BMJ  2003;326:1326 (14 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7402.1326

Letter

Please don't touch me there: the ethics of intimate examinations

Informed consent failed to protect me

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—My personal experience of intimate examination dates back 23 years and illustrates how even explicit informed consent can fail to protect a patient.1

I was 20, a first year preclinical student, awaiting surgery for a large hiatus hernia, which had been causing supraventricular tachycardia. I was admitted to Adden-brooke's Hospital two weeks before clinical school finals. Preoperatively, somewhere between 12 and 20 people in white coats came to examine me. As I did not realise that medical students could examine patients unsupervised I assumed they were doctors.

All performed chest and abdominal examinations. Three performed breast examination (none performed otorhinolaryngological examination). All performed vaginal or rectal examination. Three performed both, which I found particularly distressing. Consent was obtained in the form of "if you don't mind, I need to," and I consented by my physical position and an embarrassed "OK."

I was upset by the examinations and felt . . . [Full text of this article]

Mary Selby, principal general practitioner

Newmarket Rookery Medical Centre, Newmarket CB8 8NW happyselby@btinternet.com


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Relevant Article

The ethics of intimate examinations---teaching tomorrow's doctors • Commentary: Respecting the patient's integrity is the key • Commentary: Teaching pelvic examination---putting the patient first
Yvette Coldicott, Catherine Pope, Clive Roberts, Britt-Ingjerd Nesheim, and Jane MacDougall
BMJ 2003 326: 97-101. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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