Female health issues
Dialogue between Doctor and patient.
The intercultural aspect of a therapeutic relationship. It is important to establish a personal relationship with the patient right from the beginning to build trust. Not all cultures feel equally at ease when talking about childbirth, menstruation, childlessness, etc. This type of conversation can cause embarrassment for the patient due to religious, cultural or personal reasons and requires a good feeling for the particular situation and some knowledge of cultural differences.
A Muslim woman, Ayla Osman, from Turkey (35 years of age, married) arrives at the Emergency Department. A male doctor is the doctor on duty that night. Ayla is complaining of a dull pain in her lower abdomen which she has had now for two days. She speaks very little English. The doctor is about to ask some questions relating to female health.
German (Deutsch) |
English |
|
| Doctor: | Wann hatten Sie das letzte Mal Ihre Periode? | When did you have your last period? |
| Ayla: | Vor ein paar Tagen. | I had it a few days ago. |
| Doctor: | Haben sie einen regelmäßigen Menstruationszyklus? | Is your menstruation cycle regular? |
| Ayla: | Ja. | Yes. |
| Doctor: | Besteht die Möglichkeit, dass Sie schwanger sind? | Do you think it’s possible that you might be pregnant? |
| Ayla: | Ich weiß es nicht. | I don’t know. |
| Doctor: | Waren Sie schon einmal schwanger? | Have you ever been pregnant? |
| Ayla: | Warum? Ist das wichtig? | Why? Is that important? |
| Doctor: | Ja, das ist es. Wir müssen das wissen, um Ihre aktuellen Beschwerden besser beurteilen zu können. Waren Sie schon einmal schwanger? | Well, yes, we need to know this in order to help us understand your current problem. Have you ever been pregnant? |
| Ayla: | [antwortet zögerlich und widerwillig] Nein. | [answering reluctantly and with discomfort] No. |
| Doctor: | Gibt es noch etwas, dass Sie mir zu diesem Thema sagen möchten? | Is there anything else you’d like to tell me while we’re on this topic? |
| Ayla: | (gelingt es, in deutscher Sprache zu sagen) Nein, danke… Ich fühle mich schon viel besser. Vielleicht komme ich an einem anderen Tag wieder… | [manages to say in English] No, thank you. I feel much better now. I maybe will come back another day… |
| Doctor: | Nein, warten Sie, bitte! Ich bin sicher, dass wir Ihnen helfen können! Mit der richtigen Medizin werden Ihre Schmerzen in zwei oder drei Tagen weg sein und vielleicht können wir Ihnen zusätzlichen noch bei anderen Beschwerden weiterhelfen… | No wait, please, I’m sure we can help you feel better. With the right medication, your pain will disappear in two or three days and maybe we can also help you with other problems… |
| Ayla: | Sind Sie sicher? In Ordnung. Dann bleibe ich. Vielen Dank. | Are you sure? OK. Fine. Then I stay. Thank you. |
Intercultural comment
To ask a married, childless woman about children can be offensive because for some women, it may be seen as a flaw in her womanhood. The woman in the dialogue feels offended because she interprets the doctor’s questions as a reproach for the fact that she has not been able to have children. In the dialogue, the doctor, because of his cultural backgroud, behaves in a friendly and professional manner but is very matter of fact in his approach. Perhaps he could have avoided the patient’s attempt to leave if he had said something like ‘I can imagine it may not be easy for you to speak about pregnancy and children... But I may be able to help you if you can tell me about it...’