Female doctor refers out for "male" exam?

I went for an annual exam with a new female doctor today. while she was examining me, she said "i don't do a male examination and send you out to a urologist if you want that checked. it works better that way." i just said ok but was very surprised. is this normal? is that enough to get a new doctor?

OMG Your health and well being does not interest her! Go get a new Doctor quick! That is some BS!!! She just didn't want to do it for whatever reason.

You are better off with another Physician because your complete health does not interest her.

I would explore the option of a new doctor. I have not heard (at least among all my male friends) of a female doctor referring out the male portion of the exam...unless there was a preexisting or known condition that was specific to the urology field.

Based on your description of the events, that doesn't sound like it was the case - therefore, SEEK A THOROUGH DOCTOR. Very very odd.

I don't have a pre-existing condition. she actually expected me to make an appointment with a urologist, take the time out to see him/her and say "my primary care doctor won't check me down there so can you?"

Merkin, in my professional opinion do what the others have suggested, go find another doctor, or talk to her and tell her your thoughts and opinions. Maybe it's just me, but I am a one stop shopper. A good GP can, should and will take care of almost all of your issues unless clearly it's beyond their scope of practice, and a genital exam is NOT beyond her scope of practice.

Mashie

I use a male urologist and a female gp. She does a thorough exam nonetheless, and pretty much leaves it up to me as to where I go with whatever issues. The urologist's office copies her on any changes to my records.

Very odd that a primary care doc would not do a hernia check during an annual exam. Contrary to what some people might think, its well documented that most female practioners dont like to encounter an erect penis on anyone other than an adolecent. If she got a whif that you have a medfet, she might have blown you off and refered you out.

That's a new one on me. I agree with the others. Unless you have a condition that specifically requires a urologist, (which she wouldn't know unless she examined you first) then she should do the complete exam. If she is shy about such things, she is in the wrong profession.

I have a history of recurrent epididymitis and prostatitis. Because of this, my PCP wants to "check the pipes" to make sure everything is OK. (I haven't had a bout in a few years, and no one can find the cause.)

I'd find another doctor ASAP.

I had a female family-practice NP that refused to do male exams. She said it was the policy of the practice. Interestingly there was a urologist in the same building. Her care was quite good otherwise. Not too long thereafter, I started getting my healthcare at the VA, because I could no longer afford private healthcare.

What a strange reaction from your doctor. I've had medical exams, including a genital check, by a female doctor.

It sounds odd but these days we shouldn't be surprised by anything!

So many health care plans insist every part of the body be seen by a 'specialist' at the cost of another co-pay and time from work. It's a wonder there are internal med. docs around at all!

I don't actually believe that health care plans do insist on patients seeing a specialist. I might be wrong, but that doesn't make any sense financially speaking. Most insurance companies are out there to make a profit. Everytime a patient has to go to another doctor especially a specialist, it's going to cost them more money, thus cutting down on their bottom line.

With all due respect to doctors, and I don't feel guilty about saying this even though I am dating one, as he doesn't send his patients out to specialists unless the patients problem is beyond his scope of practice, or his skill set, which does happen, but not very often, doctors sending patients out to specialists is a way of self protection for them.

The fact is, most family doctors or general practitioners are very capable of treating and diagnosing 90 percent of what ails their patients, if they are worth the paper their diploma is written on anyway. Women think they need to see the gyn for their pap smears and breast exams, but really, a GP, even a little Doc in a Box is able to do that. Hell, in a lot of countries Nurses do paps and breast exams. Only when things are truely over a GP's head does he/she need to send a patient out to a specialist.

And personally speaking, I am a one stop shopper. My time is limited, and precious. I don't have time to be going to doctor after doctor. In order for my GP to be able to treat me effectively, he needs to give me a complete physical, he needs to be the one who knows what's going on and with what. When too many hands stir the pot so to speak, ingredients get missed due to lack of communication. Same can be said in health care.

I would think that if a patient would talk to their doctor and tell them that they don't want to go see a specialist unless they had a problem that the GP couldn't handle, such as the case with my kidney stones, I mean oboviously Doc wasn't able to take me to surgery and laser them out, then most GP's would be more than happy to not send out their patients. Doing so just takes money out of their pockets as well. You have to remember, a good doctor wants to get you better, fix you. The more he sends you out for the less he knows about you which hinders his ability to correctly take care of you in the first place. And the less he knows, the more he opens himself up to miss something, prescirbe something that contradicts maybe another medication the specialist already has the patient on, something of this nature. And with GP's malpractice insurance costing them in upwards of 100 grand a year, trust me, he doesn't want to make a mistake.

It all boils down to better communication, between the patient and the doctor(s), and between the doctors offices in which the patients go to. I know a case in which the patient was self medicating with an over the counter medication, a medication from the health food store actually. She didn't disclose that she was taking that medication. Her specialist prescribed a real medication and the two interacted horribly. It caused the patient to go into kidney failure. She sued her doctor, thankfully she lost. She didn't disclose all of her medications, whether it was prescriptions or over the counters. She didn't have good communication, she didn't properly educate herself, and now she will pay the ultimate price....her life.

Mashie

Interesting insights Mashie. I also want a doctor that can and will doctor all of me. Granted there are times when only a specialist will do, such as five weeks ago when I had permanent toenail removal surgery. That is a podiatrist's domain. It would be interesting for a female doctor ir NP to chime in and tell us all why she refuses to do male exams. If she isn't comfortable doing them, she needs to be in another line of work...maybe as an OG/GYN. My health plan requires a primary care doctor referral for most specialists. Podiatry, dermatology, dental and eye care are exempt from the referral requirement.