Yes, Men Need Pap Smears Too

By Pamela Wible, MD | March 7, 2013

Dr Wible is a family physician born into a family of physicians. She has developed a model for change in healthcare delivery that first asks a community what it wants and needs from the healthcare experience. Her model for the “ideal clinic” is taught in graduate medical curricula.

Go ahead and laugh, but it’s true. Men need Pap smears too.

Not all men. Just men who have sex with men.

The female Pap smear is a screening test for cervical cancer, which is a sexually-induced cancer caused by the Human Papillomavirus. The Human Papillomavirus is also easily transmitted to the anus in men who have sex with men. Anal Pap smears screen for abnormal anal cells that may lead to anal cancer.

But don’t worry guys. You won’t need a large vaginal speculum for your exam. Just a small, friendly swab about the size of a Q-tip.

Now, watch a LIVE Pap smear demo here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fms5UWsiZ9s

Pamela Wible, MD, pioneered the first community-designed ideal medical clinic
in America. She is author of Pet Goats & Pap Smears and writes for The Oregonian.

Contact Dr. Wible.

TOPIC INDEX

Developmental/Genetic

Nutritional/Metabolic

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Yes, Men Need Pap Smears Too

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