# Proctology..... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 1, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993 "2011-06-01T19:01:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/21 "2011-06-02T09:33:26Z")
When you realize that no matter where you work or how much you love your job, you still have to deal with assholes all day. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/22 "2011-06-02T15:37:30Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > For the record, the preferred term nowadays is colorectal surgeons. The term proctology has fallen out of favor. I always go with “ass doctor.” But I suppose if you wanted to impress a chick at a party, you could tell her you’re a brain surgeon for lawyers. Whichever way you look at it, you’ll be putting in a hard day at the orifice. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/23 "2011-06-02T15:48:23Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > It’s a fairly rewarding profession…on the whole. Was this supposed to be aloud, rather than written? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/24 "2011-06-02T17:37:09Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Was this supposed to be aloud, rather than written? indeed;) ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/25 "2011-06-02T18:27:33Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > It’s a fairly rewarding profession…on the whole. And business is always looking up. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/26 "2011-06-02T18:31:59Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I always go with “ass doctor.”… My son, at age 5ish, developed [encopresis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encopresis). I stumbled across the description online somehow, and had one of those AHA moments as I realized it exactly described what we’d been going through with him. So a call to the pediatrician, and a referral to a pediatric gastroenterologist. To tell **Dweezil** why were going to the doctor, I said we’d be seeing a “tushie doctor”. I used that term while we were there (“Dweezil, here’s the tushie doctor”). The guy turned to me, gave me a humorous dirty look, and said “well, we won’t be inviting YOU back!”. So, for kids, “tushie doctor” is an acceptable substitute for “ass doctor”. :). ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/27 "2011-06-02T18:56:09Z")
You just convince yourself that there is gold in there somewhere and you keep rooting around with your fingers until you find it. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/28 "2011-06-02T19:02:34Z")
Also to be noted is I’m sure some proctologists have had a loved one who suffered and/or died from colorectal disease. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/29 "2011-06-02T20:51:55Z")
I’ll never forget what one GI doc said to me years ago: “It may be shit to you, but it’s bread and butter to me.” mmm ---
**Author:** ![beartato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@beartato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beartato)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/30 "2011-06-02T20:57:13Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > People wonder about these sorts of questions all the time: proctology, gynecology, coroner, podiatry. I think your guess is correct: you’re in medical school, you find you have an aptitude, you find the topic interesting enough, and before you know it, you’re doing it for a living. > > I can see your joke 'tho. “Zomg! You’re a butt expert! And the lucky gyno gets to look up ladies every day. Ha-ha. A foot doctor. Ohhh … coroner, must be a necrophiliac.” It’s just that, erm, no, not that funny. Or you know, true. Yeah. This. Plus, with everything else doctors deal with, butts and poop aren’t the craziest things in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/31 "2011-06-02T21:20:44Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I’ll never forget what one GI doc said to me years ago: “It may be shit to you, but it’s bread and butter to me.” > mmm That’s an especially horrifying statement to hear given your sig (:eek: 😉 but no :p) ---
**Author:** ![markm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@markm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markm)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/32 "2011-06-02T21:37:14Z")
[QUOTE=lavenderviolet] The term proctology has fallen out of favor. [/quote] Because they got tired of being the butt of every joke. ---
**Author:** ![Crescend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Crescend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crescend)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/33 "2011-06-03T01:35:07Z")
Who wouldn’t want to be immortalized in [song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N0w2rORwSc)? ---
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/34 "2011-06-03T03:08:13Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Also to be noted is I’m sure some proctologists have had a loved one who suffered and/or died from colorectal disease. Yeah - so I have a bit of a medical family with the in-laws, which doesn’t make me any kind of expert but entitles me to unfounded opinions. GYNs are OB/GYNs who started a family and got tired of the long/late hours of Obstetrics. Psychiatrists invariably have a person they love with a mental illness that drives them to practice. FIL was a combat surgeon in Vietnam and he came home and kept on patching up the same kids but as a psychiatrist and dealing with different kinds of wounds - but most have a kooky or just plain crazy parent or sibling or what have you. In my mind, colorectal disease just isn’t likely to be the driving factor for most. I was only wondering what was. Maybe it’s the consistency - maybe it’s the best job they could get in the town they wanted to live in at the hospital they wanted to work at. I don’t know. THought somebody might actually know a proctologist. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/35 "2011-06-03T04:19:23Z")
I like the little hemorrhoids following the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/36 "2011-06-03T06:25:31Z")
I saw a Help Wanted ad on Craigslist a few years ago for a physician at a local hemorrhoid surgery clinic. The position entailed performing hemorrhoid surgeries one after another after another all day long, with nothing else to relieve the monotony. I couldn’t imagine how long someone would last in a job like that. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/37 "2011-06-03T12:22:38Z")
You really do have to prepare for a specialty like this. You can’t just stick with plan A, you have to keep preparing until you’re at prepar…oh, you know how it’s going to finish. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/38 "2011-06-03T12:31:14Z")
Maybe they’re just twisted ass freaks. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/39 "2011-06-03T12:40:49Z")
The PTB decided that every orifice in the human body would have a specialist who treats disorders of that particular orifice. As they were assigning specialist to their particular orifice, they noticed that there was no line for the butthole specialist. At first they assumed it was the name, so they came up with s sanitized name, Proctologist. That didn’t work. They conferred and thereafter raised the pay for this field. When that didn’t work, they invented golf and gave them more days off during the week. That’s why we have proctologist. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993/40 "2011-06-03T12:56:42Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Also to be noted is I’m sure some proctologists have had a loved one who suffered and/or died from colorectal disease. “Why did I become a colorectal doctor? My father suffered from a serious rectal disorder.” “What did he have, colon cancer?” “No, he was just a giant asshole.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proctology/583993.md?page=1)