the pelvic pledge

Raise your two gloved, lubricated fingers: “I’m going to insert my two fingers into your vagina to examine your uterus and ovaries.”

On Wednesday night, I performed my first male genital exam and female breast and pelvic exam…with 5-7 of my colleagues watching.  The standardized patients were some of our best teachers yet, and I hope they get paid really really well.  (The male standardized said that the most discomfort he felt was that, at the end of the night, his throat was sore from all the times we asked him to “turn [his] head to the side and cough.”)

It’s amazing how, even though many of us are some combination of considerate, thoughtful, and/or well-spoken, inevitably some wrong words or catch-phrase tumbled off our tongue at one point or other.  To note: when in doubt, use the word “examine.”  Avoid: “inspect”; “squeeze”; “touch”; “expose”; “spread.”

Finally, everything looks “normal and healthy,” it doesn’t look “good.”