Alt title: I get enraged because I understand absolutely fuck all.
A frank Dr’s reply would be: “I see the wound, but it looks like bleeding stopped(based on the hypothetical comic situation) so lets quickly finish my assessment then let’s fix you up.”
“Doctor! I’m bleeding right here and now!”
*writing down* “last period: today”
PSA: Don’t scroll down to the comments.
^ Enjoy funny comic ^
The overwhelming amount of people that don’t understand why this is a medically necessary thing to ask, somehow has to correlate with the complete lack of nuanced debate to be found here.
I’ll break it down simply;
IF A WOMAN IS PREGNANT- X-RAYS CAN DAMAGE A FETUS. IF A WOMA DOESN’T KNOW SHES PREGNANT- A MENSTRUAL CYCLE CAN INDICATE THAT A TEST MAY BE WISE BEFORE POTENTIALLY KILLING HER UNBORN FETUS.
also:
CERTAIN MEDICATIONS CAN KILL OR SEVERELY DAMAGE THE HEALTH OF AN UNBORN FETUS.
therefore we can summarize by saying:
MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS ARE TRAINED TO ASK THESE QUESTIONS PRIOR TO PERFORMING POTENTIALLY HARMFUL PROCEDURES OR ADMINISTERING POTENTIALLY HARMFUL MEDICATIONS.
Now, is it safe to assume we understand why they don’t ask men this question?
Counterpoint- she is missing a semicircular chunk of flesh half her arm’s diameter, without massive bleeding, and still somwhow alive. Only way I can think of that working is every artery connecting to her arm being severed,
and wasting time asking about her period can wait till they figure out if shes going to die from internal bleeding while answering questions.
It’s like the “is it plugged in?” thing. There is a reason it keeps getting asked.
Huh…I thought the joke was the doctor didn’t care about the mugging or the gunshot, skipped those questions and when right to periods.
I didn’t see it implied in the comic that the question should never be asked….or anything about men.
I have a rebuttal:
WHO GIVES A FUCK ABOUT A THEORETICAL FETUS? FIX THE FUCKING ARM THAT IS BLEEDING OUT YOU FUCKSTICK PURITANICAL ASSHOLE.
For this hypothetical comic situation yes they should fix the uncontrolled bleeding first before anything else. But to contradict myself looks like the bleeding is controlled.
Great way to end up with a medical malpractice lawsuit.
As a woman who absolutely hates the “when was the date of your last period?” question, if the only reason they want to know the answer to that question is to determine whether or not we are pregnant, why don’t they just have us pee in a cup?
Asking me when my last period was in order for them to determine whether or not I may be pregnant, is kind of like [insert some scenario where the obvious solution to a question is simple but you go about it in a backwards upside down complicated way].
if the only reason they want to know the answer to that question is to determine whether or not we are pregnant, why don’t they just have us pee in a cup?
Isn’t that a lot more work?
And more invasive. And expensive.
But hey not about womans things
It pretty blantantly shows that there is a greater concern for the potential existence of something which may potentially become a person, than there is for the actual person having an actual medical emergency.
Might need to go to the doctor because how of much I’m gonna laugh whilst reading this comment thread later.
I feel like the more nuanced version of the question should be used tbh
So, it’s an emergency, and doctors are trained to think first about saving the theoretical unborn fetus, instead of focusing on the hemorrhage of a woman that somehow made it to the doctor after she got shot by some delinquent? Is that what you’re trying to say? I don’t wonder why people don’t understand, but I find the comic funny, bitter funny.
Cynical answer: They’re worried about the malpractice case if the woman miscarries because of something they did.
More realistic answer: I don’t think it’s so much trained to first think about the potential fetus, as much as if there’s no emergency and the only difference between potentially causing a miscarriage / deformity and not doing so is a few questions, why not ask them? If she was on a gurney being rushed into the ER it would be one thing, but if she’s ambulatory and has the time for the subsequent urine test, better safe than sorry?
Most realistic answer: It’s a funny comic about the level of dismissal many women feel when dealing with doctors. Laugh bitterly, share with a friend, and try not to worry about what assholes on the Internet think.
If you are pregnant it can wildly affect your lab results, too.
Well, to be pendantic. She’s walked into the office on her own, is fully alert and doesn’t appear to be bleeding much. Next steps would be an xray and likely then surgery - both of which it’s crucial to know if the patient is pregnant.
And how do you know it’s a delinquent that shot her? Seems judgey.Well, she got mugged and got shot. Call me whatever you want.
Yeah, might have been a cop. Better not be prejudiced.
Now, is it safe to assume we understand why they don’t ask men this question?
Because of patriarchy? 👉👈
NO
As WalrusDragonOnABike so perfectly put it:
Its satirizing the tendency for doctors to be more dismissive of women having pain than men, for example. This would be more of a problem with non-visible causes of pain, especially ones that predominantly effect women such as chronic migraines. This comic extrapolates this to comedic effect by using a gunshot wound instead.
AND
I love how a 4 panel comic about dismissal of women’s medical concerns is getting multiple commentors who want to dismiss those problems because a 4 panel comic doesn’t explicitly go into the a specific nuance they are focused on. Plenty of people get the punchline just fine without it.
It’s not about pregnancy. It’s about dismissing pain and blaming symptoms on hormones.
I have more sources. They’re bookmarked. Does anyone need them or do we get it yet?
It’s not a 4 panel comic, they tried using more panels for extra context and fucked it up.
“I didn’t get it so the comic is wrong.”
Ah yes, insults instead of addressing the context of the comment.
I’m explaining why the comic doesn’t make sense, and addressing your incorrect information and also now comprehension.
If you can’t even see that this isn’t a 4 panel comic, why should we even take anything else you say as correct? When you can’t even count panel amounts.
4 panel comics and 8 panel comics, are different narratives, you can’t use 4 panel logic and narrative in an 8 panel. So it changes how the comic works. Just like a short story vs a poem. They’re just different things.
Wait, so you can’t follow a story past four panels? What is “four panel logic?” I think you made that up.
I was quoting someone else.
My information is from reputable sources in healthcare, journalism and medicine. Do we not recognize Ph D’s here, now?
In every one of my comments I try to bring the discussion back to the narrative of the comic, you brought up pregnancy, which I addressed.
I don see this conversation being productive, so you can have the last word and I won’t respond. Enjoy the rest of your week.
Wait, so you can’t follow a story past four panels? What is “four panel logic?” I think you made that up.
No, a poem and short story are two different ways to tell a narrative. You can’t write a poem in a short story format than cry foul when people don’t get the point because it no longer works.
How did you even get that form what I said? Oh right, you seem to have an issue with wanting to insult people Lmfao.
In every one of my comments I try to bring the discussion back to the narrative of the comic, you brought up pregnancy, which I addressed.
And in every response people, not just me, have tried to explain to you why the narrative just doesn’t bloody work. Doesn’t matter what your backround or how much you know about it, you’re failing basic language comprehension issue. Most people have agreed with those, and still tried to point you correct on the issue with comic.
So it’s just badly written then
But yea it seems like your interpretation is correct, though the extreme amount of exaggeration in the comic made it less understandable
I’M SORRY, I DIDN’T QUITE GRASP WHAT YOU WERE SAYING. COULD YOU REPEAT THAT MORE CLEARLY?
The bigger the font, the happier your day will be
thanks
2meIRL
Yeah I get it that the medical.field could have, should have spent way more time on women’s issues, too many illnesses have been ignored with women, and yes, all that has to change
But this? I thought this was always obvious
Not for a lot of people, sadly.
look, I’m not asking to be coddled. as a man I don’t need anyone to ask me anything…but it would be nice every once in a while of someone just asked how my last period was.
it costs nothing to be kind.
I’ll be the guy and ask but I’ll warn you ahead of time the only acceptable answer is “good, how are you?” And now with that bit out of the way,
How was your last period?
good, how are you?
I know right. Sometimes just the act of asking is appreciated.
Hah!
I remember seeing a sign on a wall in one office that explained this. Makes way more sense knowing that.
I can’t say I’ve had this particular conversation with a doctor (or ever will) but all this said, I’ve also had some real arseholes for doctors. A little compassion and even a quick explanation goes a long way.
There is a big difference between not understanding something and never being taught in the first place.
Doctors should ask men about their period.
What if they find a dude who had one recently? That seems like it would be a problem you’d want fixed.
Okay, so this is a damn good argument!
As much as I dunk on doctors, people in general are even dumber.
And aside from the concern about a fetus, it can mess (very dramatically) with your lab results.
Stop yelling. My brain censors out all caps, so anythign in all caps I can’t read.
Stop yelling. My brain censors out all caps, so anythign in all caps I can’t read.
top yelling. y brain censors out all caps, so anythign in all caps I can’t read.
do these two quotes above look literally the same to you?
What?
You said:
My brain censors out all caps, so anythign in all caps I can’t read.
Right?
Can you see all these caps?
Yea, I can see hats.
Oh, for real, no cap?
She has a piece bitten out of her arm without bleeding. I would also start asking about blood related stuff. Sounds dangerous
Shit, you’re right, she’s probably some kind of doppleganger, so it’s important to act natural and pretend you’re not suspicious. And being a doctor, there’s a high probability the doppelganger will want to steal your body even if it doesn’t think its cover is blown.
So instead of asking period questions, the best thing you could say in this situation is something like, “oh right, I told the nurse to barge in here randomly in the next 30 seconds, but this medical issue requires utmost privacy for at least 5 minutes, so I will go tell the nurse to leave us alone and make sure everyone else leaves us alone until we can properly deshoot your arm.”
Of course, a doppleganger doesn’t need to kill you to steal your likeness, so it might be in your best interest to have an alibi for the foreseeable future and come up with codewords for your family.
Went to the ER a few years ago; they asked if I was pregnant and I said no as I had been dating another cis woman for the 4 years prior.
They still gave me a pregnancy test.
If you aren’t going to believe me anyway just give me the damn test and don’t bother me with the question.
They wouldn’t need the test if you told them you were pregnant. At that point they could engage in a shorthand, depending on your knowledge, and maybe skip some unnecessary tests and diagnose the problem better.
“Everyone lies” - Doctor Gregory House.
“The patient told you that, and you believe them? You’re an idiot!” - Also Doctor Gregory House.
Fictional Doctor House, a role model of ethical and professional standards for real doctors everywhere.
Absolutely! :D
Fetuses are not special. Millions die every year without anyone ever knowing they existed. They get flushed away with a late period cause the conditions weren’t quite right.
If a woman wants to lie and pretend they are not capable, that’s her business. House is an asshole.
The best part is most people have one.
People lie to doctors near fucking constantly. They’re required to ask the questions no matter what due to things like malpractice, the insurance company that owns the hospital and other stupid s***.
So not only are they required to ask you, they’re also likely required to give you the test regardless of your answer. Because they have to assume you’re lying.
It’s not personal. How many idiots have lied, been ignorant, or didn’t think it was important and caused a lot of trouble in the process?
Ex: in free clinics that specialize in sexually active gay men, they don’t ask if you take street drugs, they ask if you’ve ever taken Viagra without a prescription. Stimulants cause impotence.
If you aren’t going to believe me anyway just give me the damn test and don’t bother me with the question.
It’s not about not believing you, it’s about the fact that it’s possible for people to be pregnant without realizing it, and the doctors obviously don’t know you personally.
The reason they ask at all is because if you say yes, then they don’t bother giving you the test. They were always planning to give you the test if you say anything but “yes”, to cover all their
asses against lawsuitsbases.Tests will also miss some pregnancies. Routinely asking and testing will have the fewest false negatives.
if you say yes, then they don’t bother giving you the test.
Willing to bet if they’d do it otherwise then it’s the insurance companies determining policy here to save cost.
Not familiar with other healthcare but single payer here in Canada, the CT scan(for example) will not happen if there’s no negative bloodwork pregnancy test or if they are certain you don’t have a uterus. All child bearing women are all pregnant unless bloodwork says no or your uterus was surgically removed.
Lmao. Ill add to the evidence pile 🤣
This brought up a memory:
I was with my then girlfriend at a gynecologist as she was getting a UID put in. I sit in the waiting room just browsing my phone and out of nowhere I hear screaming and stuff getting thrown around. I couldn’t make out exactly where it came from so I of course got worried it might be my girlfriend (not that I had a reason to think it was her out of anyone else), but it’s obviously not like I could just go and open doors to look. After about a minute of hearing this, so much stuff thrown and broken, a girl comes out of a room bright red with anger and as she walks by me, who’s the only one in the waiting room, she says “I came here for things completely unrelated to my period and the doctor fucking asks about my fucking period like that’s everything women are, periods!” I really didn’t know how to respond so I just go “yeah, fuck 'em.” and she just looked at me with an oddly angry smirk then walked out.And what’s funny is she probably was pregnant and just in denial
Okay, but like, it’s the gynaecologist. Periods are a big part of their jobs.
Edit: I hated working service desk for IT. I’d probably hate being a doctor more.
Because there’s no way X-Rays and specific types of medication could possibly hurt an unborn baby. All hospitals should just assume women are not able to be pregnant- or, essentially the same as men- and just treat them accordingly. I mean, it’s not like this shit isn’t taught in med school.
Imagine the outrage if hospitals stopped asking and just treated women with procedures and medications that are fatal to the unborn.
Apology in advance for the nuanced take.
I don’t understand why folks like you are melting down.
The message is clearly that the doctor was ignoring immediate problems.
Why ignore that and get on your soap box? The comic didn’t imply that question should never be asked.
Yep. Even as a mere medic, we are supposed to at least consider any woman from 9 to 99 could be pregnant. And it fast and easy to ask, assuming a responsive patient. The overwhelming number of times it didn’t play into my treatment plan doesn’t matter. All it takes is just one time to not consider it and someone can be severely injured or dead because I didn’t consider it. If I had any doubt about pregnant or not, I asked the patient straight up.
I think explaining rationale for what you’re doing can be very helpful for patient comfort (not to mention compliance). Cis man here, but on the one hand I hear about enough women’s medical concerns getting dismissed to understand why that might be the assumption even when there’s good reason; and just from my own experience I like to understand what providers are thinking / working on with me.
I’m not a doctor. I was a medic for 15 years. Generally we, (at least I did), always try to explain things if there is time. But the time I have to explain what’s happening and why can be in very short supply as a medic. Sometimes it’s an “Oh shit! We gotta go! We gotta go NOW!” moment. Plus it’s just you and me in the back. So I was often busier than a one handed milk maid at milking time and had very little time for pleasantries.
And doctors face their own time crunch. If you have ever paid attention to the scheduling your appointment, they are in 15 minute blocks. And then they need to be on to the next patient while trying to find the time to chart their encounter with you. There are few of them and an endless supply of patients. And they need to keep that assembly line moving. If they spent as much time with their patients as THEY would like, imagine how long you would be sitting in that waiting room. You better bring drinks and a sandwich. Possibly a blanket.
And there ain’t any medical system that has enough doctors anywhere on this planet either to make things better for the doctors or the patients.
that’s a hysterical punchline
I see what you did there! :>
As an emt I can say that is what we are told to ask from the start but most of the time it is based around any abdominal pain in a woman from 8 to 80
I only had one instructor out of my maybe 10 or so said to check to make sure the patient can physically get pregnant before you assume that is the issues
They also said you need to assume they are until conclusively proven otherwise even if directly told multiple times they aren’t
Have you tried losing weight?
I have to go to my spouse’s appointment and verify everything she says or the doc just assumes she’s exaggerating to get meds. I originally thought she just had bad luck with docs, but it’s like watching the medical degree drain out of their ears! She’s the most dead pan, dry delivery I know, she only plays down her problems, she has experience in the field so documentation of symptoms is something she understands, and even the women docs look at here like she’s asking for a cast on a splinter.
It’s insane, isn’t it? Especially when it comes from a fellow woman.
I had a pre-syncope and could barely get out of bed for a week and a half. When I told my doctor I’m worried about it reoccurring because I don’t know the cause of it, she just smiled and said that’s something that would be hard to diagnose and that I shouldn’t live in fear. And I’m like ??? Your job is literally to diagnose. I also have a few chronic illnesses, so I tend to feel up and down. She straight up told me it’s just anxiety and I should be grateful I don’t have any serious illnesses.
Unfortunately, she’s not the only one like that. Just recently I had a doctor tell me such nonsense that’s debunked with a 2 second internet search that I questioned whether he got his license off Temu.
Too many misogynists and narcissists in the field.
she has experience in the field so documentation of symptoms is something she understands
This jumped out to me as a possible contributor to the distrust. Speaking with that level of familiarity is probably something they see much more often from people experienced in lying/exaggerating to get meds, than from people in the industry, simply because the former group has a lot more people in it overall.
Aren’t some prescriptions different if you’re pregnant? And some women may not realize it. Gets dialog started. X-rays can be an issue too, immediate injections could put a fetus at risk. I mean what’s the point of this comic? Making fun of a doctor doing his job? Are women taking offense to a simple seemingly routine question?
Huh. The doctor ignored a mugging and a gunshot. Are you intentionally trying to misunderstand it?
Here’s an idea, instead of asking the very clearly annoying to women question of “And when was your last period?” Maybe ask “Ok, before we start the examination, is there any possibility that you are pregnant?” And, ya know, treat women as human beings instead of like a walking incubator that you have to check the dials on.
Its satirizing the tendency for doctors to be more dismissive of women having pain than men, for example. This would be more of a problem with non-visible causes of pain, especially ones that predominantly effect women such as chronic migraines. This comic takes extrapolates this to comedic effect by using a gunshot wound instead.
Not really - if a woman came in with a gunshot wound, she’d be asked if she was pregnant. Why? Because she’d need a CT scan or an X-ray, which are ionizing radiation and have a risk for a foetus. She’d need a scan or x-ray to ensure there was no shrapnel in the would before closure even if superficial, and to assess for damage to vessels or bone etc if deep wound.
It’s a standard question that any women would recognise from trips to the emergency room. It’s pretty ineffective as a punchline if the cartoonist is trying to make the point you say they’re making.
Instead it just makes the woman in the cartoon appear dumb/ignorant which totally undermines the message it’s purportedly trying to put across. She is giving a fed up or even patronising look over something that would be essential question in any hospital.
Not really - if a woman came in with a gunshot wound, she’d be asked if she was pregnant. Why? Because she’d need a CT scan or an X-ray, which are ionizing radiation and have a risk for a foetus.
Pretty sure immediate blood loss from a bullet wound trumps hypothetical risks of an x-ray.
Edit: To quote the health department of the state next to me…
Most radiation exposure during medical testing is unlikely to harm a developing baby. Testing is only done if the risk to you or your baby is greater than not doing the test. The ‘risk’ is the increased chance of your unborn baby getting a cancer during their childhood.
I love how a 4 panel comic about dismissal of women’s medical concerns is getting multiple commentors who want to dismiss those problems because a 4 panel comic doesn’t explicitly go into the a specific nuance they are focused on. Plenty of people get the punchline just fine without it.
It’s not a 4 panel comic, It’s an 8 panel comic that tried using the extra panels for extra context, but only fucked it up.
If you need to lie or exaggerate to make your point, you’ve already lost.
Nobody is dismissing the problem. They’re saying the comic doesn’t represent the problem. It’s malformed commentary, not wrong commentary.
I don’t even think it’s intended to be about that. I don’t think it’s that deep.
I think it’s just, “they always ask this question, no matter what.”
I thought bandaging the wound would be the first step, stop the bleeding and all that. Not sure how pregnancy would figure into first aid.
I imagine they’d want to give her something for the pain, and potential pregnancy might be a factor? I don’t know, I’m not a doctor, and this is a comic.
For example, give a pregnant woman Tylenol and boom, autistic baby.
But seriously, as far as I know, your comment is accurate, a lot of treatment options change when a fetus might be in the situation.
If a doctor decided to neglect that possibility and harms a fetus no one was aware of, might get hit with malpractice.
Also I know lab results might depend on either the possibility of pregnancy, or just timing of the period itself.
There is stuff we know fucks with the baby, like thalidomide. No need to throw dubious claims of autism into the mix.
That part was intended as a joke, hence the ‘but seriously’
Sad to say, such nuanced takes don’t belong on lemmy. That shit is like a lemmy repellant.
But pain meds would be different if you’re pregnant or not.
I think a lot of people are taking benign questions as straight insults to them.
Yes do women experience this? Yes. Do men, yes. Is it a valid question for every women that comes across… also yes.
I guess the period question takes it from what you’re saying, and takes it to a different punch line, and what’s that punch line? I get what you are saying, but comic also clearly has a shift to a different point.
Sure, there are valid medical reasons. This comic isn’t about that. It’s about the outright dismissal of women’s problems. It’s not about changing treatment based on pregnancy status despite the mention of pregnancy - it’s about the ignoring the problem exists at all to be fixed.
The comic isn’t showing an outright dismissal, though. The doctor hasn’t arrived at a conclusion just by asking a question that seems unrelated.
Doctors do that kind of digging all the time. It’s not worth it to explain all the interactions and interconnectedness just to get some basic questions answered, so doctors will often just ask weird questions out of the blue.
Of course they do. Still not the point of the comic and plenty of people immediately understood the point. There doesn’t need to be another 4 panels to explain what they’d be.
It’s not a 4 panel comic! They tried using extra panels to introduce more context, and that’s where they fucked up.
They did try explaining lmfao.
There doesn’t need to be another 4 panels to explain what they’d be.
They did add 4 panels, and that’s exactly what everyone else has an issue with there. The point of the comic isn’t clear, since they’re addressing multiple issues and just fucking it up.
And its method of depicting that is showing a doctor asking a valid and important question.
Is it, though?
It’s crazy you’re atill trying to dismiss the issue
I think they’re trying to say it doesn’t fully satirize the issue. The doctor isn’t necesarily dismissing anything just by asking the question. They’re saying the joke is malformed, not that the issue cannot exist.
The issue of being a good doctor?
It’s still crazy that my wife who has had a hysterectomy is asked that question every time. It’s in her records, they just don’t bother reading.
“I know you had a hysterectomy but let’s just take a pregnancy test anyway.” - doctor in the ER
Life uh finds a way
In the words of Dr house “people lie”. They should take the woman’s word on things like this. However, it just takes being burnt once or twice, to not trust the answer from anyone else.
Routine means it’s asked to everyone to mainly not discriminate, but its also to absolve liability, but if they don’t ask and somehow that was missing from a chart. Yeah they can get in shit.
It’s not crazy, it’s a question that’s asked to every women since treatments and even diagnosing can be different depending on where they are in a cycle and if they are pregnant.
The woman next to me in the hospital was asked if she could be pregnant right after the nurse checked her birth year at more than 80 years ago. We all had a little laugh at that one.
Force of habit is likely to play a role at that point, lol.
Then why don’t they ask this question for all men? Why don’t they ask every man that walks in if they’re pregnant? If the justification is, “we must ask because the risk is always there, no matter how small,” then why would you dismiss the risk that the man that walks in is actually a trans man that happens to be pregnant?
If this was only about trying to cover all of your bases, everyone would be asked if they are pregnant, regardless of gender.
Records can be looooong especially the older you get and the more you visit. I’d honestly much rather just speak to the doctor. I feel a lot more cared for if a doctor is speaking to me one on one about my body and my health than if they are just reading a log of info and then coming to some conclusion.
It shouldn’t be an either, or.
They should both be reading the chart, and speaking to you.
They are compensated more than enough to cover both. Shits just fucked.
I didn’t say that they shouldn’t read the charts. But if I had to pick which one I’d want a doctor to do first, it would be speak to me as a person.
I mean, if you can’t be fucked to read medical records, please don’t seek out a career in medicine
As I said to the other person as well, I never said nor meant to imply that they should never read the records.
With how packed doctor schedules are, I have no expectation that they read our records before a visit. I prefer that I get that time to actually talk to them rather than having them look through my records for information that’s probably irrelevant to my visit. Read it after if you need specific information.
Of course, I don’t think they really are generally acquainted with the records, not just about hysterectomies.
They will look if something specific comes up, but generally it’s a reference that isn’t proactively consulted, because they have a lot of patients and their record only occasionally matters.
Making it the FIRST question is part of the “your role as a vessel for a fetus is more important than your existence as a person” attitude that is far too common.
And I’ve experienced it myself, even after having yeeted my uterus because it was trying to bleed me to death.
It’s also a way in certain states of ensuring that, if she were pregnant, and it’s been 6 weeks since the start of her last period, she couldn’t legally seek an abortion.
There’s plenty of time later on in the exam to say, “I’m going to inject a local anesthetic while I dig the bullet out of your arm. Any chance you might be pregnant? When was your last period?”
I think it’s not about minimizing someone as just a vessel for a fetus, it’s about the reality that menstruation and pregnancy just have huge medical implications in general, in lab results, diagnostic approaches, and in treatment options. With such a wide variety of possible impacts, it may be easy to forget to check ‘just in time’ in very decision that might matter.
Suppose would someone rather get asked that awkwardly once for a whole visit, or potentially get asked repeatedly as they prepare to perform particular tests, interpret results, or think about prescribing medication.
It’s not fair that such a huge biological thing is incurred by one sex and not the other, but it is just a possibility they have to deal with.
To refrain from asking to avoid that awkwardness increases risk of missing that situation and malpractice for failing to take that pretty basic biological reality into account.
Ninety percent of the time it has no bearing on anything the doctor will be doing and yet it’s almost always the first thing they ask women. At least move it farther down the form! It’s fucking tiresome.
Should they ask every one of you men the date and time of your last ejaculation? Sure, it’s intrusive but ejaculatory issues are an under-discussed issue, perhaps it should be the first question for every man, to make sure it gets done as you say.
Ninety percent of the time it has no bearing on anything the doctor will be doing
I would tend to agree with you if that were the case. But, I would ask you to quantify your claim.
According to ACEP, 48 in 100 ER patients will undergo simple radiograph procedures (some form of X-rays), while 27 in 100 will undergo CT imaging. Both pose significant dangers to a fetus, if present.
Based on that data, at least 48% to 75% of the time, the question does, indeed, have bearing on something the doctor will be doing. Is that sufficiently high enough to prioritize determining whether there is a second patient in the room?
99% of the time I drive, my car insurance has no bearing on the outcome of my trip, but I really appreciate it that 1% of the time it does.
While not ejaculation, we do get probed (less literally now) over potential prostate issues, groin hernias, and erections. But only for routine visits, since these issues while significant, have little bearing on diagnosing and treating other health conditions.
Women draw the short straw since imaging and drugs all have to take a potential pregnancy into consideration so it’s a key piece of data for all sorts of medical events. Particularly risky when a fetus is hardest to be aware of early on.
There’s plenty of time later on in the exam
You’re assuming that she’s not going to quickly lose consciousness due to shock or blood loss. That is not a particularly safe assumption.
The point of this comic is to express frustration about a current and long-standing issue I’ve heard many women express frustrations about, which I understand to be: doctors not really listening to them when they list specific issues or symptoms, and “railroading” them into it not being something to worry about, or putting it down to them being a woman.
The question can be seemingly routine, but as a guy who doesn’t experience this kind of thing when I go to the docs I can certainly imagine how frustrating it could be to encounter these questions upfront and to feel unheard, especially by a medical professional when I’m worried about something.
What do you mean you don’t experience this? Every doctor I’ve been to asks seemingly unrelated questions, a lot of issues can and do stem from somewhere else, or maybe something you are missing.
A doctor shouldn’t just take what you say and run with it, that’s a horrible doctor.
I also go to as a support to a lot of my wife’s appointments, the period question is always one of the first, and again, lots of seemingly unrelated questions, but most are just routine for everyone who comes in, regardless of of concern. It also gives them data and graph points for when there may actually be issues. And now they have base points. What doctors are you seeing that aren’t doing this?
I mean I don’t experience being asked when my period was or having symptoms I report being flippantly put down to “being a woman”.
Yeah, not every question is an insult to the person.
Most questions doctors ask are benign, it’s not about a women being put down, it’s usually them taking the questions as insults.
Men experience it too, but it’s not taken out context. Yes the reproductive rights in the US is muddying things. But being asked if you’ve had your period is a routine question, the fact that women are taking offense to it, shows how it’s been twisted around and being used as a weapon instead.
The comic made its point, then shifted to a different and left it hanging. The comic is a totally different tone and point if you remove the last panel.
it’s not taken out of context
Sounds like you’re assuming an awful lot on behalf of women in general and ignoring our experiences. Doctors do absolutely have to ask certain questions for diagnostic and treatment purposes, but they also do ignore our perspectives and tend to misdiagnose or misattribute our problems. Every woman has a story or knows someone that has been “diagnosed with woman,” or mistreated by the medical system. Take two minutes of googling and you’ll find countless studies. Look up the slang “WWW” (whiny white woman), or other regional variants. The “female hysteria” stereotype is still very much real. More than once in my life I’ve handed the phone to a man who restated the EXACT same words I said, and was only then taken seriously. I’ve had a doctor suggest that my symptoms are likely PMS, despite the fact that I have no uterus and have never had a period, and didn’t even believe me after I told him as much until he checked and double checked my chart, as if I would lie about something so easily disproven!
Medical misogyny is real, and the purpose of the comic is to point out the priority of the system to view us first as reproductive vessels, and the tendency to ignore our perspectives specifically because of our gender. If the very first question a doctor asked after “I HAVE AN OPEN GUNSHOT WOUND IN MY ARM” was “When was your last period,” instead of immediate triage and first aid, it would be ridiculous. Even in this incredibly pedantic view of the comic, taking everything directly literally instead of comprehending the obvious point it’s making, it still doesn’t make sense.
I’m gonna defer to women’s experiences on this one, as I don’t experience it myself.
I think I’ve lost the thread of what you’re saying mate. The comic is totally different if you remove the punchline, you’re right.
It’s two different punchlines. One finished, then they shifted to another, which is a regular question to ask before X-rays or pain meds.
It seems the creator of the comic thinks it’s not a valid question. That’s where the second punchline fails. It’s shifted to a DIFFERENT punchline.
Are you trying to mansplain pregnancy?
What’s the first punchline? I see one punchline.
When the ER or urgent care always insists on discussing pregnancy ‘just in case’ when a woman is not able to get pregnant it means they are focused more on something other than the actual problem at hand.
Flowchart medicine. Er, so to speak.
It’s more common in the U.S. and other countries where women’s reproductive rights have been eroded/never existed.
There’s a few reasons, and none of them have to do with women’s health. How do I know? I’m a woman in Canada who’s been to the hospital a lot for both pre-existing conditions and unrelated emergencies, I never get asked this question.
First, the comic making light of how women’s problems are dismissed and blamed on hormones, when multiple medical and psychological studies over the last century indicate women are no more emotional than men, and menstruation doesn’t effect mood outside of unusual conditions.
Second, it’s about reproductive rights. How women’s immediate health problems are ignored in favor of protecting an unborn child they may or may not want. It’s further infantilizing because doctors ask about the last period, which indicates nothing, instead of just asking about pregnancy.
There’s a few reasons, and none of them have to do with women’s health. How do I know? I’m a woman in Canada who’s been to the hospital a lot for both pre-existing conditions and unrelated emergencies, I never get asked this question.
I go to most of wife’s appointments, it’s one of the first questions she’s asked at every appointment. This is in Canada as well. Treatments and diagnosis change if you’re pregnant or not. It’s a standard question that’s asked and would be asked to start the proper triage. And things can change from the last appt 3 months ago, so they need to know asap if prescriptions need to change.
I go to most of wife’s appointments
Have you considered this could be the reason she gets asked if she’s pregnant?
appointments
As in, not an emergency. In an emergency the first imperative is to stop the immediate health threats, in this case the gunshot wound. The doctor doesn’t need to know about menstrual health do his ABCs.
Also, as someone with extensive experience with Canadian healthcare, and I’ve held certifications up to OFA 3 (not a big deal, but it did qualify me to intubate, immobilize, take a health record, etc.) I’ve been to emergency rooms in four different provinces and I’ve been on enough different meds to fill a small pharmacy. At most I get asked if I could be pregnant, but that comes after my immediate conditions have been managed and we start discussing meds.
I think either your wife has a shitty doctor, the doctor actually asks if she’s pregnant and you’re deliberately misquoting to support your argument, or she’s seeing her regular doctor for a checkup - where menstrual health is a reasonable thing to ask about and/or has a related medical condition regarding her period.
And completely missing the point of the comic, which is about how the immediate health issue is being dismissed for the reasons I already stated.
It’s funny that you need to result to insults to try and attempt to make your point. It’s a routine question and just because some doctors forget doesn’t mean you can ignore the other side of the fence with your rant.
No doctor will ask if someone is pregnant, that’s inviting malpractice.
I’m not missing the point of the comic, people are trying to point out the creator fucked ip by trying to address more than a single point, and fucked up the entire thing in the process.
And completely missing the point of the comic, which is about how the immediate health issue is being dismissed for the reasons I already stated.
Adding the benign routine question at the end changes the entire tone, unless you’re the one that incorrectly thinks this is a non-routine question and is only asked in places ruining reproductive rights, which IS NO THE CASE. As countless people have tried to explain I. This thread.
I am a woman who has been to the doctor. I get asked “Are you pregnant or breastfeeding,” all the goddamn time.
Weird you think disagreement is an insult.
Countless men who have never been a woman in a doctor’s office don’t get it. Lemmy is about 73% men. They’re missing the point for the same reason this comic exists, because women’s experiences are minimalized in healthcare.
All the panels are related, that’s how a narrative works. A lack of media literacy doesn’t make it wrong, because women get it without needing an explanation. Unless the guys in the comments are actual doctors, they’re just a large volume of unsupported opinions. It is not routine to ask about a period in an emergency, the medical emergency is the context.
Again, the comic isn’t about pregnancy, it’s about dismissing women’s pain and blaming problems on hormones.
…women in pain are much more likely than men to receive prescriptions for sedatives, rather than pain medication, for their ailments. One study even showed women who received coronary bypass surgery were only half as likely to be prescribed painkillers, as compared to men who had undergone the same procedure.
Women are more likely to encounter scepticism regarding the severity or legitimacy of their symptoms as a result of gender biases and cultural norms ingrained in the medical discourse about women’s bodies and diseases over centuries.
Despite medical advancements, women frequently face underdiagnosis and inadequate treatment of pain (Pieretti et al., 2016). Healthcare providers often dismiss or minimize women’s pain, labeling it as “emotional” or “psychosomatic” rather than physical (Samulowitz et al., 2017).
edit: You know, as a mod of a community, I can see all the votes there, right? I’m just glad you found a healthy outlet.
There’s more comments and links supporting what I’m saying over what you are.
Did you… did you read them? Or did you lose the plot after four statements?
I won’t respond, you have the last word if you like.
Some Doctors have a tendency to accuse women of being pregnant and that being the cause of their problems without ever investigating further. Regardless of what the problem is. Pregnancy tests are pretty common for women going to see the doctor, it’s a routine to ensure they’re not pregnant before prescribing most medication or ordering imaging. That’s not something the doctor would ask for a gunshot wound to the arm. The nurse would collect a urine sample after the doctor has already left.
Most women know whether or not they could possibly be pregnant.
I only found out about a pregnancy when I went to a doctor for an unrelated illness. It was so early that I hadn’t even missed a period yet. When they asked if I wanted a pregnancy test, I was like, “Eh sure, why not.” Didn’t think anything of it, and I was shocked when it came back positive.
But yeah, I figure most women will know whether they might be pregnant or not. I just happened to be within that slim window of time where the only tell was that my brain was in a fog so bad that I couldn’t think an entire sentence through. Naturally, I’d first attributed that to the illness. But now I know what “baby brain” feels like, and damn, hats off to those who stick it out all 9 months. I don’t think I’d be able to function like that.
I think the point there is that you knew that there was a possibility and so asked for the test when presented with the option. For a lot of women the test isn’t an option even if they say “no, there’s no chance I’m pregnant.” the doctor will often persist in suggesting one or asking about their last period like they are fucking Sherlock Holmes tracking down the case of the missing fetus.
deleted by creator
Asking is free, pregnancy tests aren’t covered and costs the client.
Your clinic is lining their pockets.
There’s plenty of documented cases of women giving birth unknown in a toilet. I’m not ignoring your side, so don’t ignore the other.
But you also must realize that asking if a women is pregnant isn’t politically correct as well, can be considered discriminatory and doctors have been sued for less.
There’s plenty of documented cases of women giving birth unknown in a toilet.
Name one. This doesn’t fucking happen.
You know this is easily googleable… yeah?
1/2500 births, that’s pretty common actually.
People like you are why these jokes need to be explained in detail sometimes.
What a horrifically ignorant and uninformed hot take.
Hey you fucking acorn, the joke is that the doctor is ignoring the obvious gunshot wound in her arm and is implying that she’s making up/exaggerating symptoms because she’s preggers. If the doctor was doing his job, he’d be doing something about the gunshot wound, not musing about what the real problem is.
How do you fix a gunshot wound? Pain meds and an xray. What does those do to an unknown fetus? So they ask before making a malpractice mistake. This question is ROUTINE!
Those are the first questions to ask while addressing the gunshot wound. The creator of this comic seems to not understand this and ruined the point of their comic by conflating different issues in one comic.
Yes, you fucking acorn, but the problem is that making the injury something where “doing the job” will likely include an x-ray makes the author look like a moron instead of the doctor. The joke is understandable, it’s just badly executed.
I suspect that the author of this comic gets asked these questions by doctors without understanding why they ask, and it can be confusing.
Why is it important whether she’s pregnant? Because treatment options vary and also if the doctor accidentally causes an abortion, there can be legal, sometimes even criminal, consequences.
Why not just ask if she’s pregnant and call it a day? Well, they can ask, but patients might not know or they might lie. Roundabout questions are more definitive.
Why not just run a pregnancy test? They do, but it’s better to know sooner.
I’m in Canada. I’ve been to the hospital more than most people. I’ve never been asked about my period when it wasn’t something directly related, and I get put on a lot of meds. Sometimes they ask if I could be pregnant, but that’s it.
Asking about the last period when immediate concerns have nothing to do with reproduction is about how women’s health and concerns get shafted in
somemost countries.In the case of the comic, she’s in the ER, and it’s possible that she might need anesthesia for surgery, so I think that’s a case where pregnancy is directly related.
And yet the last period date has nothing to do with whether someone is pregnant or not. A large percentage of women have irregular periods, or don’t get a period due to birth control or other factors. A number of doctors have spoken out about the relevance of questions they’re required to ask about women’s periods in their chart software.
In the case of the comic, she has an open wound on her arm the doctor isn’t immediately a-dressing (pun intended.)
And yet the last period date has nothing to do with whether someone is pregnant or not.
I am unsure how to communicate with a person who would say that unironically. We may not be speaking the same language.
I don’t want to assume your sex, but I have a strong suspicion.
I’m highly irregular because of a medical condition, the same condition that sets my ability to naturally get pregnant around 0.01% It’s fine, I have a terrible phobia of pregnancy anyway. My condition is not uncommon, nor is it the only one that causes irregular or skipped periods. Most women experience late or skipped periods at some point during their supposedly regular menstruating years anyway.
You know what gets you pregnant? Having a working female reproductive system and making sweet, penetrative love to someone who has a working male reproductive system.
Here are some neat reading materials on menstruating: https://ourbodiesourselves.org/subject-area/menstrual-cycle/p2
Here are some neat reading materials on menstruating: https://ourbodiesourselves.org/subject-area/menstrual-cycle/p2
Okay, I’ll play along. But you failed to link an article, just a list of articles, so I’ll have to pick one.
Hmm… This one looks good, “The Menstrual Cycle”:
Menstruation is the first part of the cycle. It begins when your ovum (egg) from the previous cycle does not get fertilized, meaning you did not get pregnant.
How odd. You said that “the last period date has nothing to do with whether someone is pregnant or not,” and then to prove it, you gave me a link that says the exact opposite.
This reinforces my theory that we are not speaking the same language.
The other person is probably upset because you wrote that last period date has nothing to do with pregnancy.
I reality, it does have something to do with it, but is not the only reason that the menstrual cycle is delayed.
When every single fucking ER visit for someone who knows they are not pregnant due to not having sex or not being physically able to get pregnant starts with a pregnancy test ‘just in case’ instead of addressing the issue you came in for it is clear that they aren’t going to listen to you about the real issue.
Rape in their sleep? There’s always situations where something can happen unknown.
Fuck a doctor for covering their bases and asking benign routine questions eh?
I think a good doctor would provide this explanation to the patient. Be like “Okay, let’s get you fixed up! The medications and techniques we use change if you’re pregnant, so can you tell me when your last period is?” Only takes a second. Doctors should be aware that women often feel ignored and mistreated in a medical context (given the body of literature and studies demonstrating such), so like, they should work to correct that issue. It shouldn’t be difficult to do. It just requires a wee little bit of empathy.
Assuming you’re a man, I think we should make you take a pregnancy test every time you go to the doctor. After all, for all the doc knows, you could be a trans guy. So if it’s all about just covering all your basis, pay up for your pregnancy test sir!
After all, for all the doc knows, you could be a trans guy.
Not after the first physical, lol.
I assume they would know your biological sex from your records, and that’s how they know to ask this of cis woman. There are lots of androgynous looking people out there.
Well doctor are supposed to check on your health. So yeah ! That is an important metric.
Not on lemmy apparently.
It says here youre a smoker, have you considered that might be the problem?
Next.
If your record says you have anxiety? Forget it
Fibromyalgia? Believe it , not, straight to jail.
A diagnosis by a doctor who can’t be arsed to investigate the real diagnosis that somehow signifies to other doctors that, they too, shouldn’t be asked to do their fuckin job. It’s insane.
I went into the doctor’s yesterday and that was the image of health care she sketched out: due to future budget cuts and the inverted demographics pyramid, people with less healthy lifestyles at some point in the future will no longer be helped. Pretty unsettling to hear such things. I guess we can do away with seatbelts and motorcycle helmets too then.
Why would you lie to your doctor???
Truthfully, to ensure I receive better treatment.
I wonder if that’s a bad analogy or just not a very good one 🤔
