Unfiltered Story #106389

A little background: I’d been a patient to a to a general practitioner (call him Dr. A) for some years before he retired. No doubt I was a bit spoiled, as Dr. A would draw blood himself rather than refer me to a lab, give out sample medications, and do THOROUGH physical exams. That means that he routinely examined my prostate — an un-fun procedure that makes up for the embarrassment by being essential for one’s health.
On his retirement, I spent a few months looking for a new physician before deciding on Dr. B, mainly because her office was nearby and she accepted my insurance.
My first appointment with Dr. B was for a physical, and, while she did an okay job above the waist, she didn’t make the slightest motion to examine me below the waist. I let it go, thinking that this first visit might be an excepting. But several months later I went in for another physical and it was the same routine.
Now a man should get a prostate exam about annually, and she wasn’t doing it. I resolved to get a different doctor, but I’d tried that route before and knew it wouldn’t be quick.
So when I suffered a minor, but significant injury, I visited Dr. B again. The injury she dealt with fine. But I was taken aback when her assistant (nurse, or whatever) asked me, “Have you had a prostate exam in the last year?”
This is when I knew it was critical I find a new physician: I don’t want to know where they’d refer me to get a prostate exam!