Not that long ago, men rarely had to concern themselves with their doctor’s gender — there were so few female physicians who weren’t pediatricians or psychiatrists that the chances of encountering one were practically nil. Today, more than half of medical school students are women. Is that going to present a problem for some men?

WELL, PROBABLY not if they have to see a female internist about a bronchial infection, a female dermatologist about a skin condition or a female otolaryngologist about a chronic sore throat. Many men even prefer female psychologists and psychiatrists to males when unloading their fears and fantasies. But what about treatment of conditions that affect more private areas of the body? Are men comfortable seeing a female urologist?

“By and large, I find that patients really don’t care,” says Lindsey Kerr, past president of the Society of Women in Urology. “If there’s a bias that still exists, it’s among referring physicians. Primary care providers still often refer along gender lines; they send male patients to my partners and females to me.”

For the most part, it’s women who have been forced to see male urologists. Women make up a third of all urology patients, yet only 2 percent of urologists are female. Men, even if they’ve wanted to see a female specialist, have been hard pressed to find one.

That’s changing, however slowly. According to Kerr, five years ago there were 80 board-certified female urologists in the country. Today, that figure is above 200 and growing.

ADDRESSING SENSITIVE TOPICS

Of course, much of that growth is being driven by the fact that women want to go to same-gender specialists for problems that are particularly female. But part of it is also due to the fact that some men are also more comfortable discussing problems that originate “down there” with women than they are with men.

“Especially men with impotence problems,” says Kerr, director of the Vermont Continence Center in Burlington, “they often find it easier to talk with a woman about it. They don’t like to admit the problem to another man. There’s a residual macho hangup.”

Not that some men aren’t initially troubled by a referral to a female urologist. Because of her name, many patients assume Kerr is a man. “They show up and say, ‘I didn’t know you were a woman.’ And I say, ‘Well, I am, but I listen really well and I’ve got small hands and you’re going to appreciate both of those things.’”

Female sensitivity, says Kerr, goes beyond just having a light and relatively unobtrusive touch during a digital rectal exam. “Historically and statistically, women as physicians are better listeners and take more time with patients than do their male counterparts,” says Kerr. “It’s been proven in the literature. That doesn’t mean any particular doctor will necessarily do a good job of listening. Some women can be horrible listeners.”

Because her specialty is urinary incontinence, and because 85 percent of all people with the condition are female, Kerr’s practice skews heavily toward women. Most of her patients with chronic conditions, however, are male. “If you look at the total number of cancers we treat, the majority are in male patients,” she says, “and they require more follow-up treatments. Benign prostatic conditions also account for many repeat visits.”

The frequency of many male patients’ visits, she says, quickly renders gender issues irrelevant. “By the time someone’s been in your office that length of time, you’ve gotten to know them and an intimate exam is no big deal. I do have patients who get erections during exams but they probably would with my male partners, too. The bottom line is to remain very professional.

“As for the patient, the question of whether he chooses a male or female doctor is simply a matter of who he’s most comfortable with.”

And for those of us who find nothing at all comfortable about a urological exam, the gender of the doctor is that last thing we’re concerned with.