A male doctor performed a pap smear on me after i asked for a female doctor he told me i didnt have a choice what can i do about this?

Answer 1

It depends on several factors, including your age and where you live. If you live in the United States and have entered puberty (which I would assume since you are getting pap smears) then you have a legal right to the doctor of your preferred gender. In this case, you should go back to the hospital and lodge a formal complaint. In other countries you may not have a legal right to a doctor of your preference. Unless your legal guardians specifically contradict you and require you to see a certain doctor, you have the legal right to decline medical services, and to request a different doctor. In most States, this right is underlined in cases where the patient (you) is female and the case may relate to reproductive rights and sexual issues, this is underlined, and in fact at your age, yoru parent's invovlement may in fact be limited even if they are legal guardians. As such, the doctor's answer to you is personally rude, professionally unacceptable, and may, in some cases, be illegal. That said, there isn't a lot you can do in a court of law, unless (a) the controlling body (board of health or whatever) seeks to censure the doctor and/or the instituition he's contracted with. As you've mentioned no damages (except perhaps emotional), it's unlikely you can win a jury trial at the civil level over this, although if this situation is troubling enough to you, you might want to try anyway. If you don't seek legal recourse, call up the hospital and ask for the Director of Patient Care. If there is no such position at this hospital, ask for whoever does QUality Assurance on patient care. Get them on the phone. Get their name, address, extension -- everything. Explain briefly your concerns, and plan on following up with a letter to the QA person. In it, I'd ask for a personal applogy from the doctor -- you may not get it but it's worth asking. Feel free to contact me for more help with this, if you want.