Have you heard of "practice pap smears"?

CNN reported that teaching hospitals allow residents to practice giving pap smears to women while under general anathesia. How can this be ethical?
Answers:
It's not ethical.Current medical ethics guidelines require explicit written consent to perform a pelvic exam under general anesthesia. I also don't know any nurses or resident physicians that wouldn't immediatly turn in an attending physician for pulling a stunt like that. In fact, my med school class was specifically told to immediately report any such activity to the department chief. To be fair, it is sometimes medically necessary to perform a pelvic exam under anesthesia, but in all cases this will be discussed with the patient and written consent must be obtained beforehand.Unfortunately, in the old days "practice" pelvic exams did indeed happen. The reason is that when a person is under general anesthesia their muscles are completely relaxed, and it's much easier to palpate the ovaries and uterus. This was once seen as a way to teach young physicians or medical students how to properly perform a pelvic exam. I'm not sure how widespread this practice ever was, but it definitely did happen. Fortunately, with the push for improved patient's rights and autonomy over the past 20 years, this practice has been abandoned.Part of the HIPAA act guarantees you the right to a copy of your medical records. Further, if you can prove this happened you can definitely sue (and win). The problem is that no physician is going to document something like this in your medical record. You might start by getting a copy of your records and talking with your doctor. If you aren't satisfied with the response, most hospitals have a patient's advocate with whom you can file a formal complaint. These people often do a good job of investigating complaints and may help resolve the problem. You should also be aware that the hospital keeps a detailed log of all personnel who where in the OR that day, so it's always possible to track down anyone who might have seen anything happen. If you reach the stage of dealing with a patient's advocate, you should definitely ask whether they have spoken to the other people present in the OR that day. If all else fails, you can always hire an attourney.

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no, that is not ethical

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Are they playing Doctor again ?Silly kids!

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never heard of it. but i wouldn't volunteer. lol

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No, just the real pap smears are normal and ethical

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I go door to door offering free pap smears. Its my hobby.

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Never heard of practice pap smears. Does that mean they do not give you the results? As far as practicing is concerned how do you expect a resident to learn? They have to learn somehow. Why doyou think its called PRACTICING medicine? Do you really think you're surgery is always being done by the head surgeon you spoke with? SURPRISE you are wrong oh so very very. If it is any type of a teaching hospital you will NOT be guaranteed of that. BUT you will be billed at the head surgeons price. The public in general has no idea of how and what goes on in the medical world.

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Did CNN specify whether or not they got the woman's permission first?If not, I can see it happening. Dated a few nurses and one doctor over the years, heard plenty of stories about what hospitals get up to that outsiders don't know about and are probably better off not knowing, lol.

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any link to this cnn report?

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NO BUT THE NEXT TIME THEY OFFER TO PUT ME TO SLEEP I WILL SAY NO THANK YOU, THAT IS TOTAL WRONG

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I have heard of this happening in the past, but have never seen it done. Yes, it is considered unethical.In your case, your boyfriend is probably right and it didn't happen.(1) Orthopedic surgeons would have absolutely no interest in practicing pap smears. Ob/Gyn's might be a different story..(2) Pain inside the body is often referred (not localized to the exact site of irritation). Women who have vaginitis can experience pain with urination. Conversely, women who have cystitis (inflammation of the bladder) can feel pain in their vaginas. It seems perfectly reasonable to me that irritation from a Foley in your urinary tract could cause pain in your vagina.(3) I recall an instance in which I was inserting a Foley and a surgeon who was watching me mistook the woman's vagina for her urethra. He stopped me and pointed, and I shook my head and proceeded to put it in the right hole. It is entirely possible that someone could have mistakenly violated you with the catheter (they would have realized and corrected their mistake when they didn't get any urine output).

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