Hi! I'm a freshman at Wellesley college and I plan on going into the medical field. I also have four ear piercings (both lobes and both helixes). Currently I wear large, colorful jewelry, but I plan on wearing simple studs when I will scrub up. My question is; do you think it is inappropriate/unprofessional for doctors to have piercings other than earlobes? I am thinking of piercing my nose to wear a ring, and when I scrub up I would wear a clear stud. I have done some research and there are a lot of conflicting ideas about facial and ear piercings. What do you think? Would you trust a neurologist with a little (very subtle) metal? (ps. I also have four tattoos but they are all on the foot/ankle area and thus would be covered. )
You're asking the wrong guy. 98% of my friends have ink, and at least that many have piercings. When I meet somebody without ink or piercings, it's like meeting someone from another world. And yes, both my doctor and dentist have both piercings and tats. Lex
My mother has worked as a tech for twenty-odd years, became a registered nurse a couple years ago, my father was a Corpsman in the Marnies, and I myself plan on going into the medical field. So I'd say to just be a bit cautious. Having tattoos/piercings/really any kind of conspicuos appearance thing could give you some trouble getting hired. It's not percieved to look professional and some employers feel it may scare some elderly patients or make them feel unfomfortable/untrusting. There's also a potential for not being taken too seriously. None of this is *garunteed* to happen, but it very well could, from what I know.
I personally don't care about the medical professional's appearance that much, as there are more pertinent criteria. What matters to me more is that you can convey information to patients in an intelligible manner. Knowing what you are talking about is more important than the effects of your appearance. So if you're wearing a little metal but you know a lot about neurology, than that's good in my book =) I'm sure that patients would rather have a physician whom looks different but explains things clearly rather than an ordinary-looking one that confuses them to no end.
Although in principle, Hiems is right, in practice I'd agree with mainly and Carbine. I'm on a disaster medical team made up of primarily RNs and EMT/Paramedics. Nobody has large, highly visible tatoos. A few have some ink or piercings that would be covered by a typical shirt. So, subtle ink or tatoos are probably fine.
I personally wouldn't mind, but one of my first thoughts would be to take any piercings out when you go to work, because we've all heard the horror stories of incompetent doctors/nurses losing a piercing inside a patient, then that patient developing internal bleeding/sepsis. Obviously this would be a very rare occurrence, but it seems easy to avoid by just taking 2 seconds to remove piercings before going to work. I can also imagine piercings getting caught on things at a hospital. All the best.
Go ahead and get the piercing(s). So long as you hide them for the interviews. One thing you might be interested to know is that septum piercings can be completely hidden when necessary. While changing them to a stud would be fine, be aware that actually taking some of them out probably wouldn't work. My lip piercings can close up within an hour of being taken out, and they're supposed to be fully healed. I'd be fine with a doctor having piercings. I'm hardly one to speak, having eight myself, and planning on getting some more in a couple of days.
