To think men should not be allowed to be gynaecologists

I'm mixed on this one - I know that some are very good doctors, but I have read on here I think from someone who works with women that a small percentage go into the field because they really, really hate women. They get caught eventually - you can see the news stories that break every now and then - but I don't like taking that risk so avoid all of them.

Not sure how anyone could come to that conclusion based on some individuals who don't agree with men practicing gynaecology.

The only decent gynaecologists I have ever seen have been men. The women were very dismissive and examinations were painful. I would want to see the best person for the illness I have.

There will need to be more women than men for the same coverage, yes. I was disputing the idea that it needs to be twice as many or whatever nonsense was being spouted upthread. For the reasons outlined in my previous post the difference is narrowing. More and more women work full-time, more men are working part-time, increased uptake of shared parental, falling birth rate / more child-free people so less time off on maternity leave, etc etc.

I don’t know what the current ratio of female to male surgeons has to do with anything (the ratio is actually closer to 1:4, and that’s only at the consultant level - much higher representation at the registrar and trainee level). I was talking about pipeline and the changing demographics - women are entering surgery in greater and greater numbers but that is not the reason behind staffing shortages (much more likely to be an ageing + generally increasing population).

Obviously that should say ‘should’. For some reason I can’t edit!

It’s a bit like saying men shouldn’t be doctors though. With any intimate exam there should be a chaperone but at the hospital there is always a nurse in the room. Women shouldn’t be allowed to request a female doctor but to ban them is ridiculous.

The website was glitching earlier, they are all working links, alternatively Google gmc tribunals and look at the ones that have been struck off or "erased" as they like to call it.

It was in answer to the idea that nobody would choose to train to be doctors in order to access women. Well 3 of those did, or they just found their predatory side later (irrelevant which), the other 3 , i wouldn't want near any vulnerable women or child either. Speciality is irrelevant they all had access to women, gynaecologist just get exclusive access to women, and predominantly in relation to intimate areas, this is just a snapshot of 1 month of tribunals.

Most of the links don’t work. Of those that do, neither were gynaecologists.

I think it's more likely that they choose medicine as a career, then later realise that gynae allows them to intimately examine women a lot - and decide to choose that specialism for nefarious reasons.

I don't think creepy men would base their entire career on it. I posted upthread that I had a gynaecologist who complimented the look of my vagina after an intimate examination when I was a teenager. Not the creepiest thing in the world, but it was a bit strange/made me uncomfortable and I doubt a female gynaecologist would have said that

The last time I saw a male gynaecologist he was lovely and very reassuring. I had a colposcopy and biopsies taken will only a little pain. Sad to say my experience with women gynaecologists has not been the same. Some have been quite dismissive rather than empathetic. Yabu.

What is wrong with people assuming any man who wants to do gynae is a raging perv? I imagine that once you have done all the training, female genitals hold very little appeal in any case. Plus it’s a hell of an effort just to see a few vaginas.

Just because 98% of predators are men, it doesn’t mean that 98% of men are predators.

Given the same attitude that is displayed to male teachers, midwives, nursery workers etc, I’m surprised some of you let your children near their own fathers. Especially as assaults on women and children are more likely to happen at home.

Request a female gynae by all means but assuming all male ones are dodgy is ridiculous

And there'll be women's bits with infections, growths, cancers and skin conditions. A large proportion of which will be over 65. It sounds so sexy.

Oh yeah, i bet the doctor can't wait to see my birth injury!

No, it's the (female) chaperones' apparently lol

This has been studied extensively and there are loads of articles about it. Women leave medicine or reduce their hours at far higher rates than men. One study in the US that women are 40% more likely to leave than men and on average leave medicine 15 years earlier. They are around 6 x more likely to be part time. In the UK there are 5 male consultant surgeons for every woman (but the female surgeons get better outcomes on average).

There are lots of reasons for that which could maybe be resolved or partially resolved but at the moment you would definitely need more women than men and that issue would be more acute for surgeons.

That would be considered racist but I really don't understand how that can be compared to this.

The Equality Act specifically has exemptions built into it to allow for people of a certain sex to be excluded from specific roles if there is a legal justification for it. Roles already exist that exclude men and women including care, specialist support and refuge-based roles.

This discussion is based on hypotheticals but using the Equality Act example, some people would argue that gynaecology is one of those roles that should be female-led due to the sensitivity and vulnerability involved. Others might argue that all Urologists should be men and they have the right to that opinion.

You are not being unreasonable, of all the areas of medicine available why do men choose this one?

I’m sorry, that’s really rubbish. Typical that the even longer waiting list is with the actually nice one too.

@CaragianettE I agree OP. But I also think their knowledge can be better than some women gynaecologists (not always but sometimes), so I wouldn’t write them off. Sometimes you need a good ego as it means they’re desperate not to fuck up.

Also I think you’re underestimating the good work life balance in gynaecology and focusing more on the view of vaginas as the main pull to that practice area

Lol.

With:
a) a falling birth rate, especially among educated, affluent women
b) more and more female breadwinners
c) the increased uptake of shared parental (partly influenced by b) )

it’s ridiculous to suggest that a female workforce needs to be so much bigger than a male workforce for the same coverage.

A few months’ extra time off with a baby or two for SOME women, and perhaps a few years part-time for SOME women (as if male consultants never go part-time lol) does not in any way mean the phasing out of male doctors will lead to crippling staff shortages.

Well, it would be a crying shame if the male consultant at my fertility clinic, who went to every effort to help me conceive our son despite horrendous obstacles had have been ‘phased out’ and yet the female urologist who told my husband, incorrectly, that he would never have biological children, with zero care or compassion, should have been.

I would prefer to be examined by a female doctor, but I have no objection to a male doctor as long as he isn't wearing a dress and expecting me to participate in his fetish by pretending he's a woman.

When I was training to be a midwife, I was told by a (male) gynaecologist that there were two main reasons why doctors choose to specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology.

(1) Their involvement in bringing new life is seen as positive and"glamorous" and is often more satisfying than other specialities.
(2) There is scope for making a lot of money from private work that doesn't necessarily exist in many other kinds of medicine.

A friend is a (male) gynae surgeon & massively talented. It’s just a body to them and thanks to his calling & talent he’s saved sooo many lives.You’re deffo being unreasonable but I do understand that our intimate parts make us feel vulnerable.
if they can make me feel better, help me or cure whatever ails me, I don’t care if they’re male or female, gay, straight, etc. I care about their medical qualifications & abilities

Stop trying to put words in my mouth. Every time I've had internal ( and I get them regularly) there's been a nurse. Even with my female gynae oncologist. Where on earth am I blaming the patients. Please actually quote me where I said that if it's not just in your imagination

So is it the patients fault for not demanding or insisting on a chaperone? These men did what they did, 6 in one month, presumably approx 70 in a year and that's the ones who have been caught.

and where the immense majority of trained male professionals are an immense asset, and do an amazing job, or a job just as good as their female colleagues.