Banning Unconsented Pelvic Exams | A Medical Student Blog
Alexandra Fountaine, OMS III
“Unconsented pelvic exam” sounds like an oxy-moron, an irony too gruesome to consider a reality, because we assume that “pelvic exam” is inextricably married to “consent”. We are wrong. This intimate exam is practiced daily on patients without their consent. What is the defense to such a harmful practice? The patient is anesthetized; they’re asleep, and they won’t remember it. Does this argument hold its weight when talking about other practices or procedures? Imagine the outrage if a group of patients found out they had been given tattoos when under anesthesia and told it is acceptable because they wouldn’t remember it. Angry patients would revolutionize the field of healthcare. But because pelvic exams are supposedly innocuous, leaving no trace of their harm to the victims, we don’t see droves of angry patients. We don’t see anything, which is exactly why this practice is so scary.
Every day, medical students across the country are tasked with performing pelvic exams, and other intimate exams, on anesthetized patients. In some cases, these exams are relevant to the surgery, and patients are aware of that. However, too many of these exams take place solely for the benefit of medical students’ education without the patient’s consent. This practice is currently legal in most states. It is indisputably wrong to perform a pelvic exam without a patient’s consent. So why does this continue to happen?
The culture of medicine allows unconsented pelvic exams to occur. We, as medical students, are taught to follow our residents’ and attendings’ commands quickly and without question. We have to stop and question this practice, and we have to learn to not partake in it. In March 2019, the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics recommended that medical students only perform pelvic examinations when explicit consent is given by the patient. In March of 2023, House Bill 89 was introduced into the Ohio House, which would make it illegal to perform an unconsented pelvic exam on an anesthetized patient.
I’m calling on attendings and residents to change the culture of medicine and refrain from asking their medical students to participate in the practice of unconsented pelvic exams. I’m asking medical students to pause and say “no” when asked to engage in this practice. We have the statements of multiple professional medical organizations on our side and, hopefully soon, we will have the law on our side. We cannot allow medical education to impede patient care and consent.
Alexandra Fountaine is a medical student at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. Her views expressed here are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Columbus Medical Association.
Connect with Alexandra on Twitter @AlexandraTheOK_
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