To think that a hospital should have a female gynecologist?

[crazyspaniel]

My local hospital only has male gynecologists. If I want to see a female practitioner I have to travel 40 miles. In the end I went to my local hospital and found the whole experience somewhat traumatic - the fact that the doctors were male was part of the reason for finding it so horrible and humiliating.

Is it really so hard to hire a female gynecologist? I get that consultants are often of a generation when not many women went into medicine (and particularly surgery), but there are now more women than men becoming doctors and one of the doctors in the room was SHO level (or whatever they call them now), so not of that generation. I really think this is one area of medicine where there should be female quotas and where each hospital should have at least one female practitioner.

YADNBU I would have driven 80 mile round trip but that is because I am grossly overweight and ashamed of my body. I just do not like men to touch mre anymore and if I can avoid it I will, if not then that is OK.

mywife Will you STOP bumbing old threads with your batshit pervy sexist controlling shit!!!

"Please do a Google Search for 'Male Gynecologist'"

And if you want to do it properly, you could even search for Male Gynaecologist

YABU.

'traumatic'?

For gods sake.

I'm 20 and unfortunately have had to have probably more internals than a lot of women have had int their lives.

Oops didn't realise it was bumped

My oh gets this all the time he is a nurse and gets mostley women demanding a female nurse

All that happens is you treatment gets delayed whilest you have to wiat for a nurse of your desired gender if their is one then after they moan about seeing a female nurse then guess what the doctor is male ffs

The only time this should be taken into account is if someone turns up having been raped

I think if you want to pick a choos who you will and wont treat you, you should go to the back of the que

You should remember that the vast majority of doctors find naked bodies very unexciting and the polar opposite of sexy.

YABU I'm afraid. I've been seeing Gynos since I was 13 and only once saw a female. I hated the experience with the woman where as I've never felt uncomfortable with the male ones.

When I had vaginal and vulval sugery all the consultants involved were male and were all lovely. Perhaps its just my outlook on the whole matter - very matter of fact, this is wrong please fix it - that makes me unembarrassed by the whole thing. However, as others have said, hiring a female gyno because of her gender and not because of her ability is wrong.

I've had a few gynaelogical procedures in my time, including two caesareans. All the surgical teams I had were mixed, never bothered me at all. However, two weeks ago I had to have a minor gynaelogical operation. I had to walk into theatre myself and all of the staff were male. No females.i can't rationalise this but I was very uncomfortable with the whole thing. I know I would have found at least one of the team being female much more emotionally comforting. This isn't an equal opportunity issue. This is about making patients feel secure and safe. I don't know why women are so dismissive of women who want to be examined by another female. If that is what makes them feel comfortable and encourages them to go for examinations then why not? Why can't they have choice? They don't need therapy to get over themselves. That is so patronising. We are all different and have different life experiences. For the record, I also think if male patients wish to be dealt with intimately by male staff, they should have the choice too. Health care should be patient centred, meeting their needs, not the medical staff.

Just FYI- this thread is from 2011.

I kind of get it but have to say that the two surgeons who saved my life after I had cervical cancer were men and I adore them both.

Totally agree OP. But it is customary on MN to say that it does not matter if it is a woman or man DR.

Why is it customary. Are no other views allowed?

Choccy, you'd be better off starting your own thread. This one is 6 years old and people will reply to the OP.

I had a male midwife, he was great and won an award.

I think you are totally justified in feeling this way.

The fact that most male gynaecologists are lovely, and that many women don't mind them, and they're not attracted to you etc. etc is immaterial.

Many women will have deeply traumatic experiences of being raped/sexually assaulted/groped by a man. A gynaecological examination makes you extremely vulnerable.

It is not unreasonable to want a woman to be in control of that extreme vulnerability rather than a man.

I personally don't mind male gynaecologists but I can understand why some women would.

Hey OP, I would 100% rather have a female gynae, in fact I would probably rather have a female practitioner in all situations. People have their reasons for feeling like this, rational or not. I do think if it's possible there should be a female practitioner available in all clinics, even if it has to be on a peripatetic basis.

Sexual assault/abuse survivors put off going to see people for various things for exactly this reason. Even dentists have copped on to the vulnerability of people like this - there are places where they take into account issues with having to lie down in a physically submissive position, having someone's hands over your mouth, or hands/objects in your mouth etc. I think it's more common than people think.

Wow I didn't see how old this thread is...

Nonetheless!!!

Zombie thread! I expect in the last six years the op's hospital may well have employed a woman consultant.

choccylab , might be an idea to start your own new thread as people keep replying to the original OP.

Pretty surprising to see a 13-page thread screaming at a sexual abuse survivor for not wanting a male doctor touching her genitals, considering the 582,989 threads saying transwomen/post-op trans/intersexed individuals shouldn't be allowed to become gynaecologists because they're rapists doing it to perv on women.

Guess transphobia has to take a backseat to old fashioned woman bashing sometimes.

I can see where you're coming from, and yes I'd prefer a female.
However after I had my baby, and I had to have an operation down below for something, I didn't care who done it as long as it got sorted.
The man was lovely, and said he'd supervise as much as possible, and let the ladies do the procedure, but he would step in if necessary.
I thought I'd be very uncomfortable with a male, but it's surprising how it doesn't really matter

not RTFT sorry but I don't think you're being unreasonable!
I've always asked to see female doctors for anything Fanjo-related. I know they're just as trained as men but I just wouldn't feel comfortable. I've not been abused or anything like that it just makes me feel a little better knowing they have one too!
If a man had a penis-related problem and preferred to see a male doctor that is also perfectly reasonable!
I'm really surprised that people are suggesting otherwise, it's a sensitive and potentially very upsetting experience to go through, so ANYTHING that makes it less uncomfortable should be done!
With regards to the hospital, if they had several gynos it would be preferable to have at least one female one, but I can't see how they'd fairly make it compulsory.

I'd rather have whoever was the best, most qualified and most experienced doctor regardless of whether they are a man or a woman. I have mostly seen male gynaecologists, but have also seen a female. My operation was performed by a male. I don't think it's reasonable to give gender quotas for any job role - surely it is far better to hire the best candidate for the job?