# Is there a medical double standard regarding patient privacy? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medical-double-standard-regarding-patient-privacy/388896 "2007-01-21T23:30:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medical-double-standard-regarding-patient-privacy/388896/21 "2007-01-23T22:53:48Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Interesting, why _did_ she insist on having a nurse there (I assume she didn’t have a male nurse on staff) if you objected? [/QUOTE] Hell, I don’t know. I never verbally objected to the nurse (she could have been the receptionist for all I know; everyone wears those stupid scrubs). Probably so I couldn’t claim she was coming on to me. Either that, or she was afraid I wouldn’t be able to control myself, what with her manipulating my testicles and all. I got nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medical-double-standard-regarding-patient-privacy/388896/22 "2007-01-23T22:59:03Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Interesting, why _did_ she insist on having a nurse there (I assume she didn’t have a male nurse on staff) if you objected? [/QUOTE] Some places have rules about having another person present when doing a procedure that could be misconstrued as sexual. I guess the theory is that a doctor or other medical professional wouldn’t sexually assault someone with another person there. I prefer to have a female nurse in the room when my GP (also female) does a pelvic exam. Of course, no male nurses work at the clinic, so it’s not like I have much of a choice or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medical-double-standard-regarding-patient-privacy/388896/23 "2007-01-23T23:32:15Z")
[QUOTE=pbbth] As a woman I prefer to have a female gynecologist but for regular medical care it doesn’t matter. With gynie things though I want a woman for the same reason that I wouldn’t want to take my car to a mechanic that has never driven before. Sure, they have studied and messed around under the hood but they have no idea what it is like behind the wheel. I know that is weird but it makes sense to me. [/QUOTE] **Pbbth** , that is a **brilliant** way to explain it! ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medical-double-standard-regarding-patient-privacy/388896/24 "2007-01-23T23:49:16Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Purl McKnittington] Some places have rules about having another person present when doing a procedure that could be misconstrued as sexual. I guess the theory is that a doctor or other medical professional wouldn’t sexually assault someone with another person there. I prefer to have a female nurse in the room when my GP (also female) does a pelvic exam. Of course, no male nurses work at the clinic, so it’s not like I have much of a choice or anything. [/QUOTE] Right chaperones are to protect the doctor, not the patient. [QUOTE=PoorYorick] Either that, or she was afraid I wouldn’t be able to control myself, what with her manipulating my testicles and all. [/QUOTE] Of course if she’s that uncomfortable examing male genitalia then she picked the wrong profession. ---
**Author:** ![conurepete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@conurepete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conurepete)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medical-double-standard-regarding-patient-privacy/388896/25 "2007-01-24T00:24:08Z")
If a patient wants a male Physical Therapist, it does not usually bug me, but I don’t have any in stock. Females outnumber males in my profession, and my clinic is small. It makes me a little frustrated if the patient requires a male PT, because it means they have to leave and go somewhere else- for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of care. I try to allow everyone the opportunity for privacy and modesty. So far, women seem to be more “dude, I am so over it” then men, with the exception of feet. Lots of women seem to feel bad about having their feet seen, or are ashamed about “ugly toes” ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medical-double-standard-regarding-patient-privacy/388896/26 "2007-01-31T04:32:28Z")
[QUOTE=outlierrn] Well, this drifts a bit from the OP, but I have seen less skilled female nurses hurt a kid more than I would have because they thought they were doing the parents a favor. Almost nothing gets me more jacked up than unnecessary pain for a kid [/QUOTE] Can you elaborate? What did you mean by “doing the parents a favour”? ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medical-double-standard-regarding-patient-privacy/388896/27 "2007-02-01T09:08:16Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Can you elaborate? What did you mean by “doing the parents a favour”? [/QUOTE] Probably because there is a perception that children will be more afraid of men and men will be less gentle with them. Ironically, many female nurses are about as gentle as a shotgun. I have not had any male nurses who were not gentle with me, but the sample size is very low and so that perception is not statistically significant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medical-double-standard-regarding-patient-privacy/388896.md?page=1)