Physicians who care for adolescents (Adolescent Medicine specialists) like to give their adolescent patients (both male and female) the choice of who will be in the examining room with them when the physical is being done. Many young people actually prefer to have their parent in the room with them. Older adolescents often prefer that a nurse be with them rather than their parent.
Because there have been rare examples of physicians “taking advantage” of patients sexually and because there have been some TV shows about this, many parents have become worried about leaving their teenagers alone with physicians. This is very unfortunate, since all of us would like to trust our physicians totally.
So, you may want to talk to your mother about your discomfort with having her in the room. I know this is a sensitive and difficult area, since your mom may feel that you are rejecting her and her feelings may get hurt. Nevertheless, the best approach is to talk to her about the reasons why you would prefer to have a nurse or other person in the room with you and the doctor during the exam. You should also talk about what is appropriate as part of the physical examination (breast examination, examination of the vagina, and pelvic examination for girls and examination of the penis, testicles, and checking for a hernia for boys) and how long certain parts of the examination should take. When an examination feels very weird or unusual, you should feel free to request that the physician stop the examination.
Most physicians do not like to examine patients without the presence of the parent, a nurse, or attendant (a “chaperone”). There have been cases of some angry or disturbed young people making false accusations about their doctors. So, your request to be alone with your doctor during the physical examination may not be an option. On the other hand, all teens should have an opportunity to talk with their doctor in private, before and/or after the exam, in order to freely discuss sensitive issues.
You're not alone. Take a look at a few of the questions related to this topic that other teens have asked us.
I don't feel comfortable getting a pelvic exam. What should I do?
When does a girl start having pelvic exams and pap smears?
For more information, check out this article:
Your First Pelvic Exam
Posted 6-6-02
