The Importance Of Body Art

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Hey doc, what’s with the tat?
“You’ll never get a job with that.” It is said time and time again to individuals who have chosen to decorate their bodies with tattoos or piercings. For years, there was a negative connotation attached to such things as body art. However, attitudes are changing as the latest generations grow up and begin pursuing careers. What does this mean for the field of medicine? Medical students will waltz through hospital doors challenging long-held beliefs before they even have a chance to work with a patient. Do these colorful kids represent a breakdown of class and respect in the professional community, or are they a long-overdue update to the way we see body art in hospitals and other healthcare centers? Stigma against body art has no place in the field in medicine and is holding the medical community back.
The medical community is always trying to be progressive, and be state-of-the-art. Bias against body art to the point where it affects who is able to work in medicine is neither progressive nor beneficial. Holding onto stigma does not help the medical community, and does not improve health. The field of medicine includes millions of people who come from all walks of life, and from all different backgrounds. It is a widely diverse field that has to make room for everyone from doctors to patients. Stereotyping individuals is not serving patients to the best of a physician’s …show more content…

Tattoos and piercings are seen as unacceptable in the workplace, let alone on a doctor. However, not too long ago, it was also unheard of a woman being a doctor. Do we barr all members of the female variety from pursuing a career in medicine? No, of course not. Bias against something as insignificant as sex is seen as absurd and outdated. Bias against something as equally insignificant as what one chooses to do with their body is also absurd and

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