why are women expected to frequently get OB/GYN checkups but male reproductive specialists are rare?
In: 32
Most women do not need to see an obgyn for routine care. Family medicine is able to handle routine cancer screens and birth control easily. Internal medicine doctors can as well, but I think they have to be more proactive in getting trained and credentialed to do it.
A good question for anyone with a uterus and/or cervix to ask when choosing a doctor is if that doctor handles pap smears and/or birth control.
The cervical cancer screenings do start early (21 years), but are 3-5 years apart depending on age. There is even talk of decreasing the frequency of screenings further for people who had the HPV vaccine at an early age, but so far not enough people have gotten the vaccine for that to be feasible.
Males can also get penile and testicular cancer this young, but that is easier to notice thanks to their genitalia being more external.
Source: am a family medicine doctor and do all that. I send folks to Obgyn when there’s something wrong I can’t fix our figure out, or when they are pregnant. Some of my colleagues also handle uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries, but that is becoming less common in the US.
Latest Answers