Thursday, August 28, 2008

A Wholistic Approach -- Treating Women as more than reproductive conduits

I was surprised to see that many readers of the NY Times well blog felt that their doctors too often treated as "only as a breeding machine who should be regarded as 'pre-pregnant' at all times." Perhaps I've been lucky, but even before I was a bioethicist, I felt my doctors treated me more holistically -- but then again, I've been a lawyer a lot longer than I've been a bioethicist, and maybe that played a role.

I also spotted a phrase that I had not encountered before -- "bikini medicine' -- a phrase describing the treatment for women between the ages of 14 and 54, when medical care is reduced to looking at our breasts and reproductive organs and forgetting the rest of us (except, of course, in making sure one looks passable in a bikini). Sounds somewhat denigrating to both to doctors and women.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Treating women must be early stage for example as you mention in this blog "treat you as a pre-pregnant".