never sees sexually unusual patients in his practice.
understanding when it comes to sexual issues, and lacks
the researach foundation upon which other aspects of
medicine are based. One of my medical school professors
taught that the first touch of a pelvic exam should not
be to the woman's genitals, because such a touch might
be interpreted as an assault. Instead, I was told, I should
touch her knee first, then lightly run my gloved hand
down her thigh to her genitals. Another professor said
that the thigh is an erogenous zone and that touching
a woman there was very erotic, and thus inappropriate.
This kind of schizophrenia is unfortunately typical of
medical training regarding sexuality confusing doctors,
often into inaction.
by a nurse-practitioner. While nurse-practitioners are
an integral part of the health care team, the only time
they ordinarily teach classes to medical students is when
a subject comes up that the physicians decline to teach
(a distinction which is not lost on the medical students).
During the lecture, a young well-built male medical
student asked what to do if a male patient gets an erection
during the exam cover it with a towel, leave the room,
or ignore it and proceed with the examination? The nurse
practitioner ignored the question, and the student (not
me!) persistently kept asking. We never got an answer.
And that was the sum total of my medical school education
on sexuality.