It's about breasts
While my relative was in town for the Diabetes Conference, I spent almost every evening in a nice fancy dinner with him. One of those evenings, after dinner we decided to go by his hotel for a cup of coffee. When we entered the hotel's bar my relative noticed all his collegues in a corner. So we joined them and for the next hour I listened to the most fascinating discussion between doctors who specialise in Diabetes.
So all of you must be wondering what could be so fascinating in listening to doctors talk? You're thinking, they must have discussed some new advancements in therapy, a new medication, a new scientific discovery that would lead to a cure, a new connection between Diabetes and something in our dietary habits. But no, it was nothing of the sort.
The discussion was about breast examination!
Yes, believe it or not, but apparently this was a hot topic for these Diabetes doctors to discuss. Now don't get this wrong - there were as many women sitting at this discussion as men. This was not the pervert type of discussion, this was purely ethical!
Here's the dilema that was raised: a woman with Diabetes visits her Diabetes doctor regularly, but because everything in her health relates to Diabetes she does not visit a primary physician and only visits a Diabetes doctor. Should the doctor conduct a physical and a breast examination? And if so, should he have an assistant or nurse enter the room when he does it? How does a Diabetes doctor justify to a patient a breast examination?
Why is this on their minds? Because apparently, a couple of their patients were diagnosed with advanced breast cancer too late, and they could have detected it sooner if they conducted a simple test during a regular office visit.
All seriousness aside, I'm wondering how long before we hear of a discussion between female optometricians discussing how to conduct testicular cancer exams to their male patients. I'd love to hear how they'd justify it.
So all of you must be wondering what could be so fascinating in listening to doctors talk? You're thinking, they must have discussed some new advancements in therapy, a new medication, a new scientific discovery that would lead to a cure, a new connection between Diabetes and something in our dietary habits. But no, it was nothing of the sort.
The discussion was about breast examination!
Yes, believe it or not, but apparently this was a hot topic for these Diabetes doctors to discuss. Now don't get this wrong - there were as many women sitting at this discussion as men. This was not the pervert type of discussion, this was purely ethical!
Here's the dilema that was raised: a woman with Diabetes visits her Diabetes doctor regularly, but because everything in her health relates to Diabetes she does not visit a primary physician and only visits a Diabetes doctor. Should the doctor conduct a physical and a breast examination? And if so, should he have an assistant or nurse enter the room when he does it? How does a Diabetes doctor justify to a patient a breast examination?
Why is this on their minds? Because apparently, a couple of their patients were diagnosed with advanced breast cancer too late, and they could have detected it sooner if they conducted a simple test during a regular office visit.
All seriousness aside, I'm wondering how long before we hear of a discussion between female optometricians discussing how to conduct testicular cancer exams to their male patients. I'd love to hear how they'd justify it.
posted at
6/22/2006 08:22:00 PM
3 Comments:
Hmm....well according to what theu teach us....u always have to have a female attendant besides u.....a rule quoted from Hutchinson clinical methods...so not only a Pakistan thing....secondly......if they're so concerned..they should tell their patient..and give them an option to either have themsleves examined by their primary physican..or by them..........
By
Aftab Iqbal, at 6:34 PM, June 23, 2006
Aftab, the discussion was between Australian doctors. They're not into the legal hassles of American society and therefore they do not have a requirement to have a female present in the room during a patient examination.
Mike, what is it - ethical discussions and unethical fantasies?
By
Mybrid, at 11:15 AM, June 24, 2006
In the US, a specialist in Diabetes, sometimes called an endocrinologist, would not intrude on another doctor's area of expertise, for the same reason that a nurse must be in the room when a female patient is seen by a male doctor: Fear of being sued or charged with a crime. This is a very opportunistic country, and juries tend to lean in favor of patients in sexual harrassment cases, so many doctors are very wary of letting this happen.
When it comes to performing an examination out of his field of expertise, the doctor faces the same problem -- he can be sued. The best that most of them will do is to recommend that the patient see her own doctor for a specific test or problem.
A breast exam? Not if he wants to keep his license!
mtrain
By
Anonymous, at 1:38 AM, June 25, 2006
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