Photo credit: The Globe & Mail
Back in January, I wrote a bit of a concerning post titled “A pelvic exam without my consent?”
The concerning part is summed up quite well with this description from a Globe & Mail article:
Imagine that you are undergoing a fairly routine surgery – say, removal of uterine fibroids or hysterectomy. During or right after the procedure, while you are still under anesthesia, a group of medical students parades into the operating room and they perform gynecological exams (unrelated to the surgery) without your knowledge.
Do you consider this okay, or an outrageous violation of your rights?
Regardless of your feelings, you should be aware that this is standard procedure in many Canadian teaching hospitals.
Shocking as this sounds, it has apparently been happening for years now, with the blessing of the the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada (SOGC).
But I have very good news for you my friends! The SOGC and the Association of Professors of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Canada has revised its policy on pelvic exams performed by medical students to explicitly say that consent is required.
I’m not sure if the SOGC really wanted to change the policy or even felt the change was necessary, based on my reading of this article in the Globe & Mail. But nonetheless, the public outcry forced a change in this policy.
And I don’t know about you, but I sure feel better knowing that “implicit” consent is not good enough for using my body (and pretty darn important parts of it!) as a practicing ground. I’ve given consent to plenty of medical students — in fact, one even broke my water for my first born — but I like to know what I’m consenting to, thanks very much.
Thanks to PhD in Parenting and The Unnecesarean for letting me know about this policy change.
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