A day in the life of a Catholic Medical Student
I have written a letter of complaint to my Clinical school about the GP I visit every 2 weeks (GPs are like Family Physicians).
Two weeks ago one of the doctors asked me & my student peers what we would do if a 14 yr old girl came to see us as GPs, asking to be prescribed the oral contraceptive pill. I responded that I would not prescribe her the pill because I feel genuinely and strongly that it would not be in her best interests, and that I would not do so
regardless of the age of a patient. This lead to an in-depth discussion about my beliefs on the meaning and purpose of human sexual relations and my belief that the pill violates the inherent dignity and rights of the human embryo.
Basically, it was them vs. me, but no big deal. They are entitled to believe what they want.
anyway, last Friday was our last visit to them and so we each had an individual appraisal session where they gave us feedback, and filled out the Clinical school's Feedback form about us, and how they think we've done.
One section of the form was asking about our "Knowledge" and the choices are either 'Outstanding', 'Pass' or 'Fail'.
The doctor said to me....
"We all agreed that you have 'Outstanding' knowledge in all areas but
because of this issue, [the contraception issue,] we can't give you that
grade and have to give you a 'Pass' instead."
Hmm...how very undiscriminatory of him!
I really don't care about the grade itself, but rather their unjustified reasoning for giving me a lower grade than they admit they would've given me!
So because of my religious convictions, I am deemed to deserve a lower 'Knowledge' score than someone of equal intelligence and capability, but who would instead provide artificial contraception.
It just shows their underlying attitude that if you don't agree with them then you must be mentally deficient and ignorant in some way, because 'intelligent' people just don't think like the Catholic Church.
If I was more 'intelligent' then OF COURSE I'd prescribe the pill! (*heavy sarcasm*)
It's a shame I have to complain, because I don't like complaining and the doctors were very very nice to us students, they used to take us out to lunch every time we went! But I think this events crosses the line and is entirely unjustified and discriminatory.
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6 comments:
I think the idea of abstinence would be an easier thing to practice if we actually encouraged to do so.
Are the schools in england as reluctant to teach abstinence as they are in america?
Antonia, I'm sorry to hear what happened in your appraisal. It seems persecution on the basis of religious beliefs is on the rise! Over here in Singapore, most Catholic (or non-Catholic, pro-life) doctors choose not to take up ob/gyn specialty if they have a 'conscientious objection'; that is to say, they will not even enter the debate. I personally feel this means young girls will most likely not receive advice that is pro-life.
I'm very concerned about standing up to our rights to be pro-life and to fair treatment. There's a Bioethics Forum ongoing in Singapore and questions like these sometimes come up. Keep writing about pro-life situation there!
I'm very proud of you for standing up for what you believe is right. I think it's discriminatory and am inspired to see you stand up for it. I will pray for you =)
Actually, I read that just recently a pharmacist was fired for refusing to sell a morning after pill, check it out http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=18610
Thank you for defending the faith, I to have on occasion seen grades suffer for it, been considered ignorant, etc.
I bet your views would have been better recieved in Catholic Ireland.
With your permission, I would like to post your story on the Project website, with a link to your blog (if you like).
Please visit the Project site for information and resources.
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