Are All Gynecologists Like This?

A few months ago I went to a gynecology clinic in Japan for a feminine check. To my surprise, they worked quite differently from those in the US. While the waiting room was very calming, pretty, and relaxing, the actual exam was another thing. The doctor instructed me to enter the office from one door, while she entered through another. After entering I discovered the room was divided by a curtain; all I could see were the nurses feet from the other side. After sitting, the chair itself manuevered and turned so that my bottom half was on the other side of the curtain and that I could not see them.

Is this a common practice in Japan? I was quite suprised because well, frankly if someone's examining me, I want to SEE what they're doing (especially with so many perverts out there).

I laughed a bit finding this comedic, and merely asked the nurse to open the curtain. She did with no problem. But during the procedure the doctor seemed to be much colder and less affectionate than those I have seen in America (not only that, but did things very quickly and painfully, rather than slowly). In the US usually the doctors and nurses will ask you how you are doing throughout the procedure. However, here they did not.

Is this common practice?

I ask because I plan on living some of my adult life in Japan, and if I were to get pregnant there I would not want to go to a clinic such as this one.

It is common enough, but as you found out, the system will adapt to your preferences to some degree. The best place to get answers to your questions and future concerns on this subject would be on an expat woman's forum like Being a Broad or on Married in Japan (which does not require you to be married to join).

I think the curtains are there in all clinics - don't ask me why, but that seems to be the norm (I say "that seems to be..." because I have been to feminine check-ups only a few times in my life so far). I have not been to a gynecologist in the US, so I cannot compare, but I have never had any painful experiences at all, and one doctor actually kept on talking to me in a friendly tone while she examined me, and even reached out between the curtains to turn a display screen toward me to show me how it was... so the whole procedure didn't feel cold or distant or anything like that.

You could tell the doctor, back in the US you are used to seeing the doctor, so please keep the curtain open, for one thing. For the attitude, well, I guess you will have to look around for a doctor that you feel "comfortable" with.

Unfortunately to us, it is still a common practice at most gynecologists in Japan. But things are changing. Many clinics start not using an "automatic chair" and letting patients lie on the bed for examination.

Ask around and you can find a clinic which puts more priority on consulation. Good luck!

JLady, really? The automatic chairs are OK, aren't they?

What I heard is that it used to be far worse - you used to have to climb up on a hard bed and put your legs up in the air into cold, stainless steel leg (ankle) supports, still with the curtain.

AK, everytime I see that chair, I feel really "depressed." I feel that I am an "object" not a "human."

I don't know American way exactly but when I went to see a gynecologist in the Philippines (She got a degree in the US, too), I was asked to lay down on the bed after removing an underwear and a nurse came and put a light blanket over me. Then, the doctor came in and did an exam. There was no metal holdings.

I also hear that the way of exam using the chair has made many young women away from visits to gynecologists.

My worst experience was when I had an exam for uterine body cancer. As it was soooo painful, I fainted and could not move from THE chair for while....(I never returned to this clinic)

JLady, thanks for your comments, and I am sorry to have reminded you of the painful experiences.

What I know *firsthand* is limited to several instances with that moving (but still comfortable) chair, I've had no problem with it. What I've heard about past practices was flat bed, with two metal arms sticking out where you put your legs - someone outlined it to me so well that I came to hate the idea. It was far later that someone else told me about the automatic chair that I was relieved to hear about it... I guess how the doctor handles it matters a lot too...

I guess how the doctor handles it matters a lot too...
Yes, I totally agree!
The clinic I currently visit uses an automatic chair but I can stand it because the doctor is very nice and friendly :)

Yu Ladies Clinic (in Ikebukuro)
http://www.yu-ladies.com/

Yes, the one I go to is quite friendly too, it's a lady doctor. I *think* I've seen Yu Clinic's name somewhere on one of the links provided by the website of the one I go to :) I guess we don't live too far away from each other :)

Sorry, I forgot to state that what was common in Japan was the curtain experience NOT the pain.

JLady, are you talking about a Pap smear? It shoud not be painful. You should have one every year, so please go to the clinc and get yourself checked regularly. AK, please, please make an appointment soon, because cervical cancer is a real concern. Okay?

Thanks for the helpful info! The whole pregnancy thing is a bit of a stretch, but I like doing research in advance before things happen.

I am also glad to have started an open forum on this subject. :)

Tilt,

Thanks for your suggestion :) Actually I did go to the cervical cancer check-up, that's where it was friendly, and not painful at all. ... Since I don't have any children, and generally do not like hospitals, it was not until I was in my late 30s that I ever stepped into a gynecologist (whoops lol), but since I found the one I currently go to for check-ups, I make it a habit to go for checks :)

JLady, are you talking about a Pap smear?
Tilt, the one I took was not a Pap smear. I don't know how you call it in English but that was the one for uterine "body" cancer and the doctor inserted a tool (which I could not see because of the curtain!)deep down into my body to get a cell from the uterine body. I had to take this exam because I had an irregular bleeding.

I've never taken this exam before and I don't know if this is always painful or it was simply because the doctor (young female one) was less experienced.

A Pap smear for cervical cancer is not painful at all and I take it every year :)

the one I took was not a Pap smear. I don't know how you call it in English but that was the one for uterine "body" cancer and the doctor inserted a tool (which I could not see because of the curtain!)deep down into my body to get a cell from the uterine body. I had to take this exam because I had an irregular bleeding.
You have provided a correct and clear description of what is technically called an endometrial biopsy. This is sometimes uncomfortable, but not always.