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hijabis and stethescopes!

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hijabis and stethescopes!
asalkuur
06/19/03 at 12:20:06
Salaams sisters!

for those of you iwho wear hijabs and are in the medical profession....I have a cheezy question for you. How do you deal with your stethescope, ie putting it in your ears, when you see a patient without making it look awkward or clumsy?  :-)  ???

I just got done with my first year of medical school and although I only had to use my stethescope a few times and very briefly, it always made me nervous to think what the others around me think when I sneak the ear piece behind my hijab.  :) Maybe I am too concious and it will take a little getting used to, but just wondering if any of you out there have had any suggestions--funny or otherwise. :)

jazakallah!!!
asalkuur
Re: hijabis and stethescopes!
Shahida
06/20/03 at 06:57:56
[slm] sis!

Very GOOD question, not cheezy at all :-*

We all have these *fears* and *concerns* and nobody wanted to share with me what they do with their stethoscopes, cuz mostly it ended up that they would be showing either a lot of hair, or their entire ears....sooo here goes with my *trusty* advice after loads of practice, and many attempts to find whats comfy and whats quick!

You end up basically having 2 options:

1) You either put your steth *under* your hijaab...then only the tube and bell/diaphragm stick out.  With this way you don't expose anything, but there are a few negatives:  you get a lot of artifactual sounds/*shh* *shh* from the steth rubbing against your scarf, and it is quite uncomfy depending on how your scarf is tied on that day.  Not recommended for beginners, cuz you might just *hear* something that's not there... ;)  (my hearing things has *nothing* to do with my scarf/steth, unfortunately :P)

2) You put the ear pieces in, by moving the scarf slightly away from your ears.  Maybe I'm a freak, lol, but this works for me, and no-one can even see my ears, or my hair.  It does not work for a few friends, I think they just have too much hair, lol:P  Anyway, you can comfortably slip the ear pieces in, and then take the scarf back over, without hasle.  It is quick, but you end up looking a bit *funny*...my mom says I look like Quark, the Ferengi from Star Trek!  :o Anyhow, it works for me, especially when back in the day, everyone would be oowing and aaahing about "bronchial breath sounds" and the consultant would put his steth over the area, and let us each have a quick listen.  (totally unhygienic and yukky, but hey, you're so excited, you forget about silly things like hygiene! ::) )


BUT it does also depend on the way you wear your hijaab.  I find the milfeh/shayla/dupatta style really constrictive around the ears, and altho I LOVE wearing this type of scarf, for me they are just impractical in the hospital...good old 3 corner tied under the chin works great, and is easy to manouvre (sp?)

TIPS:  Practise at home in the mirror to see how you will end up looking, hehe.  Practise doing it quickly, so you get comfy, and dont have your whole scarf falling off the next time you're in a rush in the hospital to hear those bowel sounds:P

Ok, I am seriously sleep deprived, so I gotta run.  I am sure sis Ruqayyah has some excellent tips to give you!  Good luck sis, may Allah make it easy for you and make you successful...inshaAllah, you will be an excellent Muslim doctor:)

Salam
Shahida :-) (we need a hijabi smily with a steth, hehe  8))
Re: hijabis and stethescopes!
asalkuur
06/20/03 at 09:50:16
[wlm] sister Shahida

Those were all awesome ideas and very much appreciated! :)
That's the first thing I am trying when I go home after work today!

JazakaAllah  :-*

asalkuur

(ps. I was thinking of starting a thread about issues with muslim women in the health profession, how they deal with the 'sensitive'  ;)areas. I was lucky to have a girl be my partner to practice physical exam etc but my very yahood professor was like what are you going to do later when there are mostly guys around you, you can't be 'shy' all the time blah blah...and just stuff like that. I would love to hear sisters tell me about their experiences while training to be a doctor or when they are actually practicing. It would make life easier for me later just like with the hijab/stathescope issue, little pointers here and there really do help! :))
Re: hijabis and stethescopes!
Caraj
06/20/03 at 17:48:08
I have a suggestion, please tell me if you think it would work.
I have my own business and sew so was wondering why a custom made scarf could not be made?

With small holes maybe the size of the eraser top of a pencil where the ear pieces would fit into, could even make small flaps where even the samll hole didn't show.

I would be most happy and even honored if anyone would like me to try to come up with some designs at no charge for you to try and experiment with.

Please just let me know. If you have a couple scarfs already you can mail them to me and i can make the modifications. Or I can make the scarf and all (with modifications) myself.

I am so thrilled some of you sisters have chosen medical and health careers. I have ALWAYS felt women should take care of women. I even have to drive an hour away to see a female provider as non is avail at the facility where I live.  Well there is for general stuff but not for OB-GYN stuff.

Salaam,
Cara

P.S. I would be more than happy to assit any sister at no charge in a clothing modification to fit a specific need or career.
Re: hijabis and stethescopes!
a_Silver_Rose
06/21/03 at 02:18:21
[slm]
my sister just sneaks it under her hijab and pulls back the ear part
Re: hijabis and stethescopes!
Emerald
06/21/03 at 23:25:16
[slm]
I just have to say, I know EXACTLY what you're talking about sis. Asalkuur! And I'm so glad you asked this question.( Made me wonder why I never did even though it has been such a big problem for me as well.)

For me, I found neither way way worked cause when I'd put the stethoscope from the top of my hijab, it would tighten against my forehead. That made me self concious about what the patients or their relatives were thinking when they saw me.  Plus I had to remove the safety pin and replace it loosely so that the stethoscope would get in.

As for putting it underneath the hijab, well that was a hassle as well. Like Shahida said, the sounds become way too muffled.  :P And you look like you got hit in the head by a flying arrow.

So Caraj, I'm up to your offer. Anything that's not going to make me look like a freak in the hospital is a good idea to me!

Oh and asalkuur, I was a bit uneasy about the physical contact thing to. I'm getting my RN's degree and the worst day was when I had to bath my first patient. Thankfully it was an old woman but I eventually got a man. The only solution I could think of was to lower my gaze as MUCH as possible and avoiding unneccesary touching. And if I had to, to make it quick. But don't ever feel bad about being shy because it's a sign of faith. It's just a task we have to do to be able to reach that higher goal. One that's greatly needed. More muslimahs in the medical field.

Emerald
P.S. Keep those suggestions coming guys!
Re: hijabis and stethescopes!
Ruqayyah
07/04/03 at 01:51:35
[slm]

i just saw this thread today, somehow i missed it these last couple weeks. it could possible have something to do w/ the fact that i'm on my surgery rotation  ;D no actually alhamdulilah, the rotation has been very benign so far!

i remember thinking about what to do w/ this issue too, but i just do the 2nd suggestion that sister Shahida posted.  it takes a little while to do it w/ ease and grace, hehe, so practice up!

alhamdulilah our muslim group on campus (we started an Islamic Medical Association, alhamdulilah) at school did a good job of providing the muslim students with some islamic guidelines of awrah etc to give them a little backup when we went and talked to our individual clinical instructors about what we felt comfortable participating in.

actually one of the guys at our school is on the student committee for IMANA (islamic medical association of north america) and he's started like a listserv for muslim students across the US and canada. inshallah if you want to sign up, i think there's info on this page: [url=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IMANAnet/]IMANAnet homepage[/url]

If you'd like to become a member of IMANA (for free!) go here:
[url=http://www.imana.org/go/1043612883067976zv2fgk5sj83bcps/join]IMANA membership form[/url]

I think the memo we used can be found at our group's: [url=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEOUCOMIMA/]homepage[/url]

hope that helps!

azizah that's a pretty cool idea  ;)

[wlm]
ruqayyah

p.s. please make dua for me that i pass my exams!!! jazakallah khair :)
07/04/03 at 01:59:42
Ruqayyah
Re: hijabis and stethescopes!
Fozia
07/04/03 at 05:57:21
[slm]

Azizah instead of flaps over holes, why not improvise using a button hole type slit you know like you get on shirts?? Just thinking it might work better, no offence intended.

Wassalaam


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