Is it true?!?! Say it aint so...

I’m not a prude, but I do have my limits. I would NEVER consent to a breast exam or a pelvic BY A FELLOW STUDENT. These people can get bent. IV’s are one thing, I’ll consent to being assessed, I don’t even have problems with a non-invasive (ha ha) physical – but having a classmate see me with my feet propped up or my bra off is another matter entirely!

in my FNP program we are going to spend a day at a community health department doing and learning pelvics. I am actually excited about that because I think it will be a great learning experience on several levels. Haven't yet learned what we do about breast exams, though.

At my school we had paid human models for the pelvic exams and weird little silicone models for the BE (those left us all feeling a little, well, inadequate). I'm really uncomfortable with schools using students as models. This just seems like really bad practice to me.

1) My pelvic experience is different from a patient's. Maybe I'm okay with it. Maybe she's not. Me going through it tells me very little about what she thinks of it, especially if she has CMT and I don't!

2) If I'm in practice and a former classmate/current friend/colleague walks though the door, I'm referring them to another colleague for treatment. Friends don't let friends PAP friends.

3) As has been pointed out very well before, HIPAA, people!

I'm also a little weirded out by all the "gross" references. It's just a cooter. Half of us gots 'em. No more gross--if a lot more personal--than poking around in a classmate's ears. It's the personal part that makes this inappropriate, IMHO, though anyone who wants to keep their TMs private should be respected, too. Teased mercilessly, but respected.

BWAH! Totally. I have to say, I don't think a pelvic could be any more embarassing than when my lab partner assessed my scalp as "dry and flaky".

And I am SO getting a bumper sticker that says friends don't let friends pap friends.

" It's just a cooter. Half of us gots 'em."

Ooh! Ooh! Yet another entry for the 'names for body parts thread'!

Oh, don't get me started, girl. I was in the Vagina Monologues again this year, and we got a whole list. Some highlights: split knish, nappy dugout, monkeybox, Gladys Siegelman. Those are just a few I remember off the top of my head.

Sorry! Off topic...

My MW told me that when she was in school they practiced on each other and I was a little surprised, but I think I would be fine with it. After having two kids, I think most people have seen my "cooter."

But having said that I wouldn't ask anyone who wasn't comfortable to do it. It's a pretty big invasion of personal space. I also think the models who are hired would be better- they are educated how it is supposed to go, they can provide input, they won't be self conscious, and they won't be shy at giving input like a fellow classmate would.

Of course, I could never admit I am fine with it or I will be that weirdo who volunteered for the mass pelvic exam, LOL.

Here they used paid volunteers for the pelvics, breast and prostate exams. (They usually are local migrant workers who really need the money, but nonetheless are volunteers.)

No way, no how would I consent to participate in a program that practices on students.

And yes, I am a prude. End of discussion. LOL