Ladies, a couple of questions about your OB-GYN visits

[momof1princess]

my ob/gyn is a male, and he's been my doctor for about 16-17 years. his office has you sign in, update your info, then, in 15-20 minutes, you're called back to do a weight check, urinalysis and finger stick (to check iron level). then, either the tech will tell you to go back out front and wait to be called, or, you're told which room to go to. nurse comes in, does BP and pulse, then tells you to undress and puts out paper sheet to cover up with. in a few minutes, dr. comes in and does exam with nurse present, goes out, then comes back in about 5 minutes (after you're dressed) to chat for a couple of minutes about any issues or concerns. the office also has a nurse practitioner, and if my doctor happens to be delivering a baby or assisting another dr. with a c-section, she will do the exam without a nurse present and follow the rest of the standard routine. i LOVE my doctor and his staff, and i drive over an hour to get to his office each year for my checkup.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

I've seen a number of gyns over the years. No finger prick or urine ever. Have never had a nurse in the room with a female doctor. Had one male doctor without a nurse in the room and my current male doctor does have a female nurse in the room.

 

[mdsoccermom]

Urinalysis, yes, finger prick, no. He will have blood drawn, however, if he feels you need certain tests. The other day I had blood drawn to test my Vitamin D levels (which have turned out to be abnormally low).

He always has a female nurse in the room, but it wouldn't bother me if he didn't. I've been seeing him for 18 years, and he's one of the best in the area. I am totally comfortable with him.

 

[Pigeon]

Finger prick, no. Urinalysis, yes. You check on a form whether or not you want a nurse in the room, I don't. I keep looking on the form to see if I can skip being in the room, but no such luck. I have a female doc, if I had a male, I might want the nurse.

 

[JessicaR]

I was talking with some coworkers about their experience at their OB-GYN's office. They see the same one, so they both have all the same tests done. But mine seems to work differently. So I'm curious what your experience is.

At your routine annual exam, do you have a finger prick and/or a urinalysis done. I've never had either as part of my routine annual, but they have them both every time.

Is there a nurse present in the room during your exam if your doctor is a woman? They seemed to think it was required by law, but I thought it's only required if your OB-GYN is male. My doctor is a woman, and she's always done the exam by herself. It doesn't bother me, but I'm just curious if that's the norm or not.

So, what are your experiences?

Yes to the first two questions. There is only a nurse if you request one, I don't. My doc is male. When I sign in at the office there is a box that you can check if you would like a nurse in the room.

 

[JessicaR]

Surprised at the number of people that dont get a iron finger prick test.

 

[Meriweather]

No finger prick, no urinalysis. (GP does the UA)

Nurse in room when I had a Male GYN, not with my female GYN.

 

[Magix]

Mine doesn't do either of the tests. I have a female doctor and there's always a nurse in the room during the actual exam. They started doing that a few years ago. I think it's policy with my HMO.

 

[DSNY4ever]

Okay I just read this whole thread because you ladies really had me wondering what the heck a finger prick was, it sounded creepy! But I am picking up that it is some sort of blood test?

No, none of my doctors have never done a finger prick or a urinalysis (I have been to several different obgyns over the last 10 years).

 

[Christine]

Okay I just read this whole thread because you ladies really had me wondering what the heck a finger prick was, it sounded creepy! But I am picking up that it is some sort of blood test?

No, none of my doctors have never done a finger prick or a urinalysis (I have been to several different obgyns over the last 10 years).

They do this to check your hemoglobin levels. They are looking for iron deficiency anemia.

 

[babyrich]

no finger prick, no urine analysis.

My doc is a male and he has always had a nurse in the room. He comes in first and asks how everything is going, so we can discuss anything private at that time. Than he calls the nurse in, does his thing. Afterwards, I get dressed and go into his office to discuss the exam or ask questions, etc.

 

[RachaelA]

Surprised at the number of people that dont get a iron finger prick test.

I've never had that done and I've had 2 different gynos plus my current OB doesn't do that either (I just bring a first morning urine sample) to all my OB appointments.

 

[SookieStackhouse]

I have been to a couple over the years. No finger pricking thankfully, like maybe once a urine sample like a long time ago. The female doc didn't have a nurse in the room, the male doc does.

 

[Anne34]

Urine yes, blood prick, no.

As for someone in the room. My doctor is a man, but no one else is in the room., so the laws must vary? There ae signs all over saying you can ask for a nurse to be there, but I am quite comfortabe with him and have never asked.

My OB-GYN is the same. Urine-yes, blood-no, male doctor-no nurse

 

[Ciao Mickey]

I was talking with some coworkers about their experience at their OB-GYN's office. They see the same one, so they both have all the same tests done. But mine seems to work differently. So I'm curious what your experience is.

At your routine annual exam, do you have a finger prick and/or a urinalysis done. I've never had either as part of my routine annual, but they have them both every time.

Is there a nurse present in the room during your exam if your doctor is a woman? They seemed to think it was required by law, but I thought it's only required if your OB-GYN is male. My doctor is a woman, and she's always done the exam by herself. It doesn't bother me, but I'm just curious if that's the norm or not.

So, what are your experiences?

My doctor is a woman and she has the nurse in the room when she does the exam.

I pee in a cup and they put a stick in it. I think they test for sugar maybe?

No blood is drawn by finger or vein. That is done by my internist when I go for my annual.

She told me she wants me to go for a mammogram, bone density scan, colonoscopy and endoscopy.

It's a b**** getting old.

 

[Ephany]

Urine yes, finger stick no. My GYN is female but has a nurse in the room to assist; once or twice there was a med student on rotations but she asked me if that was ok before they did the exam and she supervised. I'm cool (mostly) with being a guinea pig on occasion.

 

[gate_pourri]

My doctor is a woman, and there is never a nurse in the room during the exam.

Urine test - no, unless I ask for one
Finger prick - no... Never even heard of it? What can they test for in a finger prick?

On the other hand, she does strongly recommend an entire STD blood workup (4 vials of blood) every year, for unmarried woman.

 

[Hillbeans]

Urine test, yes
Finger Prick, no
Nurse in room only when it's time for the internal exam. Male doctor.

 

[janets]

Just had my annual yesterday. My gyn just changed practices so I can tell you about both.

Urine - yes at both offices.
Finger prick - no at both offices.
Nurse in office - no at both offices. Although I did notice a note on the wall of the exam room yesterday stating that it was your right to have a chaperone in the room if you wanted.

My dr is a woman and I've been seeing her for 17 years. She delivered both of my boys. The nurse does weight and BP and then leaves me to wait for the dr. She does the exam and then we talk in her office about anything we need to discuss. This time we talked about my having some memory loss which we both think is probably because of approaching menopause. We talked about alot of personal stuff (her family and mine) like we always do, as well as her shift to a new practice.

I think that each office has their own procedure.

 

[FredinFL]

This thread is no good until FireDancer and IdesofMarch check in.