![]() ![]() Men are almost never hired as medical assistants in an office setting. That is hardly surprising when you consider that almost all chaperones are women. For men, the figure is 80 to over 90% refuse chaperones when given a choice in most studies. Surprisingly nearly 50% of women don’t want chaperones present even when male physicians do a pelvic exam. It’s clear however that many patients aren’t comfortable with the presence of chaperones for a variety of reasons. Some women may use them not to protect themselves against suits, but to ease their own discomfort with the patient. Their risk is so low that the presence of chaperones cannot be justified to protect the physician in my opinion. ![]() However complaints against female physicians are nearly unheard of. State medical boards deal with them every year. In truth what is the real legal risk for women physicians? Suits and complaints against male physicians are common enough. They more often site patient comfort and their need for assistance with the exam. This is not as evident for women physicians (Ehrenthal, ibid). The use of chaperones by male physicians is driven by legal concerns. Women physicians plan on using chaperones for male genital exams no more than 20% of the time. Not surprisingly male physicians use chaperones at a much higher rate than women do for opposite gender patients. For other intimate exams, ie breast, male genitalia and rectal, the percentage drops off. ( Ehrenthal et al, Chaperone Use By Residents J GEN INTERN MED 2000 15:573–576) and Rockwell, DO et al, Chaperone Use by Family Physicians During the Collection of a Pap Smear Annals of Family Medicine 1:218-220 (2003). There is no doubt that male physicians feel that they need to offer chaperones when doing pelvic exams on women. ![]()
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