How to keep the annual visit annual
Pap test or no Pap test, every woman needs a yearly exam, for reasons vital to her health—and to ObGyn practice.
ASPIRIN
Aspirin is likely to benefit women who are at increased risk for heart disease. We should counsel these patients on both the potential benefits and harms of aspirin therapy.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Ask about domestic violence. We never know the downstream effects of what we do and how we do it.
A few weeks ago, as a patient was leaving my office after we had been discussing other things, she said to me, "I want you to know that last year, when you asked me if everything was okay at home and whether there was any abuse going on, I said no. But when I left your office I went straight to the police station and reported my husband and got an injunction, and we're divorced now.
"You saved my life."
Disclosure
Dr. DeFrancesco receives grant/research support from Cytyc Corp. and Digene Corp. and is a consultant and member of the speakers bureau for Digene Corp.
