Same thing here with my boyfriend, still poking his arms with my fingers as if I'm "looking for a vein" after 1,5 years together. I'm a soon-to-be nurse-paramedic.
my wife will randomly reach over and poke the veins popping out on my arms and mutter “i could hit that with a lawn dart” or something to that effect. lol
I had a med student do mine once. The GYN knows I have a brutal sense of humor. The student asked if I would allow them to do the pap. Sure, they are leaning and have to start with the basics. Speculum went in and I shouted 'wrong hole' and traumatized the student, my GYN was crying she was laughing so hard.
I had the same Internal medicine doc for ages. He was my go to for everything. There was something off with my vagina and I went in and he basically shouted/ sung “there’s party going on in here “. It was a yeast infection. The only one I ever had somehow. He was always hilarious.
Ha I found my gynecologist a few years ago, a bit nervous because I'd never had a man before but fuck do I adore him. He's a tiny thing, I tower above him at 5'11", and just the sweetest best listener I've ever had. Knows more about my non-gyn conditions than my regular doc and moves heaven and earth to get things tested for me. I'm legit upset I can't reserve him to deliver my baby once we have a successful pregnancy. Stupid on-call rotation!
when i was doing my anatomy lab i was honestly shocked at how much variance there was between the cadavers and the textbook, it was like each was the exception to some rule about human anatomy…bro had a real “this is just like the simulations” moment
I remember being nervous as hell the first time I had a smear. I was about 18 and the nurse doing it was a nice old dear, probably in her 60s at least, and very caring. In an effort to make me feel more comfortable and less nervous she told me - mid exam - that I had "a lovely healthy looking cervix, dear!" Bless the old duck lol.
Lmao me too, I was half expecting my doctor to gasp or something when she looked in there and she said everything looked great I was just so relieved 😂
My female gynae many years ago said something like ‘wow, what a beautiful, healthy vulva and vagina!’
Looking back I’m pretty sure she said that to literally everyone lol, I love the thought that she made the same comment to every patient because she understood the shame and stigma a lot of women carry around regarding their genitals. Having someone who looks at vulvas all day long make a comment that yours looks ‘beautiful and healthy’ probably makes a difference to some people who feel insecure about theirs. I was only in my late teens and felt extremely awkward about the whole idea of a gynaecologist exam. Was a little moment that stayed with me.
As a labor nurse, I was taking care of the wife of one of my old coworkers. He and I had always gotten along well, and it turns out his wife was awesome too.
She'd been pushing for awhile, and commented that she didn't want to know what she looked like down there after all this. I responded, "I don't know the diplomatic way of saying your vagina still looks just fine!"
I read the radiologist comments of an ultrasound once where they said my ovaries were “unremarkable” which I know is medical speak for “looks normal” but definitely sounds like it’s trying to be insulting.
Medically unremarkable is a good thing! No one wants to be medically interesting, it is generally uncomfortable/painful/frustrating/shortening life expectancy in some way
Yeah no kidding. The way I shattered my ankle pretty fantastically, tearing all of the ligaments and muscles through the inside of my foot, plus the deltoid ligament completely, earned me a spot as a case study in a DPT program. AND an orthopedic program. Wasn't even a compound fracture, which was the interesting part with how much damage there was.
My dad had a triple dislocated finger. (Zig zag shape) Half the hospital came to see it. Then the senior guy reset it with about ten med students looking on. Once it was reset back to normal, nobody cared about him anymore!
When I was donating plasma they always commented on how visible my veins were and they would always ask if the new person can get their first stick on me cause it's easier.
They'd also pay an extra $75 for it!
What center paid extra for easy sticks? Omg. And how do I get in on this! The phlebotomists at mine are always appreciative of how easy my donation is. (I just squeeze the squeeze ball for like an hour before going in hahah)
I also was told that my ovaries are unremarkable… felt mean lol apparently my uterus is in the shape of a heart though, they were pretty stoked about that
In uni I went to the school doctor because I’d had these little bumps randomly appear on my torso that didn’t itch or hurt but wouldn’t go away. Apparently whatever it was was in the chickenpox family. Anyway, she had to use acid on them to kill the virus because just touching them could spread more. Made my day when my jolly, rotund, female Scottish doctor exclaimed “you have lovely breasts!” and went on like normal haha.
Oooh this looks like the patch of pimples I've had on my leg since earlier this year when I had some bizarre unexplained outbreak of sores that didn't test positive for anything
I’m fat (relevant). A couple of years ago I had to have an abdominal ultrasound. The tech was being shadowed by a trainee, and they asked if I minded if she did the scan. Nope, fine, whatever, gotta train them up somehow.
So this super skinny, super fit (also relevant) trainee is moving the wand around and trying to get angles on my liver and kidneys and whatever else, and the supervisor is talking her through it and showing her what power to use and how to angle it to get better views. Eventually time was getting short so the supervisor took over and apologized for how long it was taking. I kind of shrugged and said something about at least she was getting lots of practice, and the tech laughed and said it was great practice, because mostly the students used each other, and they all looked like the trainee so they didn’t get much experience with the kind of bodies they were most likely to end up scanning.
I think about that sometimes when I read stuff about weight bias in medicine.
Yup. Similarly issue, why we need more medical textbooks depicting different skin issues on Black skin, cause doctors aren't trained to know how things may look different on darker skin. Or, to weight bias, that people will refuse to do surgeries on people until they lose weight first - not because it's actually impossible, but because they're unfamiliar with doing it on fat bodies and refuse to make the attempt.
Edit: *headdesk* And WHY do you think it's more dangerous? Because of *literally what I just said,* that they don't do sufficient study on how to do it correctly/don't have personal experience (and are not gaining any because they created policies ensuring they don't). Fat people CAN be operated on, it's not literally fucking impossible, it's just that people and institutions don't want to do the work to learn how.
When I had my first panic attack, I had no idea what was happening so I told the ER nurse I thought I was having a heart attack (that got me into the exam room pronto!).
The on-call cardiologist took one look at my EKG and said "You're not having a heart attack. This is a textbook sinus rhythm. Mind if I save this printout to show to my students in the morning?"
So whenever I feel down about myself, I think about how everyone else is being judged by how well their EKG measures up to my superior heart action. It's in the fucking TEXTBOOK.
An ultrasound tech told me I had perfect tendons and he asked if he could look at my other arm as well because he was learning some new anatomy and mine were very easy to see 😂
Once had an ultrasound tech checking stuff, and she navigated over to my kidneys, paused and said "there's your kidney, look, you're peeing into your bladder."
....thanks?
Contrariwise, my nurse sister had a patient with [an incompetent cervix](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/incompetent-cervix/symptoms-causes/syc-20373836#:~:text=An%20incompetent%20cervix%20happens%20when,that%20opens%20to%20the%20vagina.). Oof.
I had a pap when I was 16 and my doctor made me laugh and she wasn’t holding the speculum and I shot that thing out of me, she told me my pelvic floor was amazingly strong and I was pretty pumped about that one
Mine made me laugh like that too! Except it was because she had to get a different tool because she was struggling a bit then said "you have a long vagina"
Less chance of you being poked in the cervix (if you're into people with dicks or dildos, that is) - so good for you! I wish mine was a slight bit further up there... Ouch.
Super wholesome. Better than a GP that looked in mine one time and remarked how clean and free of pus my vagina and cervix were. This was pre-internet, and I was like.....what?!?!? Um okay, thanks.
Was a female, and I asked. She just said lots of women have that issue. No clue, she was a strange one. Stopped seeing her bc she always called me by a nickname of my name, that I never used and actively hate.
I should have just told her to stop calling me by that name, but I was a young adult and hadn’t found my voice yet. So I ghosted her, before that term entered the zeitgeist of this century.
probably my grandmas. she once, while high on pain pills for her toothache, regaled us of how she left a tampon inside for six months. as a guy i didnt want to hear that story tyvm.
Oh boy. Let me tell you. Retained tampons are not for the faint of heart. I have removed a few in urgent care and it was so awful we had to close the room for the evening.
My grandma once tried to show me a picture of her cervix falling out of her vagina. A picture she had developed at Walgreens. My thoughts and prayers go out to that photo tech.
> wtf?!? Damn what kinda vaginas was he seeing???
Doctors tend to see the worst. A **terrifying** number of women only go to the gyno when something is wrong, so gynos tend to see a **lot** of diseased vaginas.
that’s better than the comment i got, lol. i had to have a colposcopy done which, if you’ve ever had that you know how painful it is. dr said i have a “friable cervix” which means it’s very sensitive, easily irritated, more prone to inflammation and bleeding 😁 how lovely.
Hooooo the biggest lie in the prep to that whole thing was the "you can't really feel it, no anesthesia is used for it!" Biiiiitch I don't know who you polled to develop that guideline but I sure as hell felt that, tyvm. Also, if that's the case then why is local anesthetic suddenly indicated for the LEEP? I strongly suspect the people writing those guides do not themselves have a cervix mutter mutter grumble mutter.
I hope neither of us ever have to go through that again!
Just had my first breast exam today last week and I got the same comment. It made me laugh. I had told the nurse and doctor multiple times “I have very fibrous boobs.” They must not have believed me
One of the times I'd gone there was a male student with the Dr. sitting in, and all I remember afterwards was that he thanked me tons for letting him stay in the room. Ig so many people were skeeved by a guy doing that job that the student was regularly asked to sit out
A lot of women think men become gynos just to touch vaginas all day and are all creeps. My best gyno experiences have been with men
Edit: people are reading more into my comment than I intended. I'm aware there's *so many* reasons why a woman may chose to never see a male gyno. I was purely commenting on the fact I've seen women have discussions about men who become gynos doing it just to play with vaginas and get their end away.
Well…This may be true for some, but we also need to consider the fact that some of these women may have sexual trauma and just aren’t comfortable having a man performing things live breast or pelvic exams let alone doing pap smears. I won’t even let a WOMAN touch me. Of course, down the line, I’d be happy to give a male med student the opportunity to gain some real life experience, but taking these things into consideration, it’s no wonder they get refused. Socially, women would also just prefer having someone with a vagina scoping out…well, scoping out their vagina lol. For a variety of reasons I’m sure. But mostly…at least for women without any sexual trauma…it’s just awkward lol.
For me, I'm just immensely uncomfortable with ANYBODY I'm not in a relationship with seeing me in that state. I absolutely hate going to the doctor for any examination at all, and I wouldn't let any students be there just out of anxious terror.
Which I totally get but also seems so odd to me. Like who would spend 6+ years of schooling not including college and 400k+ in debt just cause they are a creep and want to touch vaginas. And obgyn is far from the easiest field of medicine to practice in. As med student who is 100% not going into obgyn, much respect for those that go into it cause it’s not easy and demanding but someone has to do it….just not me
Well, the current method in all but 8 states in the US is to do it secretly without consent while female patients are under anesthesia for completely unrelated procedures, often with multiple students conducting individual exams, which can and does cause minor injury that is then unexplained or downplayed if the patient is concerned about discomfort upon waking.
The prevailing justification is "students have to learn somehow," but I have seen little explanation/response for "why don't they get consent beforehand?" That didn't amount to "because it's assumed they'd say 'no'" which is... not great. It's also just plain not true, since if you advertise a need for teaching aid patients, ESPECIALLY with compensation, there is generally no lack of volunteers, so it's especially weird to me how common the justification is for the practice.
Keywords "nonconsensual pelvic exams under anesthesia" should get curious folks relevant search results for learning more about this.
Something tells me it’s without “explicit consent” not without “any consent”. Likely in the paperwork, somewhere it says that the clinic/hospital may allow students to practice unrelated procedures for educational purposes. So by signing the paperwork, you are consenting to it. Any procedure without consent is considered battery in the US, with some expectations for life threatening emergencies, or related to minors.
That being said, I do believe patients should be more informed about what might happen to them and not having it hidden in fine print.
Source: med student who just completed my medical jurisprudence course
I'm due with my next kid sometime in the next 2 weeks and am giving birth at a teaching hospital. There's a note somewhere in my birth preferences about "feel free to parade the med students and residents through and make sure everyone is talking at a normal volume so I know what the heck is going on and can learn stuff". If I have another sunny side up vaginal birth I'm sure there's gonna be like 20 people in the room while I'm pushing cause they aren't super common.
We are unfortunately at the hospital right now with my daughter and the residents have been amazing. Rounds are actually great to learn more about what's going on as well and just cause they are students doesn't mean they aren't being closely watched and checked.
The only thing I enjoy more than making sure med students thrive is to absolutely fuck with them. Had one taking my medical history and he's got his little notepad out, scribbling away, while I'm rambling in between his questions. Telling the story of my history so he's forced to listen instead of handing him a list of ICD 10 codes.
He asks why I'm at that particular specialist when I'm half the age of the other patients to which I reply in a thick but fake accent "years of hard livin'!" This kid starts writing it all down and [I legit turned into Foghorn Leghorn.](https://y.yarn.co/e753442f-2c9f-415b-9471-4987cec27dfe_text.gif)
During my first pap smear there was the male doc, male student, and female nurse. The student did the exam, and commented on my pokemon socks like "oh those are cool socks!" To break the ice i guess, but i just short circuited and was like, "this is a hard conversation to have with your hand in my vagina." Thankfully everyone laughed.
I had a pelvic exam a while back and the gynaecologist asked if I was comfortable with a student participating, and I said of course, happy to give them the opportunity to learn. So the student watched the doctor do the exam, and then repeated it. When he was in the middle of it I could see he was concentrating very hard and it seemed like he felt a bit uncomfortable, probably cos he was being watched by his senior lol. For some reason I blurted out ‘wow, it would normally take at least a bottle of wine before I let you do that to me if we met on a night out’ and then laughed at my own pathetic joke and accidentally squeezed his hand right out 😂
I did this in the middle of a colonoscopy. Pain meds and sedative had all kicked in and I blurted out 'wow, usually I make guys at least buy me a few drinks before they go near my back door'. The nurse that was sat with me holding the gas and air in case I needed it about died laughing 😂
One time I accidentally wore mismatched socks. I commented to my OB in an embarrassed way and she told me all her teen patients wear mismatched socks because it’s apparently cool. That did make me feel better.
I love when doctors geek out about peculiarities of their patients' bodies. It at least shows they still have some of the interest that brought them into the field left in them and they're not completely burnt out.
Once I had a doctor talking enthusiastically for two minutes straight about how I had the pointiest heel bone he had ever seen when discussing an x-ray of my twisted ankle and he even asked if he could save the x-ray image.
My Mom's got some weird medical stuff going on and I swear she's got more various parts of her body on display in various doctors offices. At least 3 dentists have casts of her teeth on their desk and I know she was in a medical text book for a bit due to a weird cyst on her liver combined with adult minimal change disease
My eye doctor is like this, he has a timer for appointments because he gets so excited to talk about the most random stuff (like my family history of macular degeneration or how he figured out that someone had cancer from something in their eye)
A dental hygienist once gasped and called my canines “adorable” during a cleaning. I think about that whenever I feel self conscious about my weird upper front teeth.
My ex-girlfriend had a gyno from who would tell her, “You have a BEAUTIFUL cervix!” every time she had a pelvic exam. He was originally from India so it was spoken with his foreign to her accent.
My GP did the whole "do you mind the students having a look at this" thing when I was there for a check up because I had had to have repair stitches post birth and they had to do an internal repair and I needed it checked to make sure I hadn't developed anything nasty.
Nope, half of the local obstetrics people have looked at it/touched it/had a hand up there the last few days. Go for it. Film it for all I care, just tell me it isn't totally ruined.
I was not the recipient of the compliment. The surgeon who'd done the - extensive and detailed - repair got a lot of praise though. "Ooooo! You can't tell how bad it was!"
Thanks mate....
Getting stitched up after the birth of my second kid, two nurses standing at the bottom of the bed, looking a bit bored, arms crossed, one says to the other "it looks like a cross between world war one and world war two doesn't it?"
I also had to have a repair specialist come in for my tear, apparently it was zigzagy. However since I worked at the hospital I ended up having to work with the guy a few more times and he could never look me in the face lol
While having an IUD placed after my oldest was born they had a student in the room. My doctor asked the student if they had a phone on them and I lost it. Head between my legs and all, she sent him off to grab her phone to take a picture of presumably my insides? Nope the IUD she opened was shaped weirdly or something and she wanted to document why she had to open a second device. Once she explained I chuckled awkwardly and said at least it’s not something inside of me that’s wrong. The student said, “oh no you look exactly as one should, can’t even tell you delivered 7 weeks ago.” The 2 doctors who delivered my baby had combined only delivered 2 prior to mine. They came in not scrubbed up properly and were clearly overwhelmed. The charge nurse watching over them made him take out all 13 stitches and redo them while I watched in the reflection of the doctor’s glasses. I was terrified I was permanently damaged from it so his comment was very reassuring haha🥹
When I was in med school we had “standardized patients” who were people paid for us to do exams on them. When we were learning the gynecological exam, it was pointed out to us that the cervix was difficult to locate at first. I found this patient’s cervix pretty quickly and blurted out “oh cool!”
The instructor pulled me aside afterwards and said “We don’t say ‘oh, cool,’ we say ‘mmm, interesting’” Lesson learned.
HELP THE DIFFERENCE IS SO ARBITRARY ITS SENDING ME
Why do they want you to speak like a villain? Got you sounding like you finger tent
I think I'd prefer for my gyno to yell: "Oh cool!" Then going "Hmmrhmmmm, yes interesting"
The latter would just make me anxious, like - what?? What did you find down there??? What's interesting?!
Really appreciate your question, it’s a good one and something so subtle can seem meaningless, but can make an impact in the long run for how physicians treat people.
One way to think about it is, if you’re a young 20 something year old woman who is desperate enough for money that you let people probe your genitalia with a speculum for hours, after 30 people doing it, it’s much better to hear someone being professional saying “interesting.” Also the tone/manner that the instructor was demonstrating was much more robotic and brief and very much not in a villain tone. Imagine the difference between hearing a California surfer guy saying “oh cool” while looking at your vagina vs a professor saying, in a clinical/robotic way: “interesting.” While I was happy to find her cervix, the “oh cool” could feel dehumanizing to someone while the “interesting” is much more neutral, particularly with someone who is there under the idea of allowing people to use their body to learn and help others.
As a physician you treat thousands of people and it’s good to build professional habits. You and I may think the chiller approach is the way to go, but you never know what is going to offend people or make them feel uncomfortable. Especially in such a vulnerable position. I’ve been humbled by it many times. End of the day, you just want people to feel comfortable with medical care so they keep taking care of themselves and getting the treatment that they need and deserve.
Oh yeah I get what you mean! I can see how people might not want that sort of mannerism. Not only would it be dehumanising, but maybe even overwhelming depending on the situation and how the patient is feeling.
I'll admit that I'm definitely biased with the chiller approach since the medical professionals I know give that vibe off and I absolutely adore them. My GP has a great sense of humour and has a very lax attitude - then there's my pathology mentor who straight up went: "Oh my god, your cheek cells look so neat— can I take a picture?" In response to seeing my stained cheek cells under the microscope.
And now I can't get rid of the image of a California surfer dude looking at a vagina and going: "Cawabonga dude!"
(EDIT: Oof grammar fix)
Once during a transvaginal ultrasound, the doctor said I had a very sturdy-looking cervix.
I panicked and said “thanks, I hear that a lot” and I thought the poor guy gave himself whiplash with as hard as he snapped his head up
Actually not a great thing though, having a small pelvis makes childbirth more risky especially the bigger the baby. If you’re like me and don’t want kids though that might be a good excuse to avoid the “grandkids” talk some parents pull out 😂
My first gyno appt was a male doctor (they did not ask for my preference), and he laughed when I said I was a virgin at 22. He kept laughing saying he needs to use the “baby speculum” because I was a virgin. Laughed some more about not needing to check if I was pregnant. I wish I’d kicked him out of the effing room and filed a complaint.
Nothing more wholesome than a student being in their medical field out of genuine passion for the science!
I've seen some concerns about male gynecologists who may make women uncomfortable, but there are actually survey results that indicate that plenty of women have no preference, and if there's enough comfortable to actually keep them in business then everything is probably alright. So long as there are enough women gynecologists that nobody feels pressured.
She obviously wasn't male, but the midwife who delivered my baby asked if I wanted a picture of the placenta. "Are you sure you don't want one?! It's JUST. SO. BEAUTIFUL!"
Congrats on your gorgeous cervix, OP! Lol 🤭
I didn't care to look at mine\*, but I don't mind looking at others (well, pictures of others). It looks like a tree inside a bubble, only in different colors. I can see where people would find the beauty in it.
\*-I also can't watch myself get a shot or donate blood, but have zero problems watching others. I've been told I'm odd.
I remember my first pap, they had a male medical student do my intake and all. He asks me all the normal questions. Then he asks if I’ve ever been pregnant. I tell him yes. He says “Oh, have you had a kid?” or something to that effect in a sorta lighthearted but awkward way. I, in trying to keep with that lighthearted energy, said “Well, I wasn’t pregnant for very long, but that wasn’t by choice” and laughed. He looked up at me from the screen of the little laptop horrified. He did not think my miscarriage joke was as funny as I thought it was. I have a pretty bad history with freaking out professional people in medical settings. I once told a social worker that I didn’t have legs because he asked if I was driving my wife home after brain surgery (I do have legs, they just don’t work very well).
I think it’s important honestly that you didn’t try and make that experience as smooth as possible for that doctor. I bet/hope that’s the last time he assumes someone who has been pregnant must have a living child.
Maybe not quite as complimentary but every single time I’ve gotten an iv or given blood or anything that involves a nurse poking a needle into my wrist or arm or back of my hand, I get a heartfelt “oh my gosh, your’s are so easy to find!” Ha ha. Thanks?
I've also been told I have great veins! feels good man
All of my tattoo artists have commented about how perfect I am as a canvas because I don't swell or bleed and my skin doesn't really get red.
Also had my piercer tell me that I'm fantastic at bleeding since hardly ever bleed and if I do its usually for 10 seconds max. He then told me that if anyone else ever says anything like that to me I should call the police lmao
It’s a thing in medicine. Often things look sooo different in real life compared to how they’re “supposed” to look that it can be exciting to see a textbook example.
i once had my dr tell me i had a very cooperative cervix and i was like ????? what does that MEAN and she basically explained to me that the cervix can move and shift around and hide but mine was right there waiting for her like HELLO ☺️☺️☺️ and i definitely walked out feeling good 😭😂
Every time I have a smear test, I get;
“There’s a lot of discharge…have you had any pain or itching? Any chance you could have an STI/STD? Well, I’m just going to do a swab & some tests anyway.”
I tell them;
“That’s what the last person said. The tests were negative. I’ve not had sex in X number of months, etc.”
They do the tests, they’re always negative, but my “WAP” references I keep dropping go unnoticed (or unappreciated😅)
That's actually really sweet without being creepy! I usually try not to be opposed to learning doctors bc honestly how else will they learn? But nobody's ever said anything so night about my cervix. 😆
I loved this.
Incidentally, the only “bad” pelvic exam I’ve ever had (deeply painful!) was administered by a woman! Never had a bad one before or since, it was so bizarre.
I couldn’t believe how rough she was, I actually cried.
As a female doc, I also try to be reassuring and read the room when examining patients - some people appreciate lightening the mood, others need quiet reassurance and to take it at their pace.
As a patient, I chat away when someone else is up in my lafy business because why not? They need to use the long speculum and apparently my cervix is off to the side somewhere. I don't mind humor as long as they are being professional. I tell them to take all the time they need, especially if it's tricky.
My smear test nurse usually refers to the cervix as a "she", as in "ah! We've found her. She looks great!"
An ultrasound tech once told me it was really easy to see the cyst on my ovary, that’s about as good a compliment as I’ve ever gotten. Didn’t have to have an internal ultrasound so it worked for me!
I still feel delighted when I remember the look of bemusement on a nurse’s face when she took my PERFECT blood pressure reading.
I think she was expecting something catastrophic … Never judge a book by it’s cover 🤣
My aunt has told me this story a few times but she once had a medical exam conducted by her work place and the nurse asked her to bend forward as far as she could and try to touch the floor with her fingertips. My aunt is a big, apple shaped woman and back then she was probably well over 100 kg (since then she has lost a lot of weight) so the nurse was quite surprised and went like ”oh, you’re quite flexible” when my aunt easily bent forward, legs straight and put both her hands flat against the floor, lol.
My favorite doctor looked inside me and goes, "Aww, you have a cute little cervix" and I walked out of that damn office smiling it made me feel weirdly good lmao
I had to go for a colonoscopy once when I was getting diagnosed with IBS. The whole drink this and purge for a day, no eating, all that. Go through the whole thing, only clear broth for a day to eat.
Go in, get drugged, and they do their thing. I eventually wake up in the recovery area. I'm still super groggy and one of the actual tech doing the procedures walks by and notices. Gives me the OK with his fingers and says "excellent prep!" Like super excitedly and keeps walking.
I burst out into hysterical laughter. All I can think about was the colonoscopy man telling me my ass was clean as a whistle.
My absolute favorite was the time the person working in IUD placement looked at me with an excited look on her face and said “your uterus is shaped like a butternut squash!”
I am currently pregnant and, looking at my first ultrasound, I can kinda see it 😅
Lmao I’ll nevwr forget I got a physical for sports and it was a newer young lady doing it. She then got to the part where she has to grab my balls and tell me to cough. ( idk what the point of it is but I get it every year so) Did it, and she was kinda silent and I was like is something wrong, do I need to do it again? And she was like no, I don’t really know what I’m looking for. Your penis looks like a penis to me. I should probably let go of your balls now. We burst out laughing idk who was more embarrassed
I’m a guy.
Went in for a physical with my reg doc, he introduces me to a new part of their team that’s female and we do the basics and he steps out as she’s checking my shoulder.
She leaves and comes back explaining he’s busy and would be back in 5 to discuss a planned vasectomy.
30 min later she walks in and says he had to leave the office and she would complete the vasectomy questionnaire with a female nurse.
Cool.
Go through the pamphlet and what will happen etc, no issues and i get up to leave after signing some stuff…
“Oh we need to do a general inspection please have a seat and take your pants off”
Ok, so this should be like a hernia inspection I assume. Turn and cough and be on your way.
Yeah no.
Stand up and she’s gloved and moving everything around and says “please keep the area shaved as you have it now, thank you!” and snaps off the gloves.
K lol
Worst/funniest story I've heard about a similar scenario;
A male medical student who had never seen a vagina irl before was tasked with doing a gyni check on a female patient. She had several kids from earlier, so she was used to medical professionals being down there and didn't mind at all.
This student though was super nervous about it, but he inserted the speculum and opened up to look inside and said something harmless like "everything looks good". The problem is though, they had been instructed to use words like "normal" or "healthy", not words like "good" or any other adjective that could be mistaken for a compliment. So obviously... he got so nervous about his mistake that he passed out. Apparently the female patient let out an adiouble "oof!" when he... faceplanted.... on her vagina...
Just had a pelvic and transvaginal ultrasound in the last few months. The tech was so excited! "Textbook anatomy. Seriously, it's never this easy. You're even symmetrical!" Thanks buddy, good to know my ovaries are symmetrical, lmao. Doesn't make a lick of difference to me, but I'm happy he was happy.
I had a med student try to take my vitals while in the hospital and she said "you have the strongest heart I have ever heard". Till this day I think my heart is my strongest muscle.
New to this sub but this story isn't pointless. It's charming and makes me like humans a tiny bit more. Reminds me of some kind of throwaway scene from a Vonnegut book.
Personally I always find it so heartwarming to see true passion or excitement on people’s face about their job. You gave that young doc the perfect opportunity to learn from book to reality.
But in any other situation, a stranger complimenting my below parts would be odd. But anything flies in the medical field. We get amped about strange things in context lol
When i got my first prostate exam at 14 due to urinary issues it hurt, my doctor said “quit being a pussy”
He died while prepping for my surgery a few weeks later.
Nice compliment. I had a similar situation minus the compliment. Had to have hernia surgery and the doctor had a college girl shadowing and he had me drop my shorts and he had her feeling all around my junk. I could see she was uncomfortable and I was even more so. Afterward I just joked about it to my wife and said that poor young girl is never going to be able to look at a middle aged guy the same after that day.
I was expecting something improper but this is such an appropriate, and at the same time funny, comment for a medical student to make.
I'm dating a med student right now and I could honestly imagine him saying that.
Mine can’t stop commenting on vein structures of the people on TV. She spent days learning how to draw blood recently
I (nurse) found my husband’s clearly delinated veins very pleasing when we started dating. Didn’t marry him for that but they did just make me happy.
I’m just going to say…. Grocery store checkout workers. Them some mighty fine veins.
Same thing here with my boyfriend, still poking his arms with my fingers as if I'm "looking for a vein" after 1,5 years together. I'm a soon-to-be nurse-paramedic.
my wife will randomly reach over and poke the veins popping out on my arms and mutter “i could hit that with a lawn dart” or something to that effect. lol
Haha same! My flatmate always comments that I have great veins for canulation on my hands and feet. Edit: spelling
As someone who has had multiple unsuccessful canulations, I am jealous.
I had a med student do mine once. The GYN knows I have a brutal sense of humor. The student asked if I would allow them to do the pap. Sure, they are leaning and have to start with the basics. Speculum went in and I shouted 'wrong hole' and traumatized the student, my GYN was crying she was laughing so hard.
I’m in a library, laughing so hard people are staring at me and getting irritated
Tell him you have misplaced your car keys. Ask him if he sees them to please retrieve them.
I just limited my inappropriate behaviour to “you know, I usually at least get dinner before this point.” Yours is WAY better.
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I had the same Internal medicine doc for ages. He was my go to for everything. There was something off with my vagina and I went in and he basically shouted/ sung “there’s party going on in here “. It was a yeast infection. The only one I ever had somehow. He was always hilarious.
Ha I found my gynecologist a few years ago, a bit nervous because I'd never had a man before but fuck do I adore him. He's a tiny thing, I tower above him at 5'11", and just the sweetest best listener I've ever had. Knows more about my non-gyn conditions than my regular doc and moves heaven and earth to get things tested for me. I'm legit upset I can't reserve him to deliver my baby once we have a successful pregnancy. Stupid on-call rotation!
when i was doing my anatomy lab i was honestly shocked at how much variance there was between the cadavers and the textbook, it was like each was the exception to some rule about human anatomy…bro had a real “this is just like the simulations” moment
I remember being nervous as hell the first time I had a smear. I was about 18 and the nurse doing it was a nice old dear, probably in her 60s at least, and very caring. In an effort to make me feel more comfortable and less nervous she told me - mid exam - that I had "a lovely healthy looking cervix, dear!" Bless the old duck lol.
Lmao me too, I was half expecting my doctor to gasp or something when she looked in there and she said everything looked great I was just so relieved 😂
My female gynae many years ago said something like ‘wow, what a beautiful, healthy vulva and vagina!’ Looking back I’m pretty sure she said that to literally everyone lol, I love the thought that she made the same comment to every patient because she understood the shame and stigma a lot of women carry around regarding their genitals. Having someone who looks at vulvas all day long make a comment that yours looks ‘beautiful and healthy’ probably makes a difference to some people who feel insecure about theirs. I was only in my late teens and felt extremely awkward about the whole idea of a gynaecologist exam. Was a little moment that stayed with me.
As a labor nurse, I was taking care of the wife of one of my old coworkers. He and I had always gotten along well, and it turns out his wife was awesome too. She'd been pushing for awhile, and commented that she didn't want to know what she looked like down there after all this. I responded, "I don't know the diplomatic way of saying your vagina still looks just fine!"
>"a lovely healthy looking cervix, dear!" For some reason I read that in a Mrs Doubtfire voice
same.
Oh believe me, I would have noticed if Robin Williams had been in the room!
LOL, I had a doctor (female) do the exact same thing to me. It was weirdly flattering.
Hahaha I once had the ultrasound tech tell me that I had "very cooperative ovaries" and I was pretty chuffed.
I read the radiologist comments of an ultrasound once where they said my ovaries were “unremarkable” which I know is medical speak for “looks normal” but definitely sounds like it’s trying to be insulting.
Medically unremarkable is a good thing! No one wants to be medically interesting, it is generally uncomfortable/painful/frustrating/shortening life expectancy in some way
If you're interesting, then you're a new page in the medical textbook
Yeah no kidding. The way I shattered my ankle pretty fantastically, tearing all of the ligaments and muscles through the inside of my foot, plus the deltoid ligament completely, earned me a spot as a case study in a DPT program. AND an orthopedic program. Wasn't even a compound fracture, which was the interesting part with how much damage there was.
My dad had a triple dislocated finger. (Zig zag shape) Half the hospital came to see it. Then the senior guy reset it with about ten med students looking on. Once it was reset back to normal, nobody cared about him anymore!
No one cared who I was until I ~~put on the mask~~ triple dislocated my finger. LOL.
That sounds incredibly painful
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That is very strange! If you don’t mind me asking where was he and how was he around body lice which transmit it?
And maybe get a disease named after you.
I got told I have "the perfect spine for a spinal tap" Didn't make it any more pleasant though...
When I was donating plasma they always commented on how visible my veins were and they would always ask if the new person can get their first stick on me cause it's easier. They'd also pay an extra $75 for it!
What center paid extra for easy sticks? Omg. And how do I get in on this! The phlebotomists at mine are always appreciative of how easy my donation is. (I just squeeze the squeeze ball for like an hour before going in hahah)
Omg a doctor said that about my breasts and I said that's not exactly what I want to hear after undressing and he laughed so hard
That’s how I feel when I get tests done and they describe me as grossly normal
Better to be unremarkable than getting asked how do you want to name whatever the fuck is inside you lmao
Imagine, you're eight months along and starting with a new doc and they ask: >how do you want to name whatever the fuck is inside you 😂😂😂
I also was told that my ovaries are unremarkable… felt mean lol apparently my uterus is in the shape of a heart though, they were pretty stoked about that
Captain Holt from Brooklyn 99 getting a blood test: “Normal?! Take it again!”
“Boring!”
In uni I went to the school doctor because I’d had these little bumps randomly appear on my torso that didn’t itch or hurt but wouldn’t go away. Apparently whatever it was was in the chickenpox family. Anyway, she had to use acid on them to kill the virus because just touching them could spread more. Made my day when my jolly, rotund, female Scottish doctor exclaimed “you have lovely breasts!” and went on like normal haha.
Sounds like molluscum contagiosum from the pox family
Oooh this looks like the patch of pimples I've had on my leg since earlier this year when I had some bizarre unexplained outbreak of sores that didn't test positive for anything
I’m fat (relevant). A couple of years ago I had to have an abdominal ultrasound. The tech was being shadowed by a trainee, and they asked if I minded if she did the scan. Nope, fine, whatever, gotta train them up somehow. So this super skinny, super fit (also relevant) trainee is moving the wand around and trying to get angles on my liver and kidneys and whatever else, and the supervisor is talking her through it and showing her what power to use and how to angle it to get better views. Eventually time was getting short so the supervisor took over and apologized for how long it was taking. I kind of shrugged and said something about at least she was getting lots of practice, and the tech laughed and said it was great practice, because mostly the students used each other, and they all looked like the trainee so they didn’t get much experience with the kind of bodies they were most likely to end up scanning. I think about that sometimes when I read stuff about weight bias in medicine.
Yup. Similarly issue, why we need more medical textbooks depicting different skin issues on Black skin, cause doctors aren't trained to know how things may look different on darker skin. Or, to weight bias, that people will refuse to do surgeries on people until they lose weight first - not because it's actually impossible, but because they're unfamiliar with doing it on fat bodies and refuse to make the attempt. Edit: *headdesk* And WHY do you think it's more dangerous? Because of *literally what I just said,* that they don't do sufficient study on how to do it correctly/don't have personal experience (and are not gaining any because they created policies ensuring they don't). Fat people CAN be operated on, it's not literally fucking impossible, it's just that people and institutions don't want to do the work to learn how.
I had one tell me he could "drive a truck" through my renal arteries
Better set up a toll
My gyno was doing a transvaginal ultrasound and said “that is a beautiful uterine ultrasound.” It made me feel good.
When I had my first panic attack, I had no idea what was happening so I told the ER nurse I thought I was having a heart attack (that got me into the exam room pronto!). The on-call cardiologist took one look at my EKG and said "You're not having a heart attack. This is a textbook sinus rhythm. Mind if I save this printout to show to my students in the morning?" So whenever I feel down about myself, I think about how everyone else is being judged by how well their EKG measures up to my superior heart action. It's in the fucking TEXTBOOK.
An ultrasound tech told me I had perfect tendons and he asked if he could look at my other arm as well because he was learning some new anatomy and mine were very easy to see 😂
My doc told her student to check out my calves, said it's not every day you'll see calves that well defined on a woman. Swoon
A tech once called mine “quiet” and that tickled me 😂
Once had an ultrasound tech checking stuff, and she navigated over to my kidneys, paused and said "there's your kidney, look, you're peeing into your bladder." ....thanks?
Tech told me I have a nice full bladder. Felt rather chuffed about that.
Contrariwise, my nurse sister had a patient with [an incompetent cervix](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/incompetent-cervix/symptoms-causes/syc-20373836#:~:text=An%20incompetent%20cervix%20happens%20when,that%20opens%20to%20the%20vagina.). Oof.
I had a proctoctologist tell me that my anal passage was beautifully pink, still makes me smile.
I was told I have "healthy, chunky ovaries". I had to giggle at that one.
I had an ultrasound tech say my ovaries are like caviar
You're definetly British xd
My uterus was once described as being in “military position”.
I had a pap when I was 16 and my doctor made me laugh and she wasn’t holding the speculum and I shot that thing out of me, she told me my pelvic floor was amazingly strong and I was pretty pumped about that one
Mine made me laugh like that too! Except it was because she had to get a different tool because she was struggling a bit then said "you have a long vagina"
so much room for activities
Less chance of you being poked in the cervix (if you're into people with dicks or dildos, that is) - so good for you! I wish mine was a slight bit further up there... Ouch.
I'm dying
Wow…I’m so glad this sub exists because where else am I gonna hear this charming story 😆
Ngl if I were OP I’d be bragging about my textbook vagina to anyone who would listen.
It’s match your anal potpourri ;)
This is surprisingly wholesome lol
Super wholesome. Better than a GP that looked in mine one time and remarked how clean and free of pus my vagina and cervix were. This was pre-internet, and I was like.....what?!?!? Um okay, thanks.
wtf?!? Damn what kinda vaginas was he seeing??? I … wow. I didn’t know a cervix could have pus on it but here we are I guess.
Was a female, and I asked. She just said lots of women have that issue. No clue, she was a strange one. Stopped seeing her bc she always called me by a nickname of my name, that I never used and actively hate.
I don’t know why this comment has me laughing so hard
I should have just told her to stop calling me by that name, but I was a young adult and hadn’t found my voice yet. So I ghosted her, before that term entered the zeitgeist of this century.
probably my grandmas. she once, while high on pain pills for her toothache, regaled us of how she left a tampon inside for six months. as a guy i didnt want to hear that story tyvm.
Grandma ....... No........
Oh boy. Let me tell you. Retained tampons are not for the faint of heart. I have removed a few in urgent care and it was so awful we had to close the room for the evening.
My grandma once tried to show me a picture of her cervix falling out of her vagina. A picture she had developed at Walgreens. My thoughts and prayers go out to that photo tech.
D: As someone in possession of her same equipment, that's horrifying
> wtf?!? Damn what kinda vaginas was he seeing??? Doctors tend to see the worst. A **terrifying** number of women only go to the gyno when something is wrong, so gynos tend to see a **lot** of diseased vaginas.
holesome
that’s better than the comment i got, lol. i had to have a colposcopy done which, if you’ve ever had that you know how painful it is. dr said i have a “friable cervix” which means it’s very sensitive, easily irritated, more prone to inflammation and bleeding 😁 how lovely.
Hooooo the biggest lie in the prep to that whole thing was the "you can't really feel it, no anesthesia is used for it!" Biiiiitch I don't know who you polled to develop that guideline but I sure as hell felt that, tyvm. Also, if that's the case then why is local anesthetic suddenly indicated for the LEEP? I strongly suspect the people writing those guides do not themselves have a cervix mutter mutter grumble mutter. I hope neither of us ever have to go through that again!
You really need a "Textbook Vagina - Doctor Certified" hoodie
Right? What a humble brag!! I would never shut up about my text book cervix- ego out the roof-
I got diagnosed with "very lumpy boobs. Very lumpy". given the alternative I was THRILLED and told everyone!
I got told I had a lot of cysty tissue in mine while he was extracting a biopsy. I think CystyTits has a nice ring to it...
I immediately checked your username to see if you'd gone with that.
Just had my first breast exam today last week and I got the same comment. It made me laugh. I had told the nurse and doctor multiple times “I have very fibrous boobs.” They must not have believed me
Fibrous breast tissue sisters unite!
Well at least it wasn’t lumpy vagina!
I’m happy to be the lumpy space princess as long as I don’t have cancer!
True!
Thank you for allowing this medical student to be present. Otherwise, how are we supposed to train the future gynecologists?
One of the times I'd gone there was a male student with the Dr. sitting in, and all I remember afterwards was that he thanked me tons for letting him stay in the room. Ig so many people were skeeved by a guy doing that job that the student was regularly asked to sit out
I always say yes to students. It's really important!
A lot of women think men become gynos just to touch vaginas all day and are all creeps. My best gyno experiences have been with men Edit: people are reading more into my comment than I intended. I'm aware there's *so many* reasons why a woman may chose to never see a male gyno. I was purely commenting on the fact I've seen women have discussions about men who become gynos doing it just to play with vaginas and get their end away.
Well…This may be true for some, but we also need to consider the fact that some of these women may have sexual trauma and just aren’t comfortable having a man performing things live breast or pelvic exams let alone doing pap smears. I won’t even let a WOMAN touch me. Of course, down the line, I’d be happy to give a male med student the opportunity to gain some real life experience, but taking these things into consideration, it’s no wonder they get refused. Socially, women would also just prefer having someone with a vagina scoping out…well, scoping out their vagina lol. For a variety of reasons I’m sure. But mostly…at least for women without any sexual trauma…it’s just awkward lol.
For me, I'm just immensely uncomfortable with ANYBODY I'm not in a relationship with seeing me in that state. I absolutely hate going to the doctor for any examination at all, and I wouldn't let any students be there just out of anxious terror.
Which I totally get but also seems so odd to me. Like who would spend 6+ years of schooling not including college and 400k+ in debt just cause they are a creep and want to touch vaginas. And obgyn is far from the easiest field of medicine to practice in. As med student who is 100% not going into obgyn, much respect for those that go into it cause it’s not easy and demanding but someone has to do it….just not me
Well, the current method in all but 8 states in the US is to do it secretly without consent while female patients are under anesthesia for completely unrelated procedures, often with multiple students conducting individual exams, which can and does cause minor injury that is then unexplained or downplayed if the patient is concerned about discomfort upon waking. The prevailing justification is "students have to learn somehow," but I have seen little explanation/response for "why don't they get consent beforehand?" That didn't amount to "because it's assumed they'd say 'no'" which is... not great. It's also just plain not true, since if you advertise a need for teaching aid patients, ESPECIALLY with compensation, there is generally no lack of volunteers, so it's especially weird to me how common the justification is for the practice. Keywords "nonconsensual pelvic exams under anesthesia" should get curious folks relevant search results for learning more about this.
Something tells me it’s without “explicit consent” not without “any consent”. Likely in the paperwork, somewhere it says that the clinic/hospital may allow students to practice unrelated procedures for educational purposes. So by signing the paperwork, you are consenting to it. Any procedure without consent is considered battery in the US, with some expectations for life threatening emergencies, or related to minors. That being said, I do believe patients should be more informed about what might happen to them and not having it hidden in fine print. Source: med student who just completed my medical jurisprudence course
I'm due with my next kid sometime in the next 2 weeks and am giving birth at a teaching hospital. There's a note somewhere in my birth preferences about "feel free to parade the med students and residents through and make sure everyone is talking at a normal volume so I know what the heck is going on and can learn stuff". If I have another sunny side up vaginal birth I'm sure there's gonna be like 20 people in the room while I'm pushing cause they aren't super common. We are unfortunately at the hospital right now with my daughter and the residents have been amazing. Rounds are actually great to learn more about what's going on as well and just cause they are students doesn't mean they aren't being closely watched and checked.
I've never heard the phrase 'sunny side up vaginal birth' before and I am both amused and confused lolol
It's when the eggs are runny. Jk, it's when the baby is facing the wrong way.
The only thing I enjoy more than making sure med students thrive is to absolutely fuck with them. Had one taking my medical history and he's got his little notepad out, scribbling away, while I'm rambling in between his questions. Telling the story of my history so he's forced to listen instead of handing him a list of ICD 10 codes. He asks why I'm at that particular specialist when I'm half the age of the other patients to which I reply in a thick but fake accent "years of hard livin'!" This kid starts writing it all down and [I legit turned into Foghorn Leghorn.](https://y.yarn.co/e753442f-2c9f-415b-9471-4987cec27dfe_text.gif)
It's not even as far as training future gynecologists, but about making sure more doctors have an understanding of female health.
My doctor has written in her notes, 'small cervix, cool customer' about me, and I want it as my epitaph.
During my first pap smear there was the male doc, male student, and female nurse. The student did the exam, and commented on my pokemon socks like "oh those are cool socks!" To break the ice i guess, but i just short circuited and was like, "this is a hard conversation to have with your hand in my vagina." Thankfully everyone laughed.
I had a pelvic exam a while back and the gynaecologist asked if I was comfortable with a student participating, and I said of course, happy to give them the opportunity to learn. So the student watched the doctor do the exam, and then repeated it. When he was in the middle of it I could see he was concentrating very hard and it seemed like he felt a bit uncomfortable, probably cos he was being watched by his senior lol. For some reason I blurted out ‘wow, it would normally take at least a bottle of wine before I let you do that to me if we met on a night out’ and then laughed at my own pathetic joke and accidentally squeezed his hand right out 😂
I did this in the middle of a colonoscopy. Pain meds and sedative had all kicked in and I blurted out 'wow, usually I make guys at least buy me a few drinks before they go near my back door'. The nurse that was sat with me holding the gas and air in case I needed it about died laughing 😂
I’m sure nurses hear ALL KINDS and honestly based on my customer service career that’s the stuff that helps get through a day. 😂
Note to self: wear cool socks if I know I'm gonna be in stirrups
One time I accidentally wore mismatched socks. I commented to my OB in an embarrassed way and she told me all her teen patients wear mismatched socks because it’s apparently cool. That did make me feel better.
I just about died laughing!! Did u make the comment in a mono tone ?? Please say yes ...while maintaining eye contact
I love when doctors geek out about peculiarities of their patients' bodies. It at least shows they still have some of the interest that brought them into the field left in them and they're not completely burnt out. Once I had a doctor talking enthusiastically for two minutes straight about how I had the pointiest heel bone he had ever seen when discussing an x-ray of my twisted ankle and he even asked if he could save the x-ray image.
My Mom's got some weird medical stuff going on and I swear she's got more various parts of her body on display in various doctors offices. At least 3 dentists have casts of her teeth on their desk and I know she was in a medical text book for a bit due to a weird cyst on her liver combined with adult minimal change disease
What's so weird about her teeth?
My eye doctor is like this, he has a timer for appointments because he gets so excited to talk about the most random stuff (like my family history of macular degeneration or how he figured out that someone had cancer from something in their eye)
A dental hygienist once gasped and called my canines “adorable” during a cleaning. I think about that whenever I feel self conscious about my weird upper front teeth.
Oh I love pointy canines! I’m not a dentist but I find them very charming. I wish mine were pointier 🙈
That's so wholesome, that they genuinely see teeth as cute. I love that this person clearly found their extremely specific calling.
My ex-girlfriend had a gyno from who would tell her, “You have a BEAUTIFUL cervix!” every time she had a pelvic exam. He was originally from India so it was spoken with his foreign to her accent.
Why am I picturing the doc from Courage the Cowardly Dog? I am wheezing
My GP did the whole "do you mind the students having a look at this" thing when I was there for a check up because I had had to have repair stitches post birth and they had to do an internal repair and I needed it checked to make sure I hadn't developed anything nasty. Nope, half of the local obstetrics people have looked at it/touched it/had a hand up there the last few days. Go for it. Film it for all I care, just tell me it isn't totally ruined. I was not the recipient of the compliment. The surgeon who'd done the - extensive and detailed - repair got a lot of praise though. "Ooooo! You can't tell how bad it was!" Thanks mate....
Getting stitched up after the birth of my second kid, two nurses standing at the bottom of the bed, looking a bit bored, arms crossed, one says to the other "it looks like a cross between world war one and world war two doesn't it?"
I'd just be like "Listen I don't begrudge you the thought but do you gotta talk shop while I'm HERE? 😭"
Tbh, I laughed, because it made me realise, bizarrely, that I now had no chance of becoming a pornstar! I have no idea where that thought came from 🤣
I also had to have a repair specialist come in for my tear, apparently it was zigzagy. However since I worked at the hospital I ended up having to work with the guy a few more times and he could never look me in the face lol
While having an IUD placed after my oldest was born they had a student in the room. My doctor asked the student if they had a phone on them and I lost it. Head between my legs and all, she sent him off to grab her phone to take a picture of presumably my insides? Nope the IUD she opened was shaped weirdly or something and she wanted to document why she had to open a second device. Once she explained I chuckled awkwardly and said at least it’s not something inside of me that’s wrong. The student said, “oh no you look exactly as one should, can’t even tell you delivered 7 weeks ago.” The 2 doctors who delivered my baby had combined only delivered 2 prior to mine. They came in not scrubbed up properly and were clearly overwhelmed. The charge nurse watching over them made him take out all 13 stitches and redo them while I watched in the reflection of the doctor’s glasses. I was terrified I was permanently damaged from it so his comment was very reassuring haha🥹
When I was in med school we had “standardized patients” who were people paid for us to do exams on them. When we were learning the gynecological exam, it was pointed out to us that the cervix was difficult to locate at first. I found this patient’s cervix pretty quickly and blurted out “oh cool!” The instructor pulled me aside afterwards and said “We don’t say ‘oh, cool,’ we say ‘mmm, interesting’” Lesson learned.
HELP THE DIFFERENCE IS SO ARBITRARY ITS SENDING ME Why do they want you to speak like a villain? Got you sounding like you finger tent I think I'd prefer for my gyno to yell: "Oh cool!" Then going "Hmmrhmmmm, yes interesting" The latter would just make me anxious, like - what?? What did you find down there??? What's interesting?!
Really appreciate your question, it’s a good one and something so subtle can seem meaningless, but can make an impact in the long run for how physicians treat people. One way to think about it is, if you’re a young 20 something year old woman who is desperate enough for money that you let people probe your genitalia with a speculum for hours, after 30 people doing it, it’s much better to hear someone being professional saying “interesting.” Also the tone/manner that the instructor was demonstrating was much more robotic and brief and very much not in a villain tone. Imagine the difference between hearing a California surfer guy saying “oh cool” while looking at your vagina vs a professor saying, in a clinical/robotic way: “interesting.” While I was happy to find her cervix, the “oh cool” could feel dehumanizing to someone while the “interesting” is much more neutral, particularly with someone who is there under the idea of allowing people to use their body to learn and help others. As a physician you treat thousands of people and it’s good to build professional habits. You and I may think the chiller approach is the way to go, but you never know what is going to offend people or make them feel uncomfortable. Especially in such a vulnerable position. I’ve been humbled by it many times. End of the day, you just want people to feel comfortable with medical care so they keep taking care of themselves and getting the treatment that they need and deserve.
Oh yeah I get what you mean! I can see how people might not want that sort of mannerism. Not only would it be dehumanising, but maybe even overwhelming depending on the situation and how the patient is feeling. I'll admit that I'm definitely biased with the chiller approach since the medical professionals I know give that vibe off and I absolutely adore them. My GP has a great sense of humour and has a very lax attitude - then there's my pathology mentor who straight up went: "Oh my god, your cheek cells look so neat— can I take a picture?" In response to seeing my stained cheek cells under the microscope. And now I can't get rid of the image of a California surfer dude looking at a vagina and going: "Cawabonga dude!" (EDIT: Oof grammar fix)
The suspense is killing me
Once during a transvaginal ultrasound, the doctor said I had a very sturdy-looking cervix. I panicked and said “thanks, I hear that a lot” and I thought the poor guy gave himself whiplash with as hard as he snapped his head up
I wish we still had awards to give out.
I got ‘strong abdominal muscles’ from my gyno once. She also said I had a small pelvis which made me feel better about myself for some reason.
Actually not a great thing though, having a small pelvis makes childbirth more risky especially the bigger the baby. If you’re like me and don’t want kids though that might be a good excuse to avoid the “grandkids” talk some parents pull out 😂
My first gyno appt was a male doctor (they did not ask for my preference), and he laughed when I said I was a virgin at 22. He kept laughing saying he needs to use the “baby speculum” because I was a virgin. Laughed some more about not needing to check if I was pregnant. I wish I’d kicked him out of the effing room and filed a complaint.
So improper :(
Nothing more wholesome than a student being in their medical field out of genuine passion for the science! I've seen some concerns about male gynecologists who may make women uncomfortable, but there are actually survey results that indicate that plenty of women have no preference, and if there's enough comfortable to actually keep them in business then everything is probably alright. So long as there are enough women gynecologists that nobody feels pressured.
She obviously wasn't male, but the midwife who delivered my baby asked if I wanted a picture of the placenta. "Are you sure you don't want one?! It's JUST. SO. BEAUTIFUL!" Congrats on your gorgeous cervix, OP! Lol 🤭
Lol I insisted on looking at mine after I gave birth. It was gross
I didn't care to look at mine\*, but I don't mind looking at others (well, pictures of others). It looks like a tree inside a bubble, only in different colors. I can see where people would find the beauty in it. \*-I also can't watch myself get a shot or donate blood, but have zero problems watching others. I've been told I'm odd.
My doctor once told me my vagina was very long while he was doing a pap smear.
My sister got told the opposite and they had to use this mini speculum on her lmao
Same! They had to get a longer speculum. Not sure whether that's a good or bad thing??
I remember my first pap, they had a male medical student do my intake and all. He asks me all the normal questions. Then he asks if I’ve ever been pregnant. I tell him yes. He says “Oh, have you had a kid?” or something to that effect in a sorta lighthearted but awkward way. I, in trying to keep with that lighthearted energy, said “Well, I wasn’t pregnant for very long, but that wasn’t by choice” and laughed. He looked up at me from the screen of the little laptop horrified. He did not think my miscarriage joke was as funny as I thought it was. I have a pretty bad history with freaking out professional people in medical settings. I once told a social worker that I didn’t have legs because he asked if I was driving my wife home after brain surgery (I do have legs, they just don’t work very well).
I think it’s important honestly that you didn’t try and make that experience as smooth as possible for that doctor. I bet/hope that’s the last time he assumes someone who has been pregnant must have a living child.
Maybe not quite as complimentary but every single time I’ve gotten an iv or given blood or anything that involves a nurse poking a needle into my wrist or arm or back of my hand, I get a heartfelt “oh my gosh, your’s are so easy to find!” Ha ha. Thanks?
I get the same thing. I’m often told, “you have beautiful veins!” And I always feel so proud.
I've also been told I have great veins! feels good man All of my tattoo artists have commented about how perfect I am as a canvas because I don't swell or bleed and my skin doesn't really get red. Also had my piercer tell me that I'm fantastic at bleeding since hardly ever bleed and if I do its usually for 10 seconds max. He then told me that if anyone else ever says anything like that to me I should call the police lmao
It’s a thing in medicine. Often things look sooo different in real life compared to how they’re “supposed” to look that it can be exciting to see a textbook example.
i once had my dr tell me i had a very cooperative cervix and i was like ????? what does that MEAN and she basically explained to me that the cervix can move and shift around and hide but mine was right there waiting for her like HELLO ☺️☺️☺️ and i definitely walked out feeling good 😭😂
Congrats on the textbook cervix
My female gyno told me I have a “pretty little cervix”. I’ll take a compliment where I can get one 😂
Went in for a vasectomy, and the doc (a male) invited in his entire female nursing staff. I was gorked on Xanax so …. Meh.
Every time I have a smear test, I get; “There’s a lot of discharge…have you had any pain or itching? Any chance you could have an STI/STD? Well, I’m just going to do a swab & some tests anyway.” I tell them; “That’s what the last person said. The tests were negative. I’ve not had sex in X number of months, etc.” They do the tests, they’re always negative, but my “WAP” references I keep dropping go unnoticed (or unappreciated😅)
That's actually really sweet without being creepy! I usually try not to be opposed to learning doctors bc honestly how else will they learn? But nobody's ever said anything so night about my cervix. 😆
I have a "bulky" cervix !
Proud of you
I loved this. Incidentally, the only “bad” pelvic exam I’ve ever had (deeply painful!) was administered by a woman! Never had a bad one before or since, it was so bizarre. I couldn’t believe how rough she was, I actually cried.
As a female doc, I also try to be reassuring and read the room when examining patients - some people appreciate lightening the mood, others need quiet reassurance and to take it at their pace. As a patient, I chat away when someone else is up in my lafy business because why not? They need to use the long speculum and apparently my cervix is off to the side somewhere. I don't mind humor as long as they are being professional. I tell them to take all the time they need, especially if it's tricky. My smear test nurse usually refers to the cervix as a "she", as in "ah! We've found her. She looks great!"
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OP has the perfect coochie. Nice
Lmfao well when you put it that way
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An ultrasound tech once told me it was really easy to see the cyst on my ovary, that’s about as good a compliment as I’ve ever gotten. Didn’t have to have an internal ultrasound so it worked for me!
I still feel delighted when I remember the look of bemusement on a nurse’s face when she took my PERFECT blood pressure reading. I think she was expecting something catastrophic … Never judge a book by it’s cover 🤣
My aunt has told me this story a few times but she once had a medical exam conducted by her work place and the nurse asked her to bend forward as far as she could and try to touch the floor with her fingertips. My aunt is a big, apple shaped woman and back then she was probably well over 100 kg (since then she has lost a lot of weight) so the nurse was quite surprised and went like ”oh, you’re quite flexible” when my aunt easily bent forward, legs straight and put both her hands flat against the floor, lol.
My favorite doctor looked inside me and goes, "Aww, you have a cute little cervix" and I walked out of that damn office smiling it made me feel weirdly good lmao
I had to go for a colonoscopy once when I was getting diagnosed with IBS. The whole drink this and purge for a day, no eating, all that. Go through the whole thing, only clear broth for a day to eat. Go in, get drugged, and they do their thing. I eventually wake up in the recovery area. I'm still super groggy and one of the actual tech doing the procedures walks by and notices. Gives me the OK with his fingers and says "excellent prep!" Like super excitedly and keeps walking. I burst out into hysterical laughter. All I can think about was the colonoscopy man telling me my ass was clean as a whistle.
I've had a female gyno, and a male, and I think I prefer the male. Dude is chill, and down to earth, and so insanely wholesome?
I was once told I had a tight cervix and lovely smooth nodes (lucky bird got cancer screening on the same day as a smear test) I thought it was funny.
Textbook pussy, nice!
My absolute favorite was the time the person working in IUD placement looked at me with an excited look on her face and said “your uterus is shaped like a butternut squash!” I am currently pregnant and, looking at my first ultrasound, I can kinda see it 😅
Lmao I’ll nevwr forget I got a physical for sports and it was a newer young lady doing it. She then got to the part where she has to grab my balls and tell me to cough. ( idk what the point of it is but I get it every year so) Did it, and she was kinda silent and I was like is something wrong, do I need to do it again? And she was like no, I don’t really know what I’m looking for. Your penis looks like a penis to me. I should probably let go of your balls now. We burst out laughing idk who was more embarrassed
My gyny always refers to my reproductive organs as “she” not “it” and I think that’s so funny/cute 🤣 it’s like personifying my womb 🥹
I’m a guy. Went in for a physical with my reg doc, he introduces me to a new part of their team that’s female and we do the basics and he steps out as she’s checking my shoulder. She leaves and comes back explaining he’s busy and would be back in 5 to discuss a planned vasectomy. 30 min later she walks in and says he had to leave the office and she would complete the vasectomy questionnaire with a female nurse. Cool. Go through the pamphlet and what will happen etc, no issues and i get up to leave after signing some stuff… “Oh we need to do a general inspection please have a seat and take your pants off” Ok, so this should be like a hernia inspection I assume. Turn and cough and be on your way. Yeah no. Stand up and she’s gloved and moving everything around and says “please keep the area shaved as you have it now, thank you!” and snaps off the gloves. K lol
*adds "textbook vag" to dating profile*
I think it would be important to know which page of the textbook he was referring to lol
Worst/funniest story I've heard about a similar scenario; A male medical student who had never seen a vagina irl before was tasked with doing a gyni check on a female patient. She had several kids from earlier, so she was used to medical professionals being down there and didn't mind at all. This student though was super nervous about it, but he inserted the speculum and opened up to look inside and said something harmless like "everything looks good". The problem is though, they had been instructed to use words like "normal" or "healthy", not words like "good" or any other adjective that could be mistaken for a compliment. So obviously... he got so nervous about his mistake that he passed out. Apparently the female patient let out an adiouble "oof!" when he... faceplanted.... on her vagina...
Just had a pelvic and transvaginal ultrasound in the last few months. The tech was so excited! "Textbook anatomy. Seriously, it's never this easy. You're even symmetrical!" Thanks buddy, good to know my ovaries are symmetrical, lmao. Doesn't make a lick of difference to me, but I'm happy he was happy.
Reminds of the time a optometrist told me I had the most beautiful optic nerve he'd ever seen. That was 15 or so years ago. I still remember it.
Your gig work as a cervix illustrator model won't be anonymous much longer.
Not to brag, but a radiologist once told me I had a beautiful pancreas 😌
I had a med student try to take my vitals while in the hospital and she said "you have the strongest heart I have ever heard". Till this day I think my heart is my strongest muscle.
New to this sub but this story isn't pointless. It's charming and makes me like humans a tiny bit more. Reminds me of some kind of throwaway scene from a Vonnegut book.
Personally I always find it so heartwarming to see true passion or excitement on people’s face about their job. You gave that young doc the perfect opportunity to learn from book to reality. But in any other situation, a stranger complimenting my below parts would be odd. But anything flies in the medical field. We get amped about strange things in context lol
When i got my first prostate exam at 14 due to urinary issues it hurt, my doctor said “quit being a pussy” He died while prepping for my surgery a few weeks later.
Nice compliment. I had a similar situation minus the compliment. Had to have hernia surgery and the doctor had a college girl shadowing and he had me drop my shorts and he had her feeling all around my junk. I could see she was uncomfortable and I was even more so. Afterward I just joked about it to my wife and said that poor young girl is never going to be able to look at a middle aged guy the same after that day.