Re: vaginal exams - DON'T GO DR. HILL
From: Barbara (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Fri, 11 Dec 1998 14:04:19 -0600 (CST)
Dr. Hill:
I've said it before, but truly mean it. If I lived anywhere near your
practice, you would be my gyn, simply based on the compassion, humor and
dedication you show on this forum.
I find it particularly ironic that you were teaching the female student
vulvar and vaginal anatomy...my worst experience with a female doctor
was with my female general practitioner who performed paps on me every
year for the last four years. She totally misdiagnosed my VIN III.
After one pap she wrote me a prescription with 99 refills "to take care
of the itch." Talk about trivializing a complaint.
By the time I saw my male gyn, I had to be referred to a gyn-oncologist
at a teaching hospital. The lesion on the perineum was the size of a
silver dollar. How could she have possibly missed this?
Please Dr. Hill, don't leave the forum and also continue to teach your
students, male and female, all you can about us. Our lives depend on
it.
At Thu, 10 Dec 1998, D. Ashley Hill, M.D. wrote:
>
>At Thu, 10 Dec 1998, Carol wrote:
>>
>>Don't let any doctor do a pelvic exam. I let my primary doc to it and
>>he pushed to far and too fast.
>>Wound up with an infection.
>
>To be honest, this is extraordinarily unlikely. Unless your doctor did
>a rectal exam and then a vaginal exam, which is something doctors learn
>not to do the first day of med school, it's very, very unlikely a pelvic
>exam will cause an infection.
>
>>So, take my advice and always have female problems done by a gyn, and
>>preferably female as they are more familiar with the female anatomy.
>
>Today I taught a senior female medical student vulvar and vaginal
>anatomy. I'm a man. *She* did not know where the location of the
>urethra is (where women urinate from). I have not taken the bait in a
>long time on this "female physician" issue, as I try to stay away from
>comments like these, no matter how well meaning they may be. However,
>lest anyone reading this think similar thoughts, let me be the first in
>line to clarify this: being a good doctor, which would include knowing
>the anatomy of the female genital tract, it *not* dependent on gender.
>Honestly! Why in the world would anyone think that, for example, a woman
>would be better at dissecting a cadaver, doing surgery, performing a Pap
>smear, or delivering a baby, just because they have a uterus? I have a
>full head of hair, but I sure wouldn't try to cut it. I own a brain
>(most days) but would not try to do surgery on it.
>
>I realize you do not mean to be insulting with your comments, but to be
>honest, they trivialize the dedication that male gynecologists have
>towards caring for women. Most of the major advances in ob/gyn were
>made by male physicians, and these men have saved literally millions of
>women's lives through their research and clinical skills. To suggest
>that the male doctor who discovered the Pap test, which has alone saved
>millions of women from cervical cancer, is not familiar with the female
>anatomy sounds kind of unreasonable, doesn't it? Again, I usually try
>not to respond to this, because it gets pretty old. Look around this
>forum. Almost all of the volunteer physicians are men. Maybe I should
>spend less time here and more time studying anatomy.
>
>Best wishes,
>
>--
>Ashley Hill
>David Ashley Hill, M.D.
>Associate Director
>Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
>Florida Hospital Family Practice Residency
>Orlando, FL
>http://home.mpinet.net/dahmd
>
>The above is intended for general medical education,
>and is not for specific medical advice.
>I apologize, but I am unable to answer personal e-mail
>due to time constraints.
>
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