As a research registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology I was moonlighting and gaining extra experience doing family planning and youth clinics. Unlike most of my previous training I was expected to sit in and then be observed by a senior doctor. It was my great fortune to work with Fay Hutchinson, the medical director of the Brook Advisory Service, because she completely changed my approach to patients.

Many of the women coming for contraception, pregnancy testing, and abortion advice were young and had never had vaginal examinations or smears. They would be …