better sex ed for doctors
By Dr. Charlie Glickman • Feb 12th, 2008 • Category: BlogToday’s New York Times has an article about the need for better ways to train doctors on how to to medical exams on breasts, pelvises and sexual organs. And I think that the article got a lot of things right. Yes, doctors are regular people and that means that they have all the shame, embarrassment and confusion around sex and sexual body parts that other people have. In fact, I sometimes wonder if they don’t have more than average, if only because while other people were out having fun and experimenting with sex during college, med students were often in the library working hard. Both groups might have been getting less sleep than they neede, but for different reasons.
But as I was reading the article, I was struck by the assumption that the way to train doctors better is to create complex simulators, rather than giving them hands-on experiences. Now, I’m not suggesting that that we continue to do what the The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology reported in 2003: “that medical students routinely learned how to conduct pelvic exams by practicing on anesthetized patients — sometimes without the women’s knowledge or consent.” Instead, I think we need more organizations like Project Prepare.
Rather than practicing on an inanimate simulator, medical students get to practice their skills on real-life people who are trained to give them accurate, helpful feedback and forgive their inevitable mistakes. Because they include the interpersonal component of the exam in the training, students learn more than how to find the prostate or the cervix. They also learn how to help reduce fear and anxiety, build trust and encourage patients to become active participants in their health care. They offer trainings in how to conduct a sexual history, which a pelvic exam simulator just isn’t going to do.
I fully agree that medical doctors need a safe environment to learn how to offer health care around sexuality. But I think it would work better if they learned from Project Prepare, rather than an inanimate model.
Dr. Charlie Glickman is a noted professional in the field. He has been working at Good Vibrations since 1996, when he joined the staff at our Berkeley store. Currently, he is our Education Program Manager and (among other things) runs our in-store. After Hours workshop program, our Off-Site Sex Education Program, trains our Sex Educator-Sales Associates and writes copy for our website. In 2005, Charlie received his doctorate in Adult Sexuality Education from the Union Institute and University in Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition, he offers classes on sexuality for psychotherapists and workshops on teaching for sex educators.
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Thank you for bringing this up!
This is so rarely talked up. I was pretty unaware of the the type of sexuality training that doctors get or don’t get (don’t even get me started on therapists or social workers!), until I read Carol Queen’s book Real Live Nude Girl. In that she talks about how both her and her parter Robert (who is also a doctor of Human Sexuality) go through exams in order to train doctors on their “bedside manner” so to say by giving doctors direct and on the spot feedback about their skills both physically and emotionally through the exam.
This has got to be tough work to volunteer for, and yet how important it is! It truly is amazing and devoted work to do for sure!