Female gyn's / male gyn's?

A thought came to mind when I was reading the different posts this morning.  Have any, or all, of you had better, worse,same,etc. with female gyne's as apposed to maile gyne's.
I am dealing with a female gyne for the first time in my life.  Except for the fertility expert I saw years ago, some to the male ones have not been very forthcoming.  It also did not help that I had my first D&C at 14 years old.  I was very naive and no one would tell me what was going on.  I started reading alot after this to find out what I could about my problems.  I had diagnosed myself with Stein Leventhals Syndrome long before a doctor every mentioned the term.  What do you ladies have to say about this questin?

[red1234]

Personally I prefer a man.  No, they cannot completely understand how you feel, but I have always gotten the impression from any of the female docs that I have gone to that my problems were insignificant.  The one female doc that seemed to care and I actually liked really screwed up when I had surgery done the other year. I had a cyst inside my ovary - all reports stated that it was inside - she did laparoscopy and said that everything was fine, only one small cyst on outside of ovary.  Needless to say, my problems continued and I went to another doc only to find out that yes it was still there and had gotten so bad that I had to have the ovary removed.  Sorry to rant, but that's my thought on the question.  My daughter's all swear they'll go to a woman, but we'll see what happens when they're older!  :)

[wkerr]

I agree with red, in my experience the female gyns don't seem to care as much and aren't as gentle.

Before my mess right now, my last gyn appt was 3 years ago... I know, with my history that is REALLY stupid. Anyway, we were going over my history and told her I had been pregnant 7 times with 2 live births, both births premie and I almost died with the last. She gave me this "ya right" look and treated me like total ****... like I was lieing about it! All happened when I was in the military, even offered to get her my medical records.. but no.... She was extremely rough that time and I walked out crying and didn't go back.

I am at the same clinic, but with a male doc now. BIG HUGE world of difference. He fussed at me when he learned I hadn't been seen in so long, made me promise to come back in to have this cyst checked. He was very gentle, understanding and just an all around nice guy.

[Bananie22]

I've always had male GYNs till this year...it's hard to really say who I preferred.  I did find my female GYN a little "hysterectomy happy".  She seriously pushed a TAH on me for a complex cyst and fibroids (that cause me no pain or heavy bleeding?).  My cyst went away...so, while she may just be a very cautious doctor, I found her too pushy and eager to remove all my "stuff".  I'm fine with going to her for paps and U/S...but she will never be my final answer if I ever am in need of surgery.

[livertrans]

Thanks for the feed back.  It was not what I would have thought. I have only seen this female gyne 2 times but she will be doing my surgery.  She works at Princess Margaret Hospital and my surgery will be at Toronto General Hospital which are both teaching hospitals.  There are three hospitals that are part of the University Health Network(University of Toronto is part of the group).  She has been very  informative and up front with me but I am still out on the compasion part.  Maybe post op will tell.  Thanks

[PPhelps]

I had severe dysplasia back in 97. My woman doc wanted to do a conization (sp). I went for a second opinion. And the male doc said all I needed was a leap.

Also the woman doc had my results from biopsy sitting on her desk for over a week, and when she finally decided to call me it was on her cell phone. I hate talking to someone especially when its important on a cell phone. I thought it was just plain rude. So went for second opinion.

[Gatsby]

I also have to agree about the female gyns not being too gentle or caring. (what is up with that??)  I much prefer the male associate at my drs. office.  
~Tascha

[ziggysgrl0724]

Ok, since you are talking about this I have to ask, i am scheduled for my yearly pap this monday.  It is the first time I have ever had an exam by a man, and i am kinda nervous about it.  Notto mention the fact that he is EXTREMELY goodlooking, this makes it worse, i have seen him in the past about my cysts, but only in between ultrasounds so he has never actually touched me...is this gonna be an uncomfortable situation?? anyones experiences or thoughts on how to make this easier for me in terms of embarresment would be helpful!

[Gatsby]

Actually, I feel more comfortable with a male gyno.  Don't know why that is, but I do.  I think each of us have our own preference, so you must do what is right for you.  
~Tascha

[PPhelps]

I just had that experience Fri. Usually my gyn's are older, married males. This one is single, dark and gorgeous. I was extremely nervous, and I'm a married woman. I don't know why it would make a difference in how I felt, but it did. At least you know he is cute before going in I never met him before exposing myself to him. Just make light conversation with him. Take deep breaths. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful.

[Raynbow]

Maybe you could just be honest....when the gyn comes in and asks how you are doing....just say you're a little nervous because you've never been examined by a male doctor before...It could be the icebreaker that you need.
Lotsa' luck!
(((Raynbow

[MickeyVicki]

Wow.  Your experiences are so much the opposite of mine.  I will not ever again make an appointment with a male gyn.  For some years, I drove for an hour and a half to reach a clinic with female gyns to avoid seeing any more clowns.   I have seen two men,  as well as having a male friend who is a gyn, and I find them truly incompetent with understanding women as a whole.  To paraphrase a friend, "You can teach a monkey to clean a carburator, but he will never understand how a car works."  And as most everyone posting and reading on this site has learned, there is more to our well-being than whether pap smear looks right.

In my experience, the best gyns have been "older" women - not kids out of college.  One of my favorites had been a therapist prior to going back to med school, and I was truly upset when she moved on to another facility.  My current gyn is wonderful.  I cannot say enough good things about her.   Her insights are very helpful as she herself has experienced some of the procedures (including gyn surgeries) that she performs on her patients.

[greenThumbs]

I started rather late going to see a gyn so I have only had two.  The first was an old man.  Nice but just reminded me of someone who was just waiting for retirement.  :)  My gyn today is a woman.  I like her.  She is very business like but this past Tuesday when she went over my biopsy she was attentive and answered my questions.  She seems attentive.  My exams between the two seem to be the same.  I thought it would be kind of weird having a woman gyn but it hasn't been.  Now I think it would be awkward if my gyn was some fine man.  I always thought a woman gyn would be more understanding to my concerns.  Actually when I had the male gyn I did complain about moodiness and he gave me a prescription for something but I really did not like how it made me feel.  I also went on the pill with him and think it was primarily to help with the painful periods.  I think I only stayed on them for about a year because I was concerned with weight gain.  I was into bodybuilding at the time.  I am pleased with my current gyn.  I also "survey" the people waiting to be seen.  I would tend to think that I am always the only person in the waiting room every time I went I would start to question, well how many patients does she have and why doesn't she have more?  I know I am kind of ranting but I guess at some point we must trust our doctors otherwise we would never go to the doctor or never actually get treatment because we would always be wondering do they really know what they are doing.  I could go to 3 or 4 different doctor and possibly get 3 or 4 different diagnoses.  I guess we just have to do as much research as we can and then put our trust in our faith.