To wonder why men work in gynecology?

[CustardC]

Genuine question, my sisters and I were discussing our most recent smear tests and sister 1 commented on how her nurse was male. I've always asked for a female when I book a smear or any type of gyne issues and it's always been respected, but it got me thinking...if there are any men here who work in that field, why?

I'm fully prepared for the backlash that ill probably get but honest question👍

Also there are just as many men who want to make a difference and want to care for people. Often doctors will nove sround specialities as they learn and then they can specialise in certain areas.

Yes, but some of us 'ladies' found having not having any option but a male gynaecologist made us relive that thing we 'had to go through '.

Well at our hospital you can ask for female only.

It's a surgical specialty. Up until a couple of decades ago, surgery was very male dominated. If you split gynaecologists by the date of their CCT (certificate of specialist training) and took them in 5 year bands, I suspect you'd find the male % dropping each time.

It's not sexism FFS. No one believes men can't do the job down to being incapable. It's about the privacy and dignity of the patient.

It's not the same as saying women can't be mechanic or airplane pilots.

Absolutely. I've got an interest in women's health and sexual health. So I see a lot of men's bits. Believe me, none of them turn me on.

All of my gynaecologists apart from one have been men and all have been amazing. One in particular, I had an examination and was trembling and crying afterwards. It didn't even hurt that much, possibly shock? Anyway, he was absolutely lovely and I will never forget how kind he was when he was trying to console me as I cried and cried about possible infertility.

Other gynaecologists I've had have been gay, so definitely not in it for sexual pleasure.

The one gynaecologist I had, when I told her the nurse was treating me for severe anaemia, sneered at me, looked at me like I was shit on her shoe and told me I didn't need treatment for anaemia and that I was fine. I was absolutely not and had six lots of blood in a blood transfusion later that same day. Fucking cow.

That's nice for you. At mine you can't because they don't know until the date. It's fucking heartbreaking that you have to wait for an appointment because you don't want to feel like you're being sexually assaulted again.

@ShineyCrab Exactly this. I have been to an all-women scanning centre and the entire place feels different. No men. And that's not "sexist" as someone just claimed, or anti male, it's that some women are - with good reason - not comfortable around men.

Honestly the dismissive attitude of some people on this thread - particularly a certain GP, who I very much hope never to require "care" from is depressing. Just so ignorant, condescending and lacking in empathy.

Perverts exist. Women suffer sexual assault in huge numbers. What is it about doctors that turns men into some special class of men that don't commit sexual assault?

Why not eliminate all sex segregation as most men men aren't creeps?

Because that’s their preferred field of medicine. Who cares. I’ve had some proper shit female gynaes but the one who delivered my daughter was male and fucking fantastic. Stop with the sexist bullshit. It goes both ways

A woman gynae will know what we mean by ovulation pain, shooting vagina pains, intense cramps etc.

Why should she? We don't all experience the same thing. I've never had ovulation pain and I didn't get bad cramps till my late 30s - at school, I'd assumed girls who took time off for period pains were just exaggerating to have a skive. I was older before I learned some women could have such bad periods they might throw up or faint. Had I studied medicine, I guess I'd have learned about dysmenorrhoea in theory, before experiencing it in my 40s, but it might be no different from knowledge of an obscure tropical disease rarely seen in Britain. There's nothing about being female and experiencing periods and maybe pregnancy and childbirth that means you're going to know just how the next woman feels. You need to listen, and a man might be as good as or better than a woman at that.

I heard something on the radio recently, where they were talking to an otologist, and he was talking about the anatomy of the ear, and how beautiful and amazing it is - he was clearly in exactly the right field for him, and if ob gyns feel like that about their field, then they're in exactly the right place for them. I'd rather people were attracted to the field for that reason than just because they can make a lot of money with private practice. And the womb and vulva and all the surrounding bits, how it works, what it can do is pretty bloody amazing (often quite literally bloody,) and I can totally see why people would be attracted to working in that area.

(It's okay, I work with computers, not people.)

I would have thought that most men would feel relatively uncomfortable dealing with women's genitalia compared to all of the other parts of the bodies of both sexes, and that this would put them off. They might also have other perspectives such as their lack of female genitalia might make them relatively poor at understanding what patients are saying to them, and a fear that they would make lots of patients uncomfortable in a way that a woman wouldn;t so much.

I wonder how many women specialise in erectile dysfunction or testicular cancer, and spend their lives with their hands around male genitalia?

I am very tempted to say that no man who wants to be a gynocologist or midwife should be allowed to be, and if we really need to up the numbers by roping in men then it should be compelled not volunteers. Then again maybe I am massively sexist. Beyond football coaching and taking kids go-karting I am deeply suspicious of any man who seems to actively want to spend time with kids (I would include everyone from male primary teachers to choir masters to scout leaders).

Sexism is 1/4 of women being sexually assaulted in the UK and it still being more important to not make men feel bad than to afford women some dignity.

Why this particular speciality though? I mean personally I wouldn't be able to cope with dementia but it wouldn't occur to me to question why others would. I'm sure you could find people who would wonder why people would choose any speciality.

I had to see a geneticist, we found out my family carried the BRA gene and I have daughters/granddaughters so decided to get checked first. Good call as I didn't carry it so they didn't need to worry. My geneticist was lovely and he commented that it was so nice to give someone good news as so much of his work was with parents who had a severely disabled child and he had to break the news about it being hereditary or to tell them the baby they were carrying was also going to have it. That must be a tough thing to do but he obviously enjoyed parts of his job.

Because it happens to happen in a woman's vagina.

I once asked my fantastic gynaecologist this very question.

He said that there was great variety of work and, most importantly, what he did almost always had happy outcomes - helping people to conceive, improving quality of life etc - and deaths were very rare .

Sounds like the female practice nurse at my GP then. She's so awful that a friend of mine has hers done privately rather than risk getting her.

There's a few reasons. The best I ever heard was it's a rare option for a doctor to see minimal death. It's actually quite rewarding.

I had the joy of taking a teenage GS to a sexual health clinic. He had an examination by a female nurse. Yes he found it embarrassing. Should she have been allowed to touch a teenage boy's genitals? I wonder if she was uncomfortable or if she shouldn't be allowed to treat males.

She was good at her job though and sorted out the issues.

My dh considered it as a speciality bc he said it was a nice mix of surgery and medicine where most specialities are one or the other. He went a different direction in the end.

Nice to know my son is seen by so many as pervert.

I think it's an odd choice but I don't know any men who've been raped by women so they're unlikely to feel actual trauma or PTSD from a female HCP. That's the point.

A woman gynae will know what we mean by ovulation pain, shooting vagina pains, intense cramps etc.

I'm female apart from intense cramps during a period I've no idea what you're on about with the other 2.

A male gynaecologist saved my life. Trust me you won't give a damn who's poking around when you are bleeding out.