By India Rogers-Shepp & Deepti Divya Gopisetty MD Images of patients biting their lips, fists clenched, eyes squeezed shut while they fight gasps of pain, follow us into the exam room. As trainees in gynecology, we are taught to use “verbi-caine” – words as a form of anesthesia – to ease the anxiety that too often […]
Category: Sexual Health
Should we abolish ‘Sexual and Reproductive Health’?
By Ezio De Nucci Should we abolish ‘Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH)? This provocative question might sound odd, especially after the US Supreme Court scrapped the federal right to abortion. Surely, we need more focus on ‘sexual and reproductive health’, not less! But actually, the issue is not as simple, especially after distinguishing between […]
Contraception prescribing during the COVID-19 pandemic – opportunities and challenges
By Malcolm Moffat, Tanha Begum, Emer Cullen & Judith Rankin When the COVID-19 pandemic began almost four years ago, few of us could have predicted the profound and enduring impact that the events of 2020 and 2021 would have on all our lives. Not least among those impacts were the effects that lockdown restrictions […]
How can we Offer Better Contraceptive Care for Trans, Nonbinary and Gender-Diverse People?
By Tyne Baynton Cairns (They/Them) & Julia Bailey (She/They) Contraceptive care guidelines are usually designed for cisgender, heterosexual women. In the heavily gendered context of contraceptive care, gender dysphoria is common among trans, non-binary and gender-diverse people. In healthcare settings, gender dysphoria can be brought on by the environment, the behaviours of providers, and […]
The importance of using inclusive language in medical practice
By Ness Cooper Maintaining a safe, inclusive environment is essential when seeing patients in any medical setting. Some patients may avoid contact with healthcare services if they perceive that interactions will be uncomfortable, hostile, or likely to trigger psychosexual factors. This is particularly true of sexual and reproductive health, given the intimate nature of […]
Keeping race on the agenda shouldn’t continue to fall on the shoulders of Black and minoritised people
By Rianna Raymond-Williams and Uzochi Nwaosu “The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be an anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it’s the only way forward.” — Ijeoma Oluo Just over a year ago, I […]
Examining the Sexual Health of Medical Residents in Paris
By Dr. Pierre-Emmanuel Cailleaux To date, there is no data available concerning the sexual health of medical residents in France. Therefore, in our paper ‘Paris’ medical residents’ sexual health before the SARS-CoV-2 burden’, we decided to identify the determinants of sexual health in this population. We used a 107-items questionnaire, derived from the last national […]