Alternatives for male doctor & pap test

November 19, 2010 8:16 PM

Looking for a new doctor & I'm only comfortable around female doctors for my pap exam. Could I have a male doctor but ask for a female nurse or doctor in the same office, or go to a drop-in clinic, just for my pap test?

I live in Canada and I'm in my early 30s. My priority is to find a good doctor that communicates well, and there seems to be more male family doctors in my city than females...

I'd like to know if this is something other women have done, how to best arrange it, and if there are any downsides (e.g. maybe if one doctor doesn't know the whole picture?). I'd do my own pap exam if I could :P

I'd also like recommendations for getting over any nervousness around male doctors for gynecological issues (esp. in case I have kids). I think I'd get extremely nervous and tense (and tension doesn't help for pap tests). I've always had a female doctors for pap tests, plus I'm pretty shy and I tend to want lots of personal space and not much body contact with anyone beyond close family and friends.

Thanks!

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

IME, there is ALWAYS a second person in the room when a pap exam is going on, and at least at my doctor's office, that second person is usually - if not always - a female nurse. They're there to take notes and retrieve test supplies. Don't worry about offending anybody if you need to ask for a) a female doctor and/or b) a female nurse to be around. Gynecologists see everything under the sun and most of them are hip to the fact that the whole experience of having someone poke around down there is kind of bizarre -- and you said it yourself, it's better to be relaxed so your body is more receptive to the test.
posted by patronuscharms at 8:23 PM on November 19, 2010

Ask for whatever you need. (You can call ahead if you'd rather not deal with this in person.) If they're not willing to accommodate you, or if they give you a hard time about it, leave. Seriously. They should understand this, but in case they don't, just thank them for their time and either hang up or walk out.
posted by corey flood at 8:26 PM on November 19, 2010

I'm in the US, but I can tell you that here wanting a woman to do your pap is considered okay and not that weird. I'm okay with male or female gyns and I'm often asked when I call for an annual exam "Would you prefer a female doctor?" So you should consider that it's okay to ask for this and think about whether you're okay with a male doctor being in the room if a female doctor performs your pap [or a female nurse/male doctor, for example] or if you're really not comfortable with a man being in the room at all. I've had a lot of luck at family planning type clinics [not that I was planning a family but that's where I could get a quick cheap appointment] where whoever the doctor/nurse was was used to dealing with people who were nervous was VERY communicative and made it part of their job to put me at ease. You might try your equivalent to Planned Parenthood if there is such a thing, places with more of an emphasis on family planning and the like are more likely to have a higher ratio of female docs and nurses. Can't help with the other baby-having stuff but I wish you the best of luck.
posted by jessamyn at 8:29 PM on November 19, 2010

Could I have a male doctor but ask for a female nurse or doctor in the same office [...] just for my pap test?

Yes. And you'll get it.
posted by mhoye at 8:37 PM on November 19, 2010

You said there are more female family doctors than male, but you only need one family doctor. It doesn't matter if most doctors who meet your criteria are men, but only if there's one doctor who meets your criteria who's female. There probably is. Try to find her.

If you do get a male family doctor, the option to have something else in the room is unlikely to work unless your doctor is in a particular kind of practice where there are a bunch of doctors or where there are nurses or physician's assistants. A lot of doctors own practices where it's just the doctor and the receptionist. If you get a male doctor of this sort, there isn't any nurse to be in the room for your pap.

The walk-in-clinic option would work, of course -- there's no reason you can't walk into a walk-in clinic and get whatever treatment/testing you need. However, I would not do this. You want records of your paps with your medical records. Baselines are good things. Also, keeping records will help you avoid paps! The new public health guidelines introduced a few years ago say that if you have normal paps 3 years in a row you can skip a pap. Obviously this requires record keeping. Walk-in clinics are just money-making business and I wouldn't trust them to bother doing anything more than the bare minimum.

So, if you don't get a female family doctor here's what I would do: Get a male family doctor and don't have your family doctor do your paps. Get a separate gynecologist who is female and have her do the paps. Your gynecologist can send your test results/records to your family doctor after each appointment so its in your file.

Anyway, preferring a female doctor for paps and pelvics is very common. When you find a doctor you like, if it's a man, tell him that you're uncomfortable having a man do your pap smears and pelvic exams and ask what solution he recommends.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:14 PM on November 19, 2010

I don't know where you are in Canada, but I know in Vancouver I've just called my local walk-in clinic and asked when a female doc would be in, and thats when I show up. When I get there, I mention I'd like a female doctor, and not a single person batted an eye or thought it was the least bit strange. Additionally, every clinic I've been to asks if I have a family doctor, and forwards the results of any tests (including paps) to him. Once one clinic charged me for it, but it wasn't much. If for some reason they don't ask, just ask yourself to have your records forwarded.
posted by cgg at 9:28 PM on November 19, 2010

Yes, you can ask for a female doctor to your gyno stuff. This is what my wife does. Mention it to your usual doc (he won't be offended).
posted by Simon Barclay at 9:31 PM on November 19, 2010

When I've had gynecological exams or procedures done by a male doctor or technician there was always, always a female nurse or somesuch in the room at the time, without my asking.

I'm in Ottawa, for what it's worth.
posted by aclevername at 10:04 PM on November 19, 2010

I've seen both a male GP in a clinic setting (in BC) and a male gynecologist (in Alberta) and both times the doctor asked if I would like a female RN to be present for the exam. If they don't happen to offer, you should absolutely feel comfortable asking and nobody will blink an eye-- it's very common practice. If you want, I'm pretty sure you can have a female friend or relative in the room too-- call ahead and ask if this might make you even more comfortable.
posted by mireille at 10:34 PM on November 19, 2010

I don't know the Canadian system but locally you can arrange for a nurse practitioner to do the Pap smear rather than the MD.
posted by metahawk at 12:23 AM on November 20, 2010

I've had both and I'm not generally squeamish with male GYNs, I do prefer women. I've always sought out practices with only women doctors, even when I had my children. When I had my firstborn, I was in a practice that had both men and women but I was able to state a preference early on and only ever had to see one of the male OBs for a routine exam when my regular OB was on a delivery. When I had my second child, I had switched practices and it was a small, one-female-doctor practice.

I just had to find a new GYN last year and specifically got the list from my insurance provider to make sure I got a woman. It's not at all unusual for patients to ask for the gender they prefer in GYN practices.
posted by cooker girl at 6:10 AM on November 20, 2010

I have a male family doctor who is my dad's age and who've I've known since I was 2 and who still treats me like I'm 10. Which is fine when I have the flu, but I'm not eager to have him perform my gyne exams. (for me it's an age & relationship thing, rather than just gender; I don't mind having a male gynaecologist, but I don't want to be in the position and discussing my sex life with someone who knows all my extended family.)

So instead I book appointments for all my reproductive & gyne care at a specialist clinic where I can be examine by someone who I am more comfortable with (because I don't know them well) -- and I have the added bonus that, as a clinic specialising in women's sexual & reproductive health, they are more aware of new reproductive technology options and they also sell birth control at a subsidised rate. It's a clinic associated with a hospital and it's all covered by OHIP.
posted by jb at 9:51 AM on January 8, 2011