I Want Dreadlocks, But Need a Doctor’s Opinion…
Hi, I have been considering dreading my hair for quite some time now. However, I have a few reservations. First, I’ve heard about hair loss due to dreadlocks and I was wondering how likely it is to happen, and whether it is based on how long the person has dreads. I’m thinking I’d probably have them for 2-3 years. Second, I’ve been waiting to dread my hair because I applied to medical school and wanted to avoid any unnecessary judgments during interviews based on my appearance. Now I am starting medical school in the fall and would like to dread my hair, but I am worried that it may negatively impact my professors’, classmates’, or patients’ opinions of my abilities as a student and future physician. As a doctor yourself, would you consider having dreadlocks to be a bad idea during medical school? If I do dread my hair, I plan to get rid of them prior to interviewing for residencies. I considered waiting until I begin my residency or even finish it, but by then I will be nearly (if not over) 30 and at that point I feel I will have outgrown it. Any thoughts, opinions or advice you have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time!
Creating dreadlocks is a personal choice. With that said, as a doctor I always ask if what I do could impact a patient’s confidence in me, so I would not make such a personal choice (of course, this is just my personal opinion). My practice is an elective cosmetic surgery practice and if I had dreadlocks, I believe that many potential patients would not select me as their surgeon, simply because of prejudices that they may carry. Taking it one step further… let’s say that you are a surgeon that needs to perform a life-saving procedure and the patient has two choices — you with dreads or another doctor with a more “standard” hair style. Do you think that will impact the patient’s confidence in you? Or let’s say that you have to break bad news to a patient who has cancer. Will that patient accept your opinion or ask for another? It goes on and on…
The confidence of a patient is about judging the book by its cover at times. Are we far enough along to ignore the cover of all the books out there? I’ve never had dreads, as you might’ve expected, so I’d love to hear from readers with dreadlocks to see if they’ve impacted the way people perceive you.
Dreads do not have to be large, dirty, and wild. They can be small, neat and well maintained. For that reason it is possible to have dreads and be viewed as a professional. I have had dreads for almost five years. I keep my dreads very neat and frequently pull them up into a ponytail or bun for professional functions. I think credibility is lost when a person appears to be unconcerned about their appearance. Dreads do not have to have that appearance. That said, dreads are an extremely personal choice. They say to people that you have made a choice to not go with the status quo, but to become an individual that celebrates your culture, embraces your hair(heritage), and refuses to mutilate themselves simply for the acceptance of someone else. The latter seems harsh, but it is very true. Black people have tightly curled hair. Why not just accept what was given instead of attempting to force it to be something it is not.
As a physician, there is no right answer to you question. Some people, whether peer students, faculty, or patients (you really don’t have to worry about the latter until you do clinical work in your 3rd and 4th yr) will make assumptions based on your dreadlocks, others won’t. It also depends upon the geographic environment you are in (some more established medical schools like Johns Hopkins are highly conversative). I’d just do what makes you feel good, and the decision can be changed if you get feedback that suggests otherwise. You will form highly close relationships with both students and faculty, and they can give you input, if you wish.
I had my dreadlocks for 6 years and I am/was very proud of my individuality. Having dreadlocks is slowly becoming a socially acceptable declaration of style that many people respect and admire. Like any other hairstyle, with proper maintenance, one can achieve a professional look.
I’m a 2nd year Med Student (in UK), I’m white, male n I’ve had Dreads for 5 years. I got 3 of my 4 places n I mentioned my dreads at the end of all my interviews saying I’d be prepared to cut them – at one school (the one I chose) one of the interviewers told me their hair had probably been longer when they started.
It really depends on who you meet – medicine tends to be a very conservative profession but if you’re a good student and look neat (I am and I do) they can’t fault you.
Unfortunately, yeah you’ll get judged (though not always unfavourably) and sometimes it makes my life harder – I feel I have to better, cleverer, harder working, just to be the same in the eyes of some staff. But my own sense of self is important to me n I’ll be giving the rest of my life to others.
The crucial issue is time with patients, thus far I’ve had no problems, if anything, the reverse. But it’s your responsibility as a doctor to be approachable and relatable in order to provide the best possible care. I will be cutting mine very soon, not yet because I feel pressured to but because life as a med student is hard enough as it is.
Race shouldn’t be an issue, although it is, but for all they know I could have a West Indian mother – it’s just as cultural as head scarfs, turbans or beards.
So to any wannabe nattys out there – it’s your life, it might be a harder one but for me it’s better.
I was thinking of going to med school and I want dreads.I am a white male do u still have them?