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I remember in med school, to do certain tasks (like breast exams), the school would hire someone to let us practice on.
I remember the rectal exam day well. I was in the last group of the day and I was one of the last to go. It seemed strange to me then, and still does today, that we were practicing on a volunteer, but also, we would watch everyone else do it. Anyway, I got to see this guy's anus before it was my turn, and I had not up to that point seen a lot of male anuses before - but I knew something was wrong with this one. It was bright red, swollen, an looked very painful. Anyway, when it was my turn, as I was putting my gloves on, and placing the gel - the man walked over, watched me gel up, and said "your going to need a lot more than that."
That experience is very funny to me now, but had a large impact on me then. After that, I said to myself that I never want to do another rectal exam again - and I decided I would choose a specialty that did not do them - but at the time, I had no idea which one that would be.
I asked a friend who had always seemed to know a lot about that stuff "I know family practice does rectals, but what about OB/GYN? " He told me "Yeah they do. They do that funny two finger wave thing - you know what I mean?" I had no idea what he was talking about but said that I did because I didn't want to look silly. I then inquired about pathology, and he reminded me that they do them on dead guys - which may be better for some but that seemed way to creepy for me. "How about surgery? They don't really do physical exams do they?" He reminded me that surgeons LOVE the rectal exam. They pratice on each other in fact, and probably even practice on themselves. That was NOT for me. I thought I was onto something with neurology but my friend told me that they not only do rectals, they try to get the anus to wink at you and they do all sorts of tickling down there. No way was I going to do that. Urology was of course out of the question. So I eventually heard about anesthesiology and every anesthesiologist I asked said "Hell no! Internship was my last one!" I was sold. I then came up with a BS story like "I love pharmacology and physiology. I love procedures and am good with my hands, bla bla bla."
The truth is, I haven't done that thing since I started residency and I am so happy for my choice. I made the correct one and for the right reasons. I am, however, a lot closer sometimes then I want to be when doing caudal epidurals.
I remember the rectal exam day well. I was in the last group of the day and I was one of the last to go. It seemed strange to me then, and still does today, that we were practicing on a volunteer, but also, we would watch everyone else do it. Anyway, I got to see this guy's anus before it was my turn, and I had not up to that point seen a lot of male anuses before - but I knew something was wrong with this one. It was bright red, swollen, an looked very painful. Anyway, when it was my turn, as I was putting my gloves on, and placing the gel - the man walked over, watched me gel up, and said "your going to need a lot more than that."
That experience is very funny to me now, but had a large impact on me then. After that, I said to myself that I never want to do another rectal exam again - and I decided I would choose a specialty that did not do them - but at the time, I had no idea which one that would be.
I asked a friend who had always seemed to know a lot about that stuff "I know family practice does rectals, but what about OB/GYN? " He told me "Yeah they do. They do that funny two finger wave thing - you know what I mean?" I had no idea what he was talking about but said that I did because I didn't want to look silly. I then inquired about pathology, and he reminded me that they do them on dead guys - which may be better for some but that seemed way to creepy for me. "How about surgery? They don't really do physical exams do they?" He reminded me that surgeons LOVE the rectal exam. They pratice on each other in fact, and probably even practice on themselves. That was NOT for me. I thought I was onto something with neurology but my friend told me that they not only do rectals, they try to get the anus to wink at you and they do all sorts of tickling down there. No way was I going to do that. Urology was of course out of the question. So I eventually heard about anesthesiology and every anesthesiologist I asked said "Hell no! Internship was my last one!" I was sold. I then came up with a BS story like "I love pharmacology and physiology. I love procedures and am good with my hands, bla bla bla."
The truth is, I haven't done that thing since I started residency and I am so happy for my choice. I made the correct one and for the right reasons. I am, however, a lot closer sometimes then I want to be when doing caudal epidurals.
