spaf@gatech.UUCP (Gene Spafford) (02/10/84)
The GaTech health center has about 8 doctors who work there full time.
Most of the doctors who work at the infirmary don't strike me as
too expert. Most of the time they treat colds, sprains, flu, and
hangovers.
Whenever I need to see a doctor about something that would require some
expertise (as opposed to getting cold medicine or an ankle strap), I
always request to see one of two specific doctors on the staff. By
coincidence these two also serve as the staff gynecologists; one of
them is female. Both have impressive credentials (I'm a little odd,
perhaps -- I talk to the doctors a little bit about their background
and I read the documents on their walls before I let them do too much
to me), and both take a lot of time to explain what they're doing and
why, and they carefully explain about the medication they give. They
seem to be far better doctors than the others on the staff.
When I came down with a case of urethritis about 2 years ago, I went to
see one of the doctors and was assigned to the female doctor. I got
the standard questions and the standard sample for a culture (this is
done by inserting a wire loop about 2-3 inches up the urethra and then
making a smear in a petri dish -- a procedure which is very painful
when one is suffering from urethritis). She asked jokingly whether I
wanted a nurse present before I dropped my pants; I replied that I
usually was more willing to drop my pants in front of crowds. She
immediately suugested that that was why I had caught whatever I had.
Anyhow, I mentioned that I was curious how the general population of
students reacted to her when she needed to perform examinations in a
similar vein (or urethra, I suppose). As I expected, a number of the
male students would ask that a different doctor do the exams. She also
indicated that many male students will ask to see any doctor but
her when they come to the infirmary. From my point of view, that's
really too bad -- she's an excellent doctor.
What I found really interesting, though, was the fact that there is
a significant fraction of women students who prefer a male doctor,
especially for gyn exams. I didn't think to ask her why that was
(she had finished the rest of the exam and was muttering something
about amputation, so I left). Still, I found it interesting and
I wonder why.
Also, I have a gay male friend who prefers to see the woman doctor
because the male doctors intimidate him somewhat. Not that they
ever have indicated anything out of the ordinary, it's just that
he feels more comfortable seeing a woman doctor.
Comments?
--
Off the Wall of Gene Spafford
The Clouds Project, School of ICS, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332
CSNet: Spaf @ GATech ARPA: Spaf.GATech @ CSNet-Relay
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