I'm sure you can imagine it. You sit in an exam room, wearing a paper gown, and wait for your healthcare provider to enter the room. There are a few colorful posters on the wall about flu season, health screenings and a discounted prescription program offered to patients. But all you can think about is the conversation you're about to have. Are they going to talk about it? Are you going to ask? Does it feel awkward, difficult, or shameful to think about? Should you use nicknames for your body parts so it doesn't feel as weird talking about your symptoms? Let's be honest. Talking about your sexual health with your clinician may seem difficult to talk about, but it's important no matter who you are.
There is a known gap in medical education when it comes to teaching sexual medicine, particularly female sexual medicine. There are also stigmas associated with the topics of women's sexual and reproductive health. In society, we've been taught from a young age to tiptoe around these topics and keep any conversations about our “private parts” well…private. Moreover, expectations to keep these parts of our lives hidden cut across cultural, religious, and socioeconomic divides. Sexual health is an essential aspect of overall health and wellness that is often overlooked during a patient visit, in the classroom, and in medical education. The knowledge gap between the general public and healthcare providers continues to perpetuate negative stigmas attached to women's sexual health. Unfortunately, today's medical students still do not receive adequate training to address topics related to sexual function and women's experiences.
We write this letter to you as a group of medical students who have banded together to demand more from the institutions that train us so that we can become better clinicians for you, our future patients. We want to help create a future in which our patients feel empowered to raise sexual health concerns and encourage clinicians to normalize these discussions. But how can we do this? How have we done this so far?
As medical students, we collaborated to review the medical curricula of the seven Chicago area medical schools for the inclusion of information on female sexual medicine. These findings have been summarized in several abstracts, podium presentations, and a published manuscript. Additionally, we created discussions and lectures, each with a guest expert, for students to learn, exchange ideas, advocate, and collaborate with academic communities to normalize discussions about women's sexual medicine. We hope that the work we have done and continue to do will encourage you and allow you to talk about your body.
There is no such thing as a “stupid question” when it comes to your body. There's no symptom that's “too embarrassing”: Your healthcare providers should have been trained to put you first as a patient, which includes addressing any concerns you have about your sexual health. If you find that your provider doesn't match this, contact one that will.
You know your body best and we want to help you continue to provide it with the best care it deserves. We hear you, we see you and your concerns are important to us.
Sri Contractor, Suvitha Viswanathan, Olivia Negris, Jen Romanello and Monica Meyers are medical students.