“Uncomfortable” ; “Humiliating”; “Traumatic”; “Scarring”--words women too often use to describe pelvic exams. Most of the 90 million U.S. women who get pelvic exams think they are supposed to hurt. Women show disbelief when told that if done correctly on a healthy woman, pelvic exams should be pain-free.They are currently raising needed finishing funds to complete the project. They *hope* to have their fine cut by year's end and to do the finishing in January; this is all provided that they have the necessary funds.
The documentary, At Your Cervix, enters U.S. medical and nursing schools and breaks the silence around the unethical ways in which medical and nursing students learn to perform pelvic
exams. These practices—which include nursing students being required to perform exams on each other in front of faculty and medical students “practicing” on unconscious, unconsenting patients—lead directly to the reality that most women find pelvic exams to be humiliating and
painful.
The existence of these egregious practices are challenged in the film by highlighting an ethical and more effective way of teaching the pelvic exam that has existed for nearly 30 years: the work of the Gynecological Teaching Associates (GTA) of New York City, in which the “patient” herself is the teacher.
After that, point, they'll be doing the film festival and college/university circuit before it will be available for individual sale.
In order to raise the necessary funds for this amazing film, they are trying to get votes on Idea Blob, as they are finalists in a contest to win $10,000. Please vote if you can and spread the word. They need about 1,500 votes to win by week's end!
1 comment:
Awesome little video. I have never seen this done in my career, that is I have never seen students practicing on someone without consent or without being concious. As a labor and delivery nurse I learned, with a patient's consent, on patients with an epidural how to check for dilatation. As a student midwife we had a volunteer who helped talk us through a speculum exam and she allowed us to examine her. As a preceptor I would never allow a student to do something like a vaginal exam on a woman without her being awake, giving verbal consent, and without me there to be sure things were going well if they had not done it before. I think it goes back to treating women like objects versus treating women like they have the right to refuse.
Post a Comment