Doctor preference?

[ahisma]

Do you care about the gender of your doctor? Primary care specifically.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Not really, I care more about the person. I think if I had to pick, it'd be an edge to men. I find women to be a little more judgmental and a bit less understanding...but that is likely just who I have dealt with vs a generalization that holds true.

Beth

[crl]

I prefer women. Totally sexist of me, but in my experience female care providers listen to me better.

Catherine

[ett]

No preference.

[erosenst]

I prefer women. Totally sexist of me, but in my experience female care providers listen to me better.

I agree. Having said that, I've had a few fabulous male doctors - so while it's a 'preference' for women, it' a 51/49 kind of thing.

[Indianamom2]

I prefer women. Totally sexist of me, but in my experience female care providers listen to me better.

Catherine

:yeahthat: I don't really have a preference, but my experience has been that women tend to listen and catch nuances and get more information out of me a lot better than male doctors. I think they ask better questions!

[wellyes]

No preference.

I have never had a male ob/gyn. Not by design, I didn't plan it that way. There must be far more women than men in that field. My current office has at least 6 doctors and 4 midwives, and they're all women. I don't think I'd mind but it's been so long it might feel odd at this point.

[ShanaMama]

I prefer male PCP but would not be comfortable with a male OB. I've had my male childhood ped give me a breast exam & not been the slightest bit uncomfortable though.

[ShanaMama]

I prefer women. Totally sexist of me, but in my experience female care providers listen to me better.

Catherine

I am totally sexist as well. Something tells me women doctors as not as skilled. Totally innacurate, I know, but I can't shake this feeling every time I see a woman dr other than my midwife.

[JoyNChrist]

No preference for primary care, but I've always felt strange with a female OB/CNM. No idea what that says about me, but I much prefer male doctors for women's issues (I know, makes no sense).

[Liziz]

I definitely have a preference for females, both for PCP and OB. I think most of it is because I've switched doctors a lot (one of the negative things about moving as much as I have!), and had both male and female physicians, and the ones I liked best were always female. That being said, I had to see a gastroenterologist for awhile a few years ago, and he was a male, and absolutely fantastic.

[JBaxter]

I have never had a female dr I liked ESP ob/gyn. I stick with males Maybe it's just my luck.

[lalasmama]

This is a tough call for me.... More difficult, I am sure, because I'm in the medical profession, so I have a PCP providing care, and 20 other PCPs (my team mates at my clinic) that I work with each day, who give me their opinion.

I wish it was a clear gender line that could be drawn, but there isn't. I remember having PCPs who expected me to listen, obey, and not ask questions. And I've had PCPs who would say "I know you've asked your clinic docs, so just tell me what you want to do"--VERY hands-off. In each instance, I have had a male expect me to unfailingly obey or let me make all the calls, and I have had at least 1 female do the same in each case.

At the moment, I have a female doctor. My (preferred) male PCP is about 50 minutes away, so I have started seeing a local (5 minutes away) female MD. She knows where I work, knows that I'm going to go to my team mates at work for help with the basics, and that if I'm coming into see her, I'm at the point where I likely feel it's time for "the big guns". It was pure luck that I managed to end up with this PCP; I just wanted DD and I to have the same PCP, and thought it was important for DD to have a female doctor through the elementary/middle/high school years when there is so much change happening for her.

And after all that is said, my OB/GYN is male. I've had plenty of rough gyn exams at the hands of females... and not a single "bad" or uncomfortable exam by a male GYN. IME, both as a patient and as a chaperoning team member, men are so much more slow and cautious about internal exams. The most gentle OB/GYN I've had was male. He was sensitive and gentle when he examined me, and, equally so later, when he told me I had lost the pregnancy. I've had many female GYNs pop their head in, tell me my test results, never offer a tissue, and walk back out. I mean, you just told me that I lost my baby and you can't offer me a tissue or stay in the room for more than 90 seconds??

[katydid1971]

I prefer women. Totally sexist of me, but in my experience female care providers listen to me better.

Catherine
:yeahthat: I had a terrible experience with a male doctor when I first graduated from college. He didn't listen to me and discounted what I had to say as if I was some hypochondriac. He was a total a$$ to me and since that time I have always chosen a female doctor for myself whenever possible. I don't want to discredit all male doctors by any means, DD's Pediatric Urologist hung the moon as far as I'm concerned.

[roseyloxs]

I prefer female. I don't have any opinion on whether males or females listen or treat me better I just feel more comfortable with a woman.

[Melanie]

For Primary Care I'd do either, but only if I'm going to have a separate Gyno. Generally I don't and just have one doctor so I select a woman when searching through our covered providers' list and recommendations.

[swissair81]

I prefer male PCP but would not be comfortable with a male OB. I've had my male childhood ped give me a breast exam & not been the slightest bit uncomfortable though.

I'm just the opposite. I get very weirded out by breast exams done by a man, but I am not bothered by a man doing a pelvic exam. Perhaps it's because the breast exam is more in my face. I really don't know.

In any case, I've met fabulous physicians and lousy ones of both sexes (both at work and as a patient). So I don't really have a preference. At the moment, my PCP and OB are male, but my cardiologist is female (that one is nonnegotiable- actually they all are at the moment. I like my doctors. I've worked very hard to find ones I'd be happy with.)

ETA: This is going to sound weird, but I prefer midwives to female OBs.

[Melaine]

i don't care as long as I like their attitude. i have had both.

[chiisai]

I guess for primary care I prefer a woman for me and DD, and a man for DS. I prefer for them to have had their own experiences in a body having the same parts.

I realize that my line of thought would lend itself more toward OB/GYN, and it does, too, but I still feel that way about primary care, as well. I've had poor primary care docs, and I've switched when that happens, to another woman.

[hellokitty]

I generally don't have a preference, EXCEPT that I have had extremely bad luck with female ob/gyns. I have only ever had one that was nice (and gentle). The rest were awful, rude, very rough (doing exams), belittling. I've had better luck with male ob/gyns, which is weird, since I always assumed I would like a woman ob/gyn better, but that proved to be wrong for me.

[hillview]

I don't really care. I think I prefer a female OB. I have a fab male PCP.
/hillary