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Re: Sad but true --->Call the question! From: Anna Meenan, MD (annam@uic.edu) Fri Feb 17 19:38:52 2006 Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ] Next message: Efrain Ramirez: "Re: Sad but true --->Call the question!" Previous message: M. Kelly Shanahan, MD, : "Re: OB: First trimester medical management of missed Ab" In reply to: Ina May Gaskin: "Re: Sad but true --->Call the question!" They are still being taught that way at our school. Ever since I was a student (back in the 70's) we have had a group of women in town who volunteer to teach the students the correct way to do a good pelvic exam. I admire them greatly. Unfortunately, some of the students never seem to learn the skill. Joe, in answer to your question, I do think it's reasonable for some patients of either gender to have a PREFERENCE as to the gender of the provider who does a genital exam, particularly if they are younger or have a history of abuse. However, I think it's unreasonable for someone to insist on a provider of a certain gender if one is not available in a given situation, and I think it's tacky to request a referral from a provider of one gender to a provider of the other gender. For myself, if everything else is equal and a female provider of equal skill is available, I would probably gravitate to a female provider for a routine annual exam. In this town, there is a shortage of female OB-Gyn's, and I realize that if I ever had a chronic or long-term problem or an emergency, it is quite likely I would see male providers and I don't have a problem with that at all (in fact, when I needed someone to turn my uterus back right-side-in after my first was born, the nearest OB and anesthesiologist were both male, and I didn't once think about their gender or much of anything else (except that, having seen the OB do multiple manual uterine explorations previously, I was real glad that the anesthesiologist was FAST). All 3 of my kids were delivered by female FP's, who all also happened to be friends and fellow residents, and I felt comfortable with the fact that they had all been through pregnancy and labor, and seemed to have the same philosophies toward it as I did. So sue me. (My ancestors come from a country where it used to be a requirement that you have two kids of your own before you could become a midwife.) Finally, if my 17-yr-old daughter needed a gyne exam on a non-emergency basis and wanted a female provider because she felt uncomfortable, I would take her to a female provider if a skilled, compassionate one was available. So sue me, again. -- Anna Meenan, MD At Fri, 17 Feb 2006, Ina May Gaskin wrote: > >Are pelvic exams still taught in medical schools by women who teach >the medical student how to get over their embarrassment and slow down >enough to be painless? > >Ina May > >-- >Ina May Gaskin, CPM >The Farm Midwifery Center >41 The Farm >Summertown, TN 38483 >http://www.inamay.com >http://www.rememberthemothers.net > Next message: Efrain Ramirez: "Re: Sad but true --->Call the question!" Previous message: M. Kelly Shanahan, MD, : "Re: OB: First trimester medical management of missed Ab" In reply to: Ina May Gaskin: "Re: Sad but true --->Call the question!"

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