A doctor in Indiana recently asked a simple question on Twitter: How should he design his office to best serve his patients?
“I have the opportunity to design my office from scratch. I’m asking women. How would you design/optimize a visit to the gynecologist’s office? Problems, frustrations, solutions. No detail is too small,” wrote Dr. Ryan Stewart, a urogynecologist in Indiana, specializes in treating men past reproductive age who are dealing with urinary complications.
Within hours, the seemingly basic question of Dr. Stewart sparked a wide-ranging conversation not only about gynecological practices, but about diversity, gender, and the state of health care in the US.
“It’s very rare that we, however, get feedback on the ground. And that’s our fault,” Stewart said wealth about the comments he received from his tweet. “And I say ‘our’ as the medical community… we really push people through the process so quickly that there’s no time to reflect on the actual experience.”
Stewart is currently in the process of building it pelvic health practice call Midwest Center for Public Health in Indianapolis, which he plans to open in 2022.
In response to his post, one Twitter user pointed out his gynecologist stirrer heater that make the feet more comfortable and ease the tension of an inherently vulnerable doctor’s appointment. They posted a photo of two heaters that read “Are We There” on the left and “Done Yet” on the right.
Another mentioned how Disruptive TV it can be in a gynecologist’s waiting room when patients may already feel nervous. And someone else brought up the bigger issue of people having access to their health care providers.
“People with economic shortages don’t have a car. Do something that makes your office accessible without a car and by public transportation,” they wrote.
Stewart replied that “thankfully,” his practice would be located near a bus route.
“We have a LOT of work to do on public transit in this country,” he wrote.
Stewart said wealth that the accessibility discussion was one of the most powerful results of the Twitter thread.
“These kinds of personal stories were really moving and encouraged me to significantly rethink the current physical design space,” he said.
Other Twitter users highlighted the dire situation the need for diverse representation in office decorations.
“Please have images of black women in the office. I have yet to visit a gynecologist’s office with this kind of representation,” one user wrote.
Another said patients should have one fair warning if someone other than the doctor will be in the room during their examination.
As the US awaits a decision on the latest Supreme Court abortion case, which could be overturned Roe v. Wade, there seems to be an increased discussion of reproductive health care. A doctor’s tweet Sedation related to the IUD went viral, as did a professor’s tweet about what it’s like to simply not love a child pretty good reason to perform an abortion, NBCLX first reported.
Stewart’s question about how to best design his practice, however, received some criticism. He wrote that he was interested in hearing from “women,” which some Twitter users noted would exclude people who don’t identify as women but still seek gynecological care.
“I wouldn’t just ask women. I am not a woman and the care of a gynecologist is essential for my health. Physical space is important, but invest in comprehensive training for your staff to ensure the safety of BIPOC, queer, disabled and other marginalized patients. This is essential,” wrote one user on Twitter.
Dr. Stewart responded to the criticism by saying he should have been more careful with his wording.
“People have [correctly] pointed out that I [incorrectly] said “women” when what I should have said was “people who may need gynecological care.”
“I’m a #workprogress,” he added. “I appreciate your advocacy and reminders. Everyone is welcome and I want them to feel welcome.”
Stewart said wealth that he takes feedback as an opportunity to learn.
“Whenever someone tells you that you’re wrong, your first instinct is to, like, put up a guard and, like, get shocked, or get frustrated, angry, defensive,” he said. Stewart, adding that in the 40s. he is used to looking more within himself. “They were absolutely right and I was wrong.”
