowering_of_Women.html

As for the veil, i didn't go to med school here, but i see lots of women students wearing hijab in the hospital i work at, and many residents too including myself. There's also a lot of jews wearing the skull cap, and jewwesses who only wear skirts, even scrubs-skirts, and sikhs wearing turbans. So.

Study hard, and do what u want to do.

 

[yesmeena]

Asalamu Alaykum Dear H,

You keep inspiring me time & time again , masha2Allah ! May Allah swt grant you success & happiness in every step you take isA .

Your Sister , Yassmine.

 

[Knight_MD]

Very true. The 1st doctor in Islam was a woman (Amr Khaled keeps repeating that a lot ). And she handled all kinds of injuries during times of war. So "modesty" and "physicals" aren't even issues. Rabbena ma3aky.

Keep us updated... Best of luck

 

[LooLi]

Assalamu 3alaikom brothers and sisters.
I can't tell you how thrilled I am to find a thread I've so long been looking for. I almost have tears streaming down my cheek. It's very reassuring to find other fellow egyptian doctors alive on the internet and going throught the same challenging situation I'm dealing with here..

I'm a 2003 Mansoura Medical Graduate, finished my PGY-1 internship in 2005 and got married to an AMERICAN CITIZEN in July, afterwhich we flew to the USA.. I passed step 1 el7amdolellah with a score of 94/233 and the CS a few weeks ago, and trying for the 2007 Match ensha2allah. I'm applying to Path and IM. I really need your help HZMA, please contact me if you're still around here.

I wanted to say that I am also veiled al7amdolellah, and had been subject to a few prejudiced looks here and there over the past year and a half. I don't really care what anybody thinks when they look at me, but after a while, I felt it had braught my morale down abit, especially that I almost never saw a veiled woman in this small town I live in, in OHIO.

Please, if anyone's in OHIO/MICHIGAN/NY who's trying for this year's match or has already matched (congrats), please please reply and give me your input. I'm getting frustrated here, only have 2 interview one of which is for pathology which is my prime dream.

Good Luck to everyone and God Bless you all
LooLi

 

[hzma]

Assalamu 3alaikom brothers and sisters.
I can't tell you how thrilled I am to find a thread I've so long been looking for. I almost have tears streaming down my cheek. It's very reassuring to find other fellow egyptian doctors alive on the internet and going throught the same challenging situation I'm dealing with here..

I'm a 2003 Mansoura Medical Graduate, finished my PGY-1 internship in 2005 and got married to an AMERICAN CITIZEN in July, afterwhich we flew to the USA.. I passed step 1 el7amdolellah with a score of 94/233 and the CS a few weeks ago, and trying for the 2007 Match ensha2allah. I'm applying to Path and IM. I really need your help HZMA, please contact me if you're still around here.

I wanted to say that I am also veiled al7amdolellah, and had been subject to a few prejudiced looks here and there over the past year and a half. I don't really care what anybody thinks when they look at me, but after a while, I felt it had braught my morale down abit, especially that I almost never saw a veiled woman in this small town I live in, in OHIO.

Please, if anyone's in OHIO/MICHIGAN/NY who's trying for this year's match or has already matched (congrats), please please reply and give me your input. I'm getting frustrated here, only have 2 interview, one in path and one in IM.

Good Luck to everyone and God Bless you all
LooLi

Ahlan beeky Looli! Nawarti! And don't worry, this is a tough time, the waiting game. I went through the whole 2 yrs of it, while studying for usmles then applying for residency and waiting to get interviews. About hijab, I was in Toledo, OH for a while, there were lots of hijabis there. Where are u in Ohio? I'm in NJ now which has even more. Where are you applying to? Well if there's anything i can be of help, private message me anytime if u like. And don't forget... most imp, to pray, Allah is near always.

 

[LooLi]

W ne3ma bellaah ya Hoda, I'll PM you.

 

[LooLi]

Please Check your private msg hzma.. I sent you a lengthy one

 

[justwondering]

assalamu alaikum,
just wanted to say, u can do it inshaAllah with hijab. i applied to and got into med schl with hijab and i am now doing interviews alhamdulillah. i live in a big city in the north (in the US), so there aren't many problems with it. ive even worked in a va hospital and a juvenile detention center and did not have any bad experiences relating to hijab. there are a few hijiabis in my med schl ( i was the first) and also some residents. ppl have been very accomodating and even ask me about how they can help (with scrubbing, in etc). be prepared, though to concisely explain if pts ask u about it, as ive had to a few times. also when the time comes, u will need to make preparations ahead of time like giving them plenty of time in advance to ask for help finding a scrub attire that works for u and for them.

i did have one bad experience where a pt refused to see me (as a med student) but that was in a smaller town in the south. yeah, sometimes pts seem suprised to see me when i walk into a room and introduce myself, but they can see that i have no problem communicating with them and that im friendly and there to help them. alhamdulillah, ive gotten really good recommendations and evaluations from my attending physicians who consistently say i have good rapport with my pts. i think it's in part due to hijab because i know im "representing", so i make sure i'm extra-nice to my pts.

personally, i go by the opinion that one shouldnt examine (physical contact) the opposite sex unless its an emergency situation or there is no one else qualified to do it. i dont have a problem with examining men during my training (med schl/residency), seeing this as a necessity, but dont plan on doing it after im out in practice inshaAllah (there's no reason for me to do a non-emergent testicular exam on a man when there are plenty of male doctors that could do it). of course if someone needed urgent/emergent medical care, i would take care of it regardless of gender.

for blondecookie, i dont think there's any problem with any of the above. no one will be hurt by it, and i even spoke to one of the medical ethicists at my schl about this (gender). there's no problem with wearing religous attire in the hospitals... i have been in catholic hospitals where certain practices (abortions, etc) are not allowed due to catholic religious reasons.

 

[Mubash'shirah]

I'm loving this thread! Asalamwalaikum everyone.
I'm at the moment a sophomore pre-med student here in the South. Last year when I was about to put on the hijab this reason of the uncertain future was the one that hindered my decision to permanently take on the hijab. As it is, I'm not one right now but InshAllah I hope to be one in the future.

The thing about living here in the South is that while I know plenty of hijabis(my closest friends) and while I'm not one to fear the discrimination, I feel like I need the support of other pre-med/med students who are going through the process without problems.

My cousin was living in NYC during 9/11 studying her final years of dental school so you can imagine the impact it had on her. I think her experience spooked my family as well which is probably the second reason why I'm not a hijabi.

In any case. bottom line is that I'm really glad to hear of other hijabis that have gone through med school or are doing so now. InshAllah, in the near future I'll be one myself.

 

[tncekm]

As long as your face isn't fully covered and your patients see you smile at them when you care for them I'm sure they'll come back. I wouldn't worry about it.

I'm an agnostic male myself, but I figured I'd throw in my support anyway.