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👍

The Princess Grace hospital, a prestigious private facility in London, has axed a vulnerable woman’s urgent colo-rectal operation because they ‘don’t agree with her beliefs’.

Teresa, a retired solicitor, chose this specific hospital because it was one of a few hospitals in the UK that use the Da Vinci robot that can handle delicate and complex operations and believed they would offer single-sex care.

As a vulnerable victim of sexual assault, Teresa also thought that the Princess Grace hospital would be understanding and sensitive to the trauma that she had suffered.

Before she was admitted to the hospital for her pre-op checks, Teresa had already specified that she required a single-sex bathroom and stated that she would only answer questions on the form about her sex, not her ‘gender identity.

During the pre-op check which involved intimate care, a man in a blonde wig and bright lipstick entered the room, for no apparent reason other than to make eye contact with Teresa, which caused her to panic and obviously made her wonder whether she was being targeted or intimidated as a result of her previous requests.

Feeling frightened and vulnerable, Teresa reported the incident as a ‘patient dignity breach’ and requested that from now on, her care was only provided by female healthcare professionals - a request that is entirely lawful under the Equality Act.

Following the consultation, Teresa had to return home for three days to prepare for the operation, and pre-op medication was supposed to be couriered to her. Nothing arrived, so she called the hospital and was told that the urgent operation had been cancelled with no explanation given as to why.

The CEO then sent Teresa an email saying that the operation which was due the next working day, had been cancelled due to a ‘lack of shared values' and ‘to protect staff from unacceptable distress’.

The life-saving operation would have involved two leading surgeons, their clinical entourage, two surgery suites, a robot, a place in ICU and a patient bed for seven nights, and this was all cancelled at the last minute.

In contravention of healthcare regulations, the hospital CEO failed to confirm that she would register the patient dignity breach and did not offer to investigate it.

If the scheduled operation is no longer available to Teresa, her only alternative is to have open surgery, which was not the recommended option. Last week, just four days after the operation was due to take place, her condition began to deteriorate, and Teresa ended up in A&E, in considerable pain. She has rapidly lost weight and may now be too weak to have the open surgery.

The actions of the Princess Grace hospital are despicable. This is absolutely unconscionable.
The Chief Executive and their parent company, HCA Healthcare must be held accountable. Sign to demand that they reinstate Teresa’s operation with the utmost urgency.

There was a male midwife when I was born. My Mum didn't care as long I was delivered safely. Loads of Consultants when I had mine, both genders, looking up my hoo-ha. I don't care as long as I'm treated with respect.

I am grateful that there are men in all areas and professions because men are more compassionate when dealing with women and some women are total cow bags!! I'll give 2 of my own personal experiences to justify my view.

My first son was born early by emergency section, midwife, surgeon and the nurses looking after baby and me were male. I felt my care was outstanding and i was not in any pain. They listened to my phobia of needles and used only butterfly needles on me. I did not pass out!

My second son was born naturally, we had a female midwife who ignored what i was saying at various stages of pregnancy, ignoring my needle phobia and using a huge kneedle that collapsed my vein( my whole inner arm was black for days!!)and caused me to faint when she went for my other arm!! Everything was always because her text book said! what I was experiencing is unlikely because her book says no..!! - I was very poorly and in a lot of pain after childbirth because I had what my midwife told me was unlikely. The poor hospital learnt the hardway about my phobia of needles and they are the ones who documented the phobia stating butterfly needles only to be used on me if bloods etc are required. Awful ignorant woman!!

My 3rd son was born naturally we had a male midwife, Matt Proctor and this man deserves a medal, i will never forget him. From my unplanned arrival (i was booked in at the rosie but was close to huntingdon when my baby started coming) to finding out about me (considered a high risk pregnancy & my phobia of needles) to delivering my baby, i haemorraged and needed urgent care from loss of blood, Matt advised all 50 white coats who came rushing in that i had a phobia and there were no mistakes made to the after care and me leaving the hospital.

Women in control sometimes have control problems and dont listen very well. I find men to be a lot more chilled and they actually listen!! So YABU for asking even if it is a genuine question

What has this to do with male gynaecologists?

Well if the best person for the job happens to be a male then I guess it’s up to the patient if their own feelings count more than the best outcome from the procedure. There are lots of brilliant male gynaecologists, and there’s some rubbish ones. In the same way as there’s lots of female gynaecologists who are good and bad.

Also not everyone stating that they don’t want a male gynaecologist has suffered trauma. In fact I suspect many have not. There is a lot of misandry in this thread.

I don't think the question was should women be able to choose, or are women wrong to prefer a woman.
It was why do men go in to the field in the first place.
The question just shows ignorance about the medical profession and how doctors gain their qualifications and specialise.
I'm not a doctor by the way, but do work with them.

@Bangolads clearly not EVERY doctor (🙄) but the vast majority go into their specialty because they’re interested it? Or do you disagree there too?

I’ve no idea what you and the other nurse have said because I’m not trawling through 29 pages of posts to find it. I’m not ignorant or naive. My comment was specific to the comment within the post I was replying to and I stand by that.

What has this to do with male gynecologists? Did you not read the article. The woman wants to have only female medical personnel.

Mine was the best I could ask for. He couldn't think of a greater pleasure than helping women have children for one thing (mixed obs and gynae,)

Nowhere have I stated that ‘everyone’ is citing reasons of past trauma, but many are. Nor have I failed to acknowledge that there are some good male practitioners and poor female ones.

When you say ‘best outcome’, presumably you are referring solely to the best physical outcome. I am also taking into
consideration the psychological impact which can adversely affect both mother and child. The best scenario would be that women can have a choice at an incredibly vulnerable moment of their lives about who performs the most invasive and intimate procedures imaginable so that they are not traumatised. Currently they can’t always. That is an issue.

Women who have not experienced prior trauma are also allowed to have feelings about who penetrates their vagina! And to request a practitioner of their choice. That isn’t misandry, that’s having bodily autonomy.

For the record, I don’t believe that all men enter this field for nefarious reasons. Many will be competent and compassionate. Unfortunately, though, there have been numerous cases of male HCPs sexually assaulting female patients. I know women personally who have had some disturbing experiences. So, I can understand the perspective of someone who wants to safeguard themselves and minimise the risk by requesting a female. Nothing ‘laughable’ about it, sadly it’s an indictment of the gender-based violence that still exists in our society.

If it’s misandry to prefer getting a smear test from a woman then I’m a proud misandrist 😂. Look at me shamelessly misandering over here with my boundaries and my willingness to use my words and prioritising my own feelings over men’s and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Based on this only, I don't know the full story, it certainly sounds like the hospital failed in treating a patient with care. I do feel that someone who has trauma related to a sex attack may want all female team, whether that is practical or possible is a different matter and if not the hospital should have been clear. I suspect the alarm bell in this case though relates to the comment about refusing questions about gender so would suggest there is another agenda here. I do respect someones desire to want an all female team but I also respect the team desire to be respected too.

I personally couldn't care less what your preference is.

It's just a bit tedious that any woman who doesn't care about the sex of a doctor or even prefers a male doctor is assumed to be either too young / too naive/ too thick to know better or is suffering from internalised misogyny/ is doing other women down/ when expressing their views.

Thanks for informing me you don’t care about my preferences, it’s very mutual! I wasn’t talking to you.

I was talking to the person who described it as misandry for women to prefer female hcps.

If someone is going to find it traumatic to have a male then automatically they are not the ‘best person’ and feeling traumatised after a procedure is certainly not the ‘best outcome’

What an awful childish thread. In the Breast Unit there are loads of male doctors. Doctors might have an interest in obs/gyn due to a family member, a really interesting placement, a great team, not because they are pervs and want to look up your flue! Medical people are professional!

But that means they should have the choice of doctor, it doesn't mean other women who are happy to see a male doctor shouldn't have the choice.

Obstetrics/gynaecology is a particularly gruelling speciality with very long hours. A female obstetrician who was about to do my c/s told me that she'd been on duty for 36 hours and hadn't slept yet. She was supposed to leave after 24 hours but they were short staffed and she had no choice. It's not a child friendly speciality at all. It can also be very traumatic.
A (female) doctor friend of mine told me that a lot of women go into opthalmology as its the only speciality where there are very few true emergencies. Even if you get stabbed in the eye they can just cover it and leave it until the next day! This makes it a much more realistic 9-5 job.

I find the fact that so many women here have said they prefer men over women so intriguing. And that men are nicer. And kinder.

Not my experience at all, but something I have noticed about male doctors (both acquaintances and in medical settings) is that they are very nice, very charming, very agreeable - until you challenge them, or disagree with them. And then the change can be startling.

So part of me wonders if the reason these men are so charming is that they are in a professional situation where they don't get challenged, women do what they want, they do what they want, everyone's happy. I have heard more than once of women I know being told by a male doctor - "this is what I would want if you were my daughter." Which I also find odd and inappropriate in a clinical setting.

Meanwhile female doctors presumably aren't granted that automatic authority with a female patient - they are seen more as equal (which I prefer.) And wouldn't get away with a paternalistic line like "if you were my daughter" either.

I just don't believe that male gynaes are automatically better, I don't buy that. Yet that seems to be the belief of a lot of women on here.

In my experience of fertility issues/IVF clinics, which was admittedly a while ago, the vast majority of doctors I came across were male. I never had a problem with them. To me a HCP is a HCP regardless of sex. I accept I might feel differently if I was traumatised though.

Outside of the UK and particularly in the developing world, obstetrics/gynaecology is very lucrative. Women have to pay to see them and there is never a shortage of pregnant women. It's also not uncommon to have a mistrust of female gynaecologists ("they are hormonal!" 🤔) so any females will have less business.

I have heard more than once of women I know being told by a male doctor - "this is what I would want if you were my daughter." Which I also find odd and inappropriate in a clinical setting

That's his equivalent of "if I were you this is what I'd do". Would you have an issue with a female doctor saying that? He can't exactly use those words, as has been pointed out here, he doesn't have a vagina! 😂

There seems to be a good mix of people who would choose male, people who would choose female, and people who don't care either way, so it's a good thing there are both male and female available and we can all have our choice

The thing I've found with male doctors is that they are more likely to be one extreme or the other, so I'd say the nicest, kindest, most gentle doctors I've seen have been male but the only doctors I've ever made a formal complaint about (2) were also male and very arrogant and unpleasant.

The female doctors I've seen have tended to be fine although when my DD was seriously ill the young female doctor was downright cruel unless the Consultant was present when she had a complete personality change. If it hadn't been so upsetting it would have been fascinating to watch. When DD was recovering from surgery we couldn't see her immediately. When we got a call to say we could go in we dashed over to find her Consultant (male) was sitting on her bed holding her hand and talking to her, he was so caring and a friend who was a nurse told me he was always like that. He said the operation had been difficult and taken longer than expected, it was 8 pm and he should have been home but he said he didn't want to leave until she was well enough to come out of recovery and then he didn't want to leave her alone until we got there.

We are all influenced by our own experiences, I know that not all young female doctors are closet sadists but my DDs doctor certainly planted that thought somewhere in my mind just like her Consultant influenced my view of male surgeons. I'm not stupid, I know that it is neither true nor fair to hold onto those views but on an instinctive basis I can't avoid it I can only check my prejudice.

I don't think they are automatically better but if, just a random figure, there are 500 places for trainee doctors in obs&gynae I want the 500 best candidates to get the places. If that means 250 male and 250 female great but if we exclude the 250 males are we going to have 250 less suitable female candidates getting the places? That isn't great and over time it will build so there is the potential for care for women deteriorating.

I don't think they are automatically better but if, just a random figure, there are 500 places for trainee doctors in obs&gynae I want the 500 best candidates to get the places. If that means 250 male and 250 female great but if we exclude the 250 males are we going to have 250 less suitable female candidates getting the places? That isn't great and over time it will build so there is the potential for care for women deteriorating.

Or you end up with unfilled places as not all women want to go into obs&gynae. Given there's an overall shortage of doctors in the NHS.