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"Extensive visible tattoos are unacceptable" - starting medicine this September

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Why can't you cover it? Or do you just mean temporarily because it's a recent tattoo?

My tattoo is a few years old. Its a tattoo sleeve, hence it will be seen if i roll up my sleeves or wear short t-shirts/scrubs

Reply 21

medicbraff

Original post by Helenia

I've seen one doctor with a sleeve and several more with visible forearm tattoos. As long as it's not offensive, I think most people won't care, and if you comply with the rest of the dress policy I don't think they'd really be able to discipline you for it. Heavy cover-up make-up is probably more of an infection control issue than just leaving it on display!

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That's reassuring. I agree, camouflage makeup would be an infection control problem in itself, whilst being highly impractical as i'd be washing it off several times a day!

As long as i can study medicine i'll be happy. I've had no problem with my tattoos so far, and I've worked with people of all ages.

Reply 22

BigYoSpeck

Original post by medicbraff

My tattoo is a few years old. Its a tattoo sleeve, hence it will be seen if i roll up my sleeves or wear short t-shirts/scrubs

If the rule is your sleeve tattoo must be covered, can you not just make sure you always have a long sleeve top on, even as an undergarment?

Reply 23

ahorey

Original post by BigYoSpeck

If the rule is your sleeve tattoo must be covered, can you not just make sure you always have a long sleeve top on, even as an undergarment?

You must be bare below the elbows in NHS hospitals etc. I also wouldn't use JD Off scrubs as an example lol.

Interesting problem with the tattoo sleeve. You could always contact the BMA and ask them for advice if you don't want to contact your university.
Ive no advice as haven't come across anyone in uni with a sleeve before, but it could potentially be a problem.

Reply 24

UKCATrocks

Original post by visesh

How exactly is a bit of pigmented dermis going to pass on infections? A new fresh tattoo perhaps, but otherwise?

Unless you're talking about BBVs and the restrictions NHSBT have on blood donation. Well, unless you're planning on pouring your blood into a patient's system, I suspect you'll be fine.

No, sorry. I was talking about anything one might wear to cover it.

In the end it boils down to each medical school's interpretation of professionalism and that is a hard one because it also links closely with what patients may feel, and no one can control that.

I have found this piece of advice on the GMC website. It was a survey done amongst medical students. See here for the full document:
http://www.gmc-uk.org/Student_professionalism_our_survey_of_medical_students.pdf_60873369.pdf

"Across most of the questions, women were more likely than men to regard the unprofessional (or less professional) behaviours as unacceptable or mostly unacceptable. The exception to this was the question about appearance, with men more likely than women to think that wearing sleeveless tops, slogan T-shirts and black trainers were not acceptable on a ward round. This could be related to the fact that men’s smart or business dress tends to be less flexible than women’s.

There are statistically significant differences between graduate entrants and school leavers, with graduate entrants more likely to view the unprofessional behaviours as unacceptable or mostly unacceptable than school leavers.* Again, the exception to this was on appearance, with graduates more accepting of visible tattoos than school leavers. This may be reflective of age and attitudes towards tattoos. It is illegal to have a tattoo in the UK until the age of 18 and we know from a US poll that more people in the 25–29 (30%) age group have tattoos than those in the 18–24 age group (22%).† Responses from graduates and school leavers, and from men and women, were broadly the same on the positive professional behaviours. The exception to this was that men were more likely than women to regard raising concerns about patient safety as acceptable or mostly acceptable. Differences in responses according to the profile of students may be useful for medical schools to consider when deciding how and when to teach particular aspects of professionalism. "