I'm also going to point out, nobody has ever acted like I needed a lecture before learning to insert a catheter on a man, but you should see what my guy colleagues go through as far as pelvic exams on ob/gyn rotations and other intimate situations. Maybe this is worse in med school than nursing school, but I've also heard of male nursing students being told to stay outside during pelvic exams. I have NEVER seen/heard anything like that with girl students and I've definitely never been treated like that myself.

Nobody, and certainly not myself, is insinuating that we're all here to humiliate patients. The exact opposite really. I'm sure most of you are like me, and have spent your entire life wanting to be a nurse/doctor. I've wanted to be a pediatrician my entire life, not out of any interest of humiliating boys, but because I love kids and medicine. So I get it, I get the defensiveness, but it's okay to talk about.

And as someone (if I end up where I want, in family practice), it's very likely that I'll perform many athletic physicals on boys, and this article has certainly gave me some perspective. I've faced mostly backlash for posting it, but I'm glad I read it.