Let me know who he is, and I’ll send you a free Patriarchy-Blaming Kit (contents: 2 “THIS DEGRADES WOMEN” stickers).
UPDATE: Looks like his whole site is down now. Here’s the Google cache from Feb. 20.
UPDATE 2: Something from Utah called Ryan Byrd dot net announces his friend the Switchbutt MD’s blog, Google cached here (scroll down).
UPDATE 3: Pinko Punko is right (don’t get used to it, PP!). Outing him is dumb. So never mind. Sometimes ire clouds judgement.
You have “WHOIS”‘d his domain, I presume?
What’s the poop scoop? I see that his most recent thing is a humongous hubbub about doulas/natural childbirth, etc. Is there something else?
“It’s irresponsible to entrust childbirth care to anyone less than a physician.”
Until about 150 or so years ago, a person with a medical issue had a better likelihood of improvement if they stayed as far away as possible from any physician. Frankly, this statement makes me think that Slimeblade is really just trolling, and doesn’t believe anything it is saying.
Well, let me take that back, because some physicians–and I come in contact with a lot of them–really are that outrageously arrogant and narcissistic.
Holy fucking shit. An emergency C-section is a “tender birthing experience”???
HE CAN SUCK MY BIG FAT HAIRY ASS. Or even worse, MY HUSBAND’S HAIRY ASS.
Fucking asshole.
Is he crapping on nurses? Doctors do love to do that.
The natural childbirth argument for/against seems to me to be another situation where women cannot win. I think both sides of that argument try to marginalize decisions made by women, but because the arguments overlap with medical decisions, there are arguments from authority that could possibly be valid, but what seems to happen is that women just get browbeaten on all sides.
When I read his biographical information, he claimed to have a degree in neuroscience from Cornell, not UCLA.
Head nurse talks about it here.
S/he mentions some comments in another post on the linked blog, but I can’t get the link to click.
Wow, we made someone take down his blog.
Do we have the professional credentials to do that?
Knob, indeed. I have met some version of him far too many times in my medical history. I was lucky enough that his clones were not in the building when I was giving birth. I was treated with respect.
I’m all for piling on if you disagree with him. I guess I would have to say that I am not in favor of “outing” him. Those are the breaks. I would really like to see the comments on his bloggo, but can’t find them/get to them.
The administrative contact for switchblade.com (listed in WHOIS)is Ryan Byrd; the address is a P.O. box in “AF, Utah.” (”Air Force,” perhaps?)
There is a website and blog belonging to a Ryan Byrd from Utah: ryanbyrd.net
I commented about this in Twisty’s original post on Switchblade Doctor, but it may be more useful here:
In the comments section following one of this guy’s subsequent posts, someone wrote (paraphrasing), “I know this guy. He’s an ObGyn Fellow at Johns Hopkins. And yes, he’s arrogant, and no one like him.â€
Maybe that will lead somewhere?
Personally, what I found more appalling than the comments about natural childbirth was his completely disdainful view of nurses. Firstly he gives them zero credit for their important role in the hospital, claiming that cafeteria workers are more useful.
Secondly, he constantly paints caricatures of the butch-style nurse who is, I infer by context, any female nurse who does not stare up at him with puppydog eyes every time he says something terribly important and medically astute. I only wish to god there was a section on the MCAT that screened for asshattery.
As far as his opinions on natural childbirth I share some of his reservations, minus the patronizing attitude towards midwives. I say this as someone who has never given birth, and not 100% sure what procedure I would choose. The key word here, however, is choose. Not have some asshat doctor decide for me because he thinks he’s all that and a can of placenta.
i’m not in favor of outing, either. just education.
the take-home message to dr. wonderful, from me, is that i’d be pissed as hell to find that a doctor of mine held such disparaging views of patients and nurses. remember that little thing about “first, do no harm”? yeah, it still applies, even if you are the smartest guy in the entire universe about giving birth, something you’ve never done. the actual participants tend to have more on their minds than whether their yelling upsets folks.
if i worked with someone like that, i’d use what i had to get the jerk to [a] understand there are bigger and better issues than his ego, and/or [b] get someone higher-up to encourage the same. meanwhile, i’d [c] flee his presence at every decent opportunity; that stink doesn’t wash out well.
Heh, I think I’m in moderation, but on top of that, I got cut off, so just delete the comment (if you get to it, TF), because it won’t make any sense and I’m not gonna finish it now.
I suspect that the doctor in question is technically correct in his medical suggestions, but his attitude is piss-poor and misogynistic. Going a step further, I’d liken his attitude to an obnoxious ensign or second lieutenant who doesn’t understand that the average, experienced NCO knows far more about tactics, strategy, and life in the military than he does.
Trout
no, trout — the thing is, his view isn’t correct for everyone. and he completely misses the “this is a valid patient choice” part of the program.
but i completely agree about how he doesn’t understand what the lower-downs on the ground do.
Right. That, plus he’s an egotistical asshole.
Nevermind, karma will definitely catch up with Dr Switchblade.
He was “only” saying that the Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) were more useless than cafetaria workers, not all nurses (he has great respect for the ones who “know what they’re doing” and don’t “look like linebackers” i.e. the ones who don’t physically intimidate him, and who simper and say “Yes Doctor” before going on to do exactly what they were doing before he butted in).
He particularly resents the way that the CNS’s make people stick to protocol and signing forms, as this is apparently useless. I reckon Dr Switchblade will shortly cost himself and his hospital millions in liability costs because he doesn’t care about “useless” protocols and forms, and let’s see what sort of a career he has after that.
I would like to add that another doctor of my acquaintance has told me the not-so-secret truth that many med students are reluctant to be OBs because of malpractice suits; therefore, it’s easier for knobs like this to get in to this particular specialty.
(not a slam at good OBs, by the way; but your specialty is not well-served by assmonkeys such as this one).
I would also like to point you-uns (we can say that in Texas) to the NAPW website for more insight into why women might, perhaps, be motivated to agitate for a tiny bit of agency into how, when and where they birth for reasons that this buttcheese has failed to grasp:
http://www.advocatesforpregnantwomen.org/
and this whole organization for women who have been unhappy about the way doctors like this one slice and dice ‘em for less than wonderful reasons:
http://www.ican-online.org
oh, and this artist who expresses just how it feels to be the meat on the OB slab when it’s against your will
http://www.cesarean-art.com/
I guess I missed the part where (a) nurses don’t get medical training and are therefore not qualified to give medical advice, and (b) midwives have no credentials. Hm.
(what I really mean by that is “What a douche!”)
Hear, hear, Trout!
Another little hint: “Thirty-something doctor…” AKA, probably right fresh out of medical school and innocent to the complexities of life outside a textbook.
Oh yeah! As a twenty-something arts grad, I totally went there! (Tell the hypocrite police I’m not home).
Well, I have no idea what’s going on here, but I’d love to see a debate here sometime about natural v. “unnatural” (i.e., drug-relieved) childbirth, as well as an actual balanced (i.e., input from WOMEN who know whereof they speak)debate about the increased favoritism for C-sections.
I’ve been there, done that, every which way, my own self. Now my daughter is contemplating her choices. I don’t even want to go into her thinking on C-sections right now. All I know is, I’ve done about a 180 on a lot of my hippie-era attitudes in this regard.
In moderation! Sulk.
I find it interesting that the Ryan Bird character deleted his post announcing the Switchblade Dorktor’s blog. When did he do that, I wonder?
His opinion is mixed with his facts, which is a big problem for medical providers and women’s health–misogynistic moral editorialization as health care. We have seen this type of thinking in all aspects of our care–from the hysterical uterus to menstrual mood management.
As for birth, in a moderate or high risk situation, it is much better to have a medically managed labor and birth. In those instances, he is factually correct. However, recent studies have shown that women who recieve adequate prenatal care and are low risk when they go into labor actually have equal or better outcomes with non-medicated labor and birth, midwife attended birth, and attended home-birth.
The most frightening thing to me isn’t that he expresses his misogynistic opinion on his blog, it is that he is deciding on care for actual female patients and perhaps advocating inappropriate interventions. His opinion is quite common in the medical profession, which doesn’t bode well for our health in general. Women will die because of this behavior of his and his penis-club cronies.
Sometime after 6:30 PM Pacific time.
hmm, not only is he a sexist, nurse-hating douche, but he’s a completely classist elitist asshole too - he mentions the ‘backwoods of arkansas and tennessee’ and ‘rednecks’ derisively.
Hey, jerkass, maybe the reason people choose to use doulas and midwives is that then they don’t have to come into contact with jerks like you.
AF=”American Fork”
What’s up with “douche” all of a sudden?
Why not go with docbag, because at least we can go in a different direction.
Ann, I think we both know that it is pronounced “American Fark”
Just a little Utah humor to lighten the thread.
Okay, I may have inadvertently misspoke by not reading the “Cans of Austin” post below in re: gimme yer childbirth tales beseechment. I’m so confused, as usual. Twisty: I still blame chemo-brain. Suffer through it, use it for a lifetime. Why the fuck not, I say.
A fact of which I took note when I became pregnant as a grad student, and which served me well: The female med students at my university flocked to the CNMs — not the OB/GYNs — for their prenatal care and delivery of their spawn. I figured they had enough inside information to know what they’d get from the midwives vs. the MDs, and I have no regrets at having opted for the CNMs.
I always miss all the fun.
I’m glad I waited for the epidural until I really couldn’t take it anymore. I believe that the fact that I labored au naturel helped me & my baby to have a smooth delivery. I had told the doctors all along that I might need it, but I’d like to wait.
And when I finally got it, I hated it. I couldn’t move my legs, I couldn’t move at all really. It made me feel so weak and dizzy, no fun, I lost touch with my body and the process, and it really slowed things down. On top of it I felt like I gave up on something I was trying to do. It didn’t help that the anaesthesiologist was acting like he was god’s gift to me. No, I don’t worship you for saving me, I feel kinda disappointed so quit the stupid jokes, please. I also believe that with a more supportive environment I woulda made it all the way without the epidural, but I can’t complain, luckily I had a pretty good delivery.
saltyc: Yes. We are (were, back then) told that to go without as long as possible is best for the baby. Well, excuse me, what about ME? The kid’ll be okay. Let’s talk about MY body and post-birth quality of life. I submit that the whole child-centric birthing fetish is yet another form of misogyny, thank you so very much.
When I (finally) got my in-advance requested epidural with Baby #2, I only knew I was having a contraction because it showed up on the monitor. Blissful ignorance, compared with the medieval torture I went through, thanks to the correct breathing/focal point Lamaze bullshit I bought into with Baby #1. I don’t care that I had physical aftereffects. It’s CHILDBIRTH. It kills, still.
Both of my labours were relatively short and my own endorphins kicked in so powerfully that there was no need for pain relief. I doubt that I could have even formed the words to ask for it. It was an amazing experience. If I had gone 30 hours I have no doubt the story would have been very different. As other people have said- this is a choice we each have a right to make without some dickhead making us feel guilty. I did a short stint in med school. I would not go near a male ob/gyn with a 40 foot bargepole unless I knew him personally. I bet if the hospital ethics committee found out about this guy’s rant he would be disciplined. Reckon that’s why the plugs been pulled.
I think that some issues are that nobody knows in advance if they are just gonna shoot that thing out or it is going to be unbelievable torture. There can be no way to generalize. When I ask my mom what it was like, her response is “not too painful.” Assuming that my mom does not have a super human pain threshold, I will say that she was barely in labor for both births (two kids). There was not time for an epidural.
My roommate, who walked to the hospital while in labor, could not describe in words how painful it was.
As for what I have heard on the sides of the debate, I think a lot of the guilt being worked comes from the natural childbirth side, but perhaps I have been exposed to extremes (give birth on a mossy bower amongst the moose!).
Twisty, please check your email. In deference to your decision, I won’t out him, but I want my Patriarchy-Blaming Kit thanks (unless some other blamer has beaten me to it and is more discreet than me).
For the rest of you: yes, he’s a real doctor (sorry - physician) but be very careful if you think you’ve found him as he’s not the only one around with the same name (watch those middle initials).
All that blog-wiping effort by him and his friend wasted - there’s too many easily found connections hanging around in googlecache (and now all saved to my hard-drive).
Vera, you just broke the conditions of whois use conditions, and frankly who have violated important privacy laws recently passed in Canada. In Canada you would be taken to court, as I have already done so to others. If your a Canadian citizen feel free to give me contact info so that my organization can bring your violation of an “honour system” to justice. Obviously you won’t, but understand that the same methods the RIAA hunts down pirates (argh!), we use to prosecute whois conditions violators each year, so far almost one hundred successfully brought to justice, most pleading guilty and receiving a conditional discharge and a $100 fine.
In other news, freedom of speech surrenders? Who cares what he says, is he a politician that you will elect? Does it matter what he thinks?
No, so mind your own damn business.
The beauty of freedom of speech is that it’s turtles all the way down. He’s free to speak, we’re free to speak about his speech, you’re free to speak about our speech, tiny children are free to point and laugh at your speech, etc etc ad infinitum. It’s a glorious thing.
As he’s just moved to live and work in DC with his master’s degree in public health, he could well be working for one (although he’s more likely to be aiming for a career in hospital administration).
Politicians aren’t the only people in the world whose actions affect others after all. You probably don’t care, but the people I admire most in the world are the whistleblowers.
Opinions affect actions, and this sexist dorktor is in a position of authority over vulnerable patients. What he thinks matters to those patients an awful lot, even though they don’t know what we know about what he thinks, it will be their bodies who suffer because of his actions.
There appears to be something about the entire ethos of blogs that you’re missing. Run along, there’s a good chap.
“… Besides, if you *do* run into somebody who’s actively anti-nurse, remember: you will know where all the really big catheters are.” (Head Nurse blog)
Love it!!
An imperious, conceited surgeon… who woulda thought?
Physician, Helen. Physician, not surgeon. He’s quite definite about that.
Surgeons tend to appreciate their nurses rather more in my experience.
That should be, surgeons tend to appreciate the competence of their nurses more: they certainly leave enough of the hard work in the OT to them, often without a word of thanks.
He’s commenting on my blog now, complaining that I took him to be a misogynist.
I see now why he didn’t go into neuroscience. He has no personal experience with the organs involved.
what tigitog said @ 3.01am. Exactly.
Hey Sam, what are you talking about regarding whois? RFC 3912 states pretty clearly “WHOIS-based services should only be used for information which is non-sensitive and intended to be accessible to everyone.”
My labor lasted 49 hours, so damn straight I took the epidural (I’m crazy, but I’m not insane). Besides, the head nurse on duty (”YOU’RE STILL HERE?” she asked, as she’d had a shift at the beginning of my labor) had a button on her white coat that said “whine” with a red circle and slash through it. I would not have survived a natural childbirth with her in charge! It was a full moon and she supervised the births of 50 babies that night.
Then again, I had a boss with six kids and she said they all just kinda “pooped out” (her words), with no labor lasting more than three hours. She felt no pain at all. Her sixth almost made an appearance at the office, but it was lunchtime so she walked to the hospital and did her business there. Proof that women should be allowed to run their own shows.
I find it absolutely hilarious that the Doc insists that he is “not arrogant” while simultaneously bashing nurses, natural childbirth, etc.
Granted, I would never push out a massive eight- to ten-pound infant without major drugs, but the guy’s writing just smacks of ‘ass’.
When they started the National Health Service in the UK in the late ’40s, doctors suddenly took an interest in childbirth and started elbowing women midwives aside. Guess what? The infant mortality rate went up for a while, until they realised that they didn’t necessarily know what they were doing.
“Hey, jerkass, maybe the reason people choose to use doulas and midwives is that then they don’t have to come into contact with jerks like you.”
Precisely. I had a jerk just like this as my GP. After listening to his put downs I realised I’d rather give birth on the tarmac outside a McDonalds than within 50 feet of him. I had to have a C section as it turns out, planned way in advance because of a huge ovarian cyst, and I fought it tooth and nail. It turned out to be a blessed, fanatstic, humerous and respect-filled experience because of two folks especially a)my midwife, who in India had been surgeon on hundreds of c-sections and was by me the whole time and b) the OB GYN surgeon, who had been clear and respectful through my whole pregnancy and who was completely not threatened by and happy to work with midwives, and had many times before. (It’s a small town, he knows them and they know him, and they get along fine. Midwives do their thing, if there’s problems he steps in, midwives still are around and handle post partum stuff).
Seeing how these two respected each other’s skills makes me very suspicious of people like this jerk who’s trying to create a false separation between his style of care and “hippie style” (oh please).
At our hospital, the yoga balls and birthing rooms are just standard practice, not “clutter”. My girlfriend gave birth there with no meds and had a wonderful experience. And because this is Canada, it’s covered by healthcare, so it’s not elitist to want the best birth you can have, and no one can give you a guilt trip about that. (They sure can try though. Amazing that women who get married are encouraged to buy all kinds of crap because ‘it’s the most important day…blah blah blah’ but have a baby and the woods crawl with complete strangers reminding you that ‘it’s not about what you want, it’s what’s best for the baby’ as if by that point the two of you are seperate entities and the baby doesn’t get stressed when you do etc.)
“Blissful ignorance, compared with the medieval torture I went through, thanks to the correct breathing/focal point Lamaze bullshit I bought into with Baby #1.” MzNicky
Lamaze worked great for me. This was 30 years ago and I fired four Medical Deities before I found one that would allow the father/coach in the delivery room, would not medicate me, would not cut me and promise me that if I wanted to get up on all fours and bay at the moon he would leave me be. It was a miracle I found even that one.
The uterus is a magnificent muscle that squeezes itself to get the baby out. Tightening up the muscles surrounding the uterus is what causes the pain from the contractions because they are pulling against each other. Instead of pain, I was able to feel my uterus contracting and it was an awesome (and I seldom use that word) sensation. It saddens be that most women will never know how that feels. Since my kid wasn’t all drugged up, he was already crying before he was even all the way out. He didn’t need to go through the trauma of being held up by his ankles like dressed poultry and slapped on the butt.
The breathing helps ride the contraction like a wave. I used to surf in Southern California in my youth so I could relate to the analogy. You can feel the beginning of a contraction coming just like you can see a good wave coming when you’re out there on the ocean. As the wave builds, you increase the breathing to build with the wave until it crests and ebbs. My son’s birth certificate may show my son being born in a city, but his mommy was out hanging ten in her cathedral, the Pacific Ocean, when he came into the world.
I experienced pain during one contraction because they gave me that damned enema and I was on the throne when it hit. Good Gaud and Holy Mole! I was so pissed off I scorched the bathroom walls with a blue streak. When the nurses came in and asked me to quiet down because I was upsetting the other women I told her that with what I paying this guy to sit there and catch a baby when it came out, I should be able to fucking shoot shit all over him.
Since I hadn’t been drugged or cut up, I was only a little tired after being up all night riding the surf. I took a little nap, got up, started packing up my stuff and told the nurse to get my kid. You’d think I had just suggested bombing the hospital. They told me I had to get released by the deity. I informed me that I paid him good money (literally, we had no medical insurance) so he worked for me, I told him what to do, not the other way around and, don’t MAKE me have to go into the nursery and get him myself.
I was not well liked in the maternity ward where women were expected to do what they were told. The other mothers in my room looked at me with fear and confusion in their eyes, as if I threatened them somehow. They were happy to see me leave.
I believe that the lemaze classes are an evil creation of the patriarchy whose primary purpose is to give the fathers something to do during the delivery. “Breathe, honey.” I wanted to rip his fucking penis off!
Forunately, after the deliveries, all I could focus on is how beautiful and wonderful my babies were. Then, the nursing hormones kicked in.
AF Utah is American Fork, Utah. 40 miles south of Salt Lake City, next door to Brigham Young University, in the county that was decreed most conservative in the nation a couple of years back by some publication that I do not right now recall. I used to live in that county. Giving birth there, as my SIL and many other relatives have done, is a very sucky experience.
We, being firmly in the happy hippie camp, took hypnobirthing classes in which we were taught different relaxation and visualization exercises. Loved the method’s orientation, which is that birth is a natural process that your body is made to handle (while also allowing that if there is a medical emergency, intervention is a-ok and a good thing.) Loved having my husband repeat calming phrases while pouring warm water down my back in the hospital hot tub. In general, I found the natural-childbirth focus on learning how your uterus behaves during birth and what the different physical sensations mean during the birth to be really helpful, allowing me to feel in control and in touch with what was going on. For instance, there’s a moment where you think, “I can’t do this anymore - I changed my mind, I don’t want to have a baby” - and that is actually diagnostic of transition, the period just before the baby starts to crown. So when I had the I-can’t-do-this-anymore feeling, I could also be excited, since I knew what that meant.
And boy did I love yelling as loudly as I could during labor. Felt great. If someone had told me that it was disturbing the other patients, I would have politely asked that person to come a little closer and then yelled directly into his ear.
tigtog:
For the rest of you: yes, he’s a real doctor…(and now all saved to my hard-drive).
Okay, so outing him online might not be the best idea.
But let’s face it: this guy is scary and also–he wanted public attention. He probably wanted to be “outed”–even if subconsciously. How on earth could anyone with any internet knowledge think that he couldn’t easily be tracked down with the information he gave?
What about discreetly sending an email with appropriate documentation attached to his supervisors at the hospital?
Seriously, tigtog, please consider it. Real women are being “treated” by this f-wad, and real nurses have to work with him.
Think if it this way–if you were his boss, wouldn’t you want to know about Switchblade Doctor?
As the “nurse monkey” with the “army of nurse clowns” of his Exhibit A post or something to that effect, I am not offended that this guy has his views about how a woman should labor. Some people do think its best to treat a laboring woman like she is ill and hook her up to all sorts of machines, equipment, and medicine. It was his arrogance and disrespect to nursing. I find it very hard to believe that he has only run across terrible nurses, with the minority not being of the bull dog linebacker types (as I apparently am). I’m not sure what he means by that… are the linebacker bulldogs the ones that actually question phsyicians? Well, count me in because if I see that a physician has ordered something or is treating a patient inappropriately then I will say something. Nurses advocate for their patients, and legally must protect their patient…if this is what he means then most nurses I know will fall in this category. If harm comes to a patient because, for instance, a physician ordered the wrong dose of medication and the nurse did nothing about it and just gave it in fear of questioning the MD, you bet your bottom dollar that in a court of law that nurse is held just as liable. Besides, don’t MD’s want nurses that are looking out for them?
And on note of calling me a bulldog and monkey, I think my very cute newborn picture says otherwise. ;-)
An MGH resident - that explains a lot. MGH is on top of the medical world (the Mecca of Medicine!). Getting a residency there means you are God of the Gods. Not all MGH MDs are jerks, of course, but according to nurse friends who have worked there, the jerk:notjerk ratio is high.
Outing any misogynic doctoc is important. Remember how doctors don’t think women can get heart attacks, and so the women don’t get the care they need?
Here we have a doctor who obviously thinks women are inferior, thinks nurses are completely clueless, and he alone knows best.
For the safty of this guy’s patients, WHO ARE ALL WOMEN, it is crucial he be outed.
If I’m black I would never allow a Stormfront doctor to get anywhere near me. Same with with misogynic asshole doctors.
Maribelle,
he’s only just completed his residency, and only just moved to DC from Boston and with the MPH he’s probably headed for a career in medical administration. If he was going to be an Ob/Gyn I’d be thinking seriously about it, but he’s not.
As Head Nursing Blog said, blogs are blogs and work is work. He wrote a couple of patronising sexist rants on his blog, which have now been preserved in perpetuity. We all know that venting is part of what blogs are for, and our blog voices are not our workplace voices. We have no indication that he has been unable to be professional in the workplace, although unless he can totally divorce his attitude from his practise it’s probably only a matter of time.
His remarks about pointless protocols and forms insisted on by the useless CNS brigade would certainly concern me if I was overseeing the medical liability exposure of his workplace. I’d be particularly worried if I thought a potential plaintiff team might get hold of those posts in a situation where protocols might have been violated or a form not properly signed off. Juries really hate that shit.
I’m against outing people publicly for privately-expressed views, as a general principle. That is partly because I really do believe in personal privacy, partly because I really do not want the more unhinged among us showing up at my doorstep, no matter how badly they disagree with me. Partly because I believe we all say stupid things sometimes, but hope we can learn, then go forth and do good.
On the other hand, people in positions of special confidence — doctors, lawyers, etc. — have intimate access and thus special professional obligations toward their clients, patients, etc. It is one thing to let off steam — another thing entirely when a professional writes off the entire class of people he is supposed to help, PLUS the “subordinate” professionals who do most of the work.
I’m a lawyer, not a doctor, but if I was supervising a young punk who despised the clients and the support staff, and felt he was godlike in his wisdom, I’d rather be tipped off sooner instead of later. More specifically, instead of mere grumbles and my own gut impressions. I’d want to keep an eye on him, because brilliance doesn’t make up for a god complex — it only makes it harder to track — and such people can do huge damage to individual clients and co-workers, and inject poison into the atmosphere generally.
Dr. S will disagree with this analysis. In particular, he believes he honors women by being smarter than them, and taking the congrats when a baby is born. He needs to understand that a baby’s birth is *not* all about his smartness in catching them. He LOVES that part, but is pretty slow on how he plays only a supporting role, that his idea of how to make it go smoothly is not the choice of many patients, and that it is the PATIENT’s choice.
Won’t even get into his attitudes about nurses and people there to support the birthing mother. The nurses have a far better idea of the range of things patients experience and worry about, and do the on-ground care, hour after hour, every time. He doesn’t. The support people may or may not bring extensive experience with childbirth, but they are there for the mother in ways he will never know. Childbirth is not simply the mechanics of getting the baby out — it is life-changing. Dr. S will never be there for all the before and after considerations, all the tears and joy, the lifelong bonds. You’d think someone so heavily degreed could grasp his small role, but he doesn’t. If I was his mama, I’d wonder where I went wrong.
I read the thesis of “Doula Oblongata” as this: Ill-informed animals, endowed with a decision-making capacity, often choose poorly; the correct path is to surrender their choices to a specific kind of professional who knows more than they do. If they don’t, they are idiots who deserve to be categorically derided in public.
This week, Internet-savvy blamers with advanced blogging skillz have discovered his writings and added intelligent, well written rebuttals to his site. Suddenly, he loses control and finds his blog in the hands of professional writers, long-time bloggers, and credentialed feminist scholars. More capable hands, it would seem. For his own good, he should have let them do their work without trying to meddle. He may have caused permanent damange, and we may never be able to save the blog now. What a waste.
Exactly.
His rapid response in taking the site down means he knows deep-down that he has said shameful things, no matter how much he tries to bluster about not being a misogynist thereby because we’re the ones assuming that dissing nurses means dissing women.
Pull the other one mate.
Labor nurse, I like your interpretation of a bulldog lineback nurse much better than what I think his intent was: a fairly typical ugly unfuckable dyke slur. Because we all know that how well a woman does her job is all tied up with her fuckability rating.
By not outing this guy, you are protecting him. Why is that a good idea?
If you have a doctor who makes a website talking about how:
#1 all black people are clueless
#2 no black person can ever be competent
#3 black people have no idea how to research topics for issues which impact black people
#4 even after a black person makes the effort to reseach a top which impacts hirself, the doctor still believes the black person is stupid and should just blindly follow doctor’s order.
#5 thinks #1-4 are such obvious truths which needs to be said that he publishes his ideas on the internet.
Then you find out that this doctor restricts his practice to women. Jesus fucking christ, why would you protect this racist SOB???
Somebody is making me so angry I can’t even spell. Arrrgh!
“research a topic”
“Then you find out that this doctor restricts his practice to black people”
Arrrgh!
In general, I follow the whole philosophy that people should not be outed for expressing their opinions on their blog.
However, in this case, the guys opinions directly relate to his profession where he has power over vulnerable women put in his care. (Please understand that I’m not saying women are vulnerable, per se. I’m saying that any patient who must depend on a doctor for care, particularly when he/she might be drugged, physically or mentally stressed, or otherwise incapacitated is vulnerable to the power differential in that scenerio.) To some extent, doctors (who get at least a sliver of our tax dollars through Medicare/caid and other federal and state funding) are expected to serve the public good. This, at its very least, should include the right for patients to get medical attention from a professional who does not use hate, misogyny, and power to his advantage.)
I think it would be remiss for us, who may have stumbled on his abuses, to stand back and do nothing. I’m not saying that we need to plaster his name across the internet, unless that is our only means. But a respectful email to his superiors does seem in order. His hateful attitude may actually negatively impact the care that his patients recieve.
If I read a blog where a parent talked of hitting his kid or a husband of abusing his wife. I think I would try to do something about it if I could. This is about protecting people who are not in power and who may not have the means to protect themselves. Nothing may come of it, but at least someone would have tried.
I am deaf/blind and my sig other is a quadriplegic. We deal with medical professionals quite often. There have been many times when doctors have questioned the worth of our lives due to their hatred, ambivolence or bigottry towards people with disabilities. They have tried to widthhold or otherwise control our medical care and take our decision making power away from us. This has negatively affected our heath at times. It is very important that doctors be held accountable for their bigotted attitudes when they hold power over potentially compromised people.
Tigtog, it may be true that in real life, he acts in a professional manner. However, I think the burden to prove that is on him. He opened the box here, he should have to live with the consequences. I feel no honor in protecting his identity. I respect your decision, but I feel that a person in his position needs to be held accountable for his hate speech.
I suppose it’s possible that he puts of the guise of a human person along with his lab coat, but really, his anonymous blog must reflect his true nature. He needs some sensitivity training or a swift kick or something. His superiors can only deliver such if they know it’s necessary. They should be informed.
Would it be possible to inform them that they have a misogynist/nurse-basher on staff without outing him personally?
tigtog–
I feel like you want to be very fair and I appreciate that. I do NOT advocate putting his name here or on a public board - it could be dangerous to him.
But sending his information privately to his supervisors is different; he has revealed, in public, an attitude toward his coworkers and patients that the administration needs to know.
he’s only just completed his residency, and only just moved to DC from Boston and with the MPH he’s probably headed for a career in medical administration. If he was going to be an Ob/Gyn I’d be thinking seriously about it, but he’s not.
But tigtog, that could be even worse. He can arguably do more harm as an administrator. He would be responsible for making policies that affect patients, nurses and other beings he holds in contempt. He could be the person deciding wide-ranging hospital polices, deciding whether that sexual harrassment claim gets dismissed or investigated–making a hundred decisions a day that can affect a whole range of people-especially the nurses he holds in contempt.
Please consider: if, as you said, it’s “only a matter of time” until his arrogance does actual harm to an actual woman, your report will be backed up and they might look twice at him. Perhaps sending his information to his supervisors would give them a chance to talk to him about his attitude, now, at the start of his career–and preclude future escalation.
As Head Nursing Blog said, blogs are blogs and work is work.
But he was blogging directly about work; his attitudes toward both his patients and the nurses who work under him. He wrote quite clearly about his beliefs and practices about standards of care. The entire blog is framed through the lens of him as a doctor. Sometimes a blogger says more than he means to, and reveals something about himself that makes it is neccessary to bring that information to someone’s attention.
We all know that venting is part of what blogs are for, and our blog voices are not our workplace voices.
Some are, some aren’t. But if I wrote a blog called “switchblade schoolteacher” and revealed myself to despise the third graders in my care, insisting my professionalism allowed me to overrule the decisions of their parents, derided other teachers and subordinants as uneducated idiots with nothing to offer, and expressed an unprofessional level of hostility, wouldn’t you quietly pass my information on to the school administrators?
Or would you say it was no problem because I was only going to be the principal?
Submitted thoughtfully, with respect.
What a dick.
It’s a good thing that my born-at-home-with-a-midwife-and-no-drugs-because-I-was-afraid-of-jerks-like-this daughter is about to graduate from medical school. Change from within is always the most effective.
If it wasn’t clear, I don’t believe in public outing because I don’t want to be a target, in my personal life, for views people disagree with. We need to behave in ways we want others to behave toward us.
I don’t think the posts on this site have been protective of Dr. Jerk — although they do put him on notice that he is not [a] living up to professional standards, and [b] performing well as a human being.
I really don’t have a problem with someone privately telling Dr. Clueless’ superiors he had a blog that revealed hideous attitudes toward his patients and co-workers. That is information most good supervisors would want to know, even informally — not that the blog is a fire-able offense, but to really watch for how those attitudes come out in actual job performance. Because doctors have access to the most intimate details about us, and a special duty of care, it is important that they respect both the patient and the standards of the profession.
Lisa, it sounds like you and your SO have dealt with a lot of idiocy along the lines of Dr. Special’s special views. I am so sorry. Very glad you have kept on.
anon person wrote: “I’m against outing people publicly for privately-expressed views, as a general principle.”
I’m confused. How is a no-log in required blog on the World Wide Web private?
There’s a good argument that privacy can be had only by those who can afford it, such as big corporations and governments. In other words, laws that protect privacy may well assist the industrial/military/commercial/etc. complex, but not little bloggers with unpopular views. There’s a great book on the subject: Transparency, by David Brin. I highly recommend it.
O thank sweet heebie-jeebies I am not making les babies ever. One less aspect of the patr(etardo)iarchy I’ll have to deal with.
feminazi, I see that you’re very emotional but you’re operating off a false premise: the man is NOT an Ob/Gyn specialist, he was ranting about his opinions of what he saw during his time on the obstetrics roster during his residency training (maybe even his internship), and it seems he was doing the anaesthesiology not obstetrics per se. Just as well anaesthesiologists just supply the pain relief when other physicians/surgeons call them in instead of making the clinical decisions themselves, eh?
maribelle, I agree that in the long term he could do more damage as an administrator. If he’s not going to be an administrator then Mr Neuroscience is possibly training for the anaesthesiology specialty, thus his bias against anyone who doesn’t want pain relief.
However, although I know who he is and where he used to work in Boston, because he’s only just moved to DC he’s not yet showing up in any staff pages for any hospitals or healthcare organisations there. You all know how long it takes for those staff pages to get updated, yes?
I’m glad I don’t have all the information yet, because I don’t want to make a snap decision on this.
Switchblade Doctor is a burned out case. Raging hatred of those one is supposed to help is a symptom of burnout. This GUY is a symptom. The medical system is broken. It’s not just women in childbirth who suffer. It’s everyone.
He probably did not start out being so angry. It kind of grew on him.
I’ve been there.
Bah, longer post in moderation addressing some particular arguments.
Shorter:
For the moment any potential to inform superiors etc is all moot: he’s only just moved to DC and doesn’t have any web-tracks there YET. I know his name, his qualifications and where he used to work, just not where he’s working now.
Only a matter of time though. Time I’m glad to have, as I don’t want to rush into any action on this I might later regret.
If I was his mama, I’d wonder where I went wrong.
Maybe this is slightly off topic, but the faults of this fully grown man are not necessarily related to the female caretaker of his family.
tigtog-looking forwardt to reading your post.
Hattie: Switchblade Doctor is a burned out case. Raging hatred of those one is supposed to help is a symptom of burnout.
But he just started his career.
He probably did not start out being so angry. It kind of grew on him.
He’s this angry at the beginning, one shudders to think how bad it’s going to be once it “grows”.
tigtog-looking forward to reading your post.
Hattie: Switchblade Doctor is a burned out case. Raging hatred of those one is supposed to help is a symptom of burnout.
But he just started his career.
He probably did not start out being so angry. It kind of grew on him.
He’s this angry at the beginning, one shudders to think how bad it’s going to be once it “grows”.
Well, Come the Revolution, such a blog isn’t really private. The views are right out there, asking for commentary.
Still, I don’t want people knocking on my door because they are upset about what I said in a semi-anonymous place. Or frankly, even for things I have said publicly. The recent unpleasantness on some blogs — I mean, death threats? Do these people think that is decent? — has reinforced my belief that we have to behave carefully, even in the semi-anonymity of the web.
I don’t think most employers can or would act immediately on a report from someone outside the immediate sphere of the employee involved. But still, a head’s up is useful.
anon person, I’m very much with you. I’m remembering how outraged I was at how Amanda Marcotte’s opinions expressed on a blog lost her an interesting job, and I’m taking the time to make sure I’m not being a hypocrite here.
That said, according to MGH’s residency program page [link], were he still on staff there the views expressed in his post might be sufficient cause for an adverse action to go on his record.
Bolded emphasis is mine. His name is still on the MGH residency program staff list as it happens (last updated mid-2006). The residents are listed below the CRNs too: perhaps that burned.
TigTog, I do try to look at things objectively, and because of my almost 10 years of being a nurse with multiple encounters with physicians, I find that the MD’s who are not fans of nurses are those who do not like to be questioned. They are the ones who like the good ol’ days (even if they are young!) when nurses were complete servants and considered the work of lower class females. I think that he may be threatened that nurses are intelligent, think independently, and may question his decision making regarding patient care. In today’s evidence based practice environment, nurses are taught to question things they may not agree with or thought to be unsafe. When we ask, we want to know why? What evidence supports this? It’s not an attack, but rather an attempt to further understand and learn, or like I mentioned before a way to advocate for safe patient care.
Speaking of evidence based practice, his claims were not supported by any research. He never cited any articles that supported his claims, so besides things just being his opinions, I don’t see what leg he has to stand on. Even though his opinions are degrading women in general, I don’t think the man deserves death threats, or what ever other drastic measure people are voicing. I do support his superiors being aware of his opinions as they may be detrimental to patients, nurses, families, and the hospital at large (if he is in administration).
Anaesthetists can still do damage to the women uder their care. A friend of mine gave birth by c-section last year and the gas man loudly called her “the fat one” while discussing her forthcoming op with the surgeon. In her presence. Why should we protect this guy. Women lose employment for far lesser offences all the time (as recent events have illustrated). In my opinion this loser should have been weeded out long ago. In a perfect world he would never be allowed anywhere near sentient beings with his hateful ways. I hope his supervisors get to hear about this one way or another.
Earlier comment seems to have been eaten.
Labor Nurse and anon person, I’m totally with you both. I have huge reservations about a public outing and no intent to do that, but I’m wrestling with whether to contact his supervisors or not (once I track his DC workplace down).
His comments would definitely put him at risk of receiving an Adverse Action on his record were he still at MGH, according to their Graduate Medical Education program’s Trainee Policies, Benefits and Responsibilities outline on the Adverse Action Process. (you’ll have to google that bit in italics, I think that link is annoying the spamulator)
BTW, isn’t thirtysomething a bit old to be completing a residency program? It would be here in Oz. Older med students are often more flexible and well-grounded, but it doesn’t appear so in this case.
TigTog, 30 something isn’t that old out of residency. It also depends on whether they did a fellowship, or did a year or two working solely on research before finishing. Let’s say that he started from high school. He’d be 22 when he finished his undergrade, 26 when graduated med school… now let’s say he did an anesthesia residency which can range from 3-5 years. Let’s say he did a 5 year program… that would take him to 31 upon completion. So it’s entirely possible. And that is not throwing in a fellowship, research, etc. Many of the residents I work with (and have in the past) are in their late 20’s, so they would complete the residency at 30 or so. Oh, and some also get their PhD or MPH in there as well.
I am just surprised that someone of my generation has views like that.
I find it apropos that my anti-virus software prevented me from viewing this hater’s little slice o’ life.
” I don’t think the man deserves death threats, or what ever other drastic measure people are voicing”
Whoaaaah there, Trigger. Nobody (I can’t believe I’m even typing this) is contemplating “death threats” or any other criminal action. Nobody’s suggesting any kind of “drastic measure” whatsoever. The only action I see being kicked around is the possibility, currently a remote one, of alerting a hospital administration to the content of a public blog, readily accessible by anyone with a web browser, written by a dude in their employ. Outing a misogynist of this guy’s calibre is a perfectly reasonable thing to contemplate, and please note that it is only being discussed. Even if the deed were done, although it might not be considered nice,it would hardly be “drastic,” and would certainly be no felony.
Just to clarify.
I think I mentioned death threats as a possible bad consequence of outing publicly, which I oppose. Just because that shit has happened in other contexts, and it is scary and ugly. I don’t think any regular readers here would send such threats, but one never knows about the trolls. I wouldn’t wish a virulent troll even on a troll.
Love this excerpt from his list - 4) “It’s irresponsible to entrust childbirth care to anyone less than a physician. Would you fly on an airplane operated by a pilot with questionable or no credentials?”
Darn, guess I shouldn’t take a crap anymore without a credentialed proctologist standing by.
Labor Nurse, I see that my confusion arose from being divided by a common language. It appears that the American “resident” equates to the Australian/British “registrar”, and it’s not uncommon for senior registrars to be thirtysomething.
Aus/Brit medical residents are far more lowly creatures (general medical roster, no fellowship track unless one is a registrar). The Dorktor’s hypothetical lurch sideways into administration is looking a bit less likely.
ew_nc, thats gold!
“Darn, guess I shouldn’t take a crap anymore without a credentialed proctologist standing by.”
You laugh, but yikes, ever since I got my intimate linings fried by chemo, I have days when this seems like a good idea.
I’m not defending the guy at all. He spouted off on a blog anonymously. He may or may not have more sides that this. I am related to someone by marriage, and I think this person is an awesome person, but they are also a fundamentalist Christian, conservative, Republican, anti-vaccination chiropractor. Certain of my personal views would be deeply offensive to this person, and there are things that I would never ever say to her/him. Some of these things I would talk about on my blog, like my complete disdain for anti-vaccination advocates that (in my opinion) endanger children throughout the world. Would I want someone to out me to him/her, even if not in public? I feel like if you want to argue with this guy the best way to do it is to explicitly take him to task for his words, and to correct him where you think he is wrong, and to do so to the best of your ability. Revenging yourself on his words by going to his boss is the same thing as outing him, and of course anyone here’s prerogative. Would you rather have such speech stifled, or be able to engage the person directly?
If these attitudes are prevailing amongst bad dudes, one option is to engage with the guy, the other option is to punish by throwing speech in his face. The entire world was just up in arms about Amanda and Melissa, and we stood up for their rights to say what they want.
As for this doctor being in positions of power over patients- all doctors are, and many doctors have incredible disdain for their patients, yet are still professional in their care. Perhaps this is a defense mechanism for some, in that they have to see people die all the time? I am not defending asshole doctors- I have to see them up close all the time.
Nobody wants to talk to their boss about their blog. Nobody. As for me, I’d rather be able to see this guy’s actual thoughts and respond to them, than have them exist in some hidden form where I can’t even discuss them with him.
You really think responding to his blog post will do anything? The guy is not 15 he is not mouthing off from ignorance he is making a conscious choice to describe people this way. His attitudes still will be hidden in his work- commenting on his blog post won’t change that. I completely disagree that assholes can still be good at their job. In fact some guy called Robert Sutton has just written a book about asshole-proofing the workplace called The No Asshole Rule. Let his supervisors engage with his asshole ideas.
Apologies for my earlier outburst, had to leave for work but yet wanted to express my (poorly worded) outrage before everyone moved on to more exciting topics.
What Lisa said.
While posting his remarks on a blog may have been impulsive, his underlying attitude behind them was not. You don’t wake up one day and suddenly decide all female people are stupid, especially if you spent 10 years learning about their strengths and weaknesses in order to help them. One would usually develope empathy in that case, not hatred. Perhaps he was merely a terribly insecure new doctor and venting, but I doubt it.
Privately alerting his superiors seems reasonable given his likely potential for future damage to patients.
Isn’t there some rule in law about how if you have a reasonable belief that harm will result, you have an obligation to do something? Child abuse reporting, or keeping your property clear of dangerous things, for examples.
Two bloggers spouting their opinion on the state of the nation is not the same as a doctor able to dictate a course of medical treatment for an individual.
If this doctor hated blacks, I would not trust him to properly care for any black folks. If someone knew my doctor hated black folks and didn’t tell me, I would be very angry with that person. I have a right to know if my doctor holds views which are incompatible with mine. I believe I have inherent value; he believes I don’t.
He is not willing to engage in further dialogue because he removed the site. What exactly are you going to debate with him about anyway, - that women are people too?
He probably took his site down because he realized that his anonymity was being challenged and it only takes one person to out him. I would strongly predict his blog would still be up if it hadn’t been for posts over the internet concerning who this guy is and how do we talk to his employer. So the fact that we cannot now discuss this with him does not support that the only recourse is to talk to his boss.
Since we exist in the patriarchy, men with disparaging views of women whether conscious or unconscious are all over the place- I do not want to defend this guy, and I am just extremely against outing, and if an asshole doctor is a danger to patients, then I’m never going to the hospital again. The reason to out him to his superiors seems to me to be punishment for his words. I realize other reasons can be expressed but I see it as “let’s get this guy fired” and the only difference between this and the Amanda situation is this guy is a doctor. I am not convinced he has demonstrated an extra (beyond)-assholic “danger to patients” that warrants talking to his boss. I respect everyone’s opinion here, so I won’t follow up.
The entire world was just up in arms about Amanda and Melissa, and we stood up for their rights to say what they want.
But to no avail; Amanda quit. As usual, the asshats win.
And PS passing the post on to his superiors is unlikely to get him fired, they are more likely to just talk to him about appropriate public behavior so as not to embarass the hospital.
I agree that revenge and the desire to punish him would not be acceptable reasons to out this nasty twerp. If this were simply a matter of dislike for the man, I would be out. That would be immature and not worthy of thinking adults. But this is not a matter of reasonable disagreement; this is a matter of the safety and well-being of his unfortunate patients. I agree with the racism analogy, and with the cry-for-help hypothesis. Let’s get him some help. If I were doing it, I would snail-mail screenshots of his blog *WITHOUT* identifying him specifically–just letting the hospital know that there is good reason to think that this person is somewhere in their organization. I would send it to several people, and I would include a cc list so there would be a little accountability. The administration would take it from there, as they saw fit.
I don’t blame individuals. I blame the patriarchy.
Here’s a thought: instead of sharing his tiresome opinions, the guy is probably now furtively reading this radical feminist blog on a daily basis, checking this discussion thread. Imagine–Docbag gets his daily dose of Twisty wisdom. Hee! Maybe he’ll learn something.
His short-lived blog, however, is now a thing of the past. Radical feminists–are they more courageous than Docbags? I think we know the answer.
I hate to say this, but I don’t think this guy is so unusual. Perhaps a bit more extreme than a lot of his colleagues, but that sort of contempt for women and for subordinates (not to mention for alternative forms of treatment) seems pretty de rigueur in mainstream medicine. Sadly, I don’t think anything is to be gained from outing him I think maribelle is right about what would happen.
Vera said:
“the guy is probably now furtively reading this radical feminist blog on a daily basis”
Heh. And getting righteously paranoid in the process.
Coming in late … SBD kept changing the degrees he got and the places he got them in, including at least one degree from a place that doesn’t offer that diploma.
So either he’s a troll, or he’s scared.
Either way, he’s an insect.
So, I went over to Googlecache and took a look at his blog, and unless mine eyes deceived me, he specifically mentioned a book he’s publishing. If this is actually true, it sounds to me like Switchblade will be outing himself. Quite publicly.
Found this at another blog, thought it applied in a roundabout way.
Branjor Says:
February 20th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Years ago, I identified in my mind the “3 Ps†as the “three great evils in the world.†They were “patriarchy, professionalism, and patriarchal religion.†The latter two are just parts of the former, of course. I was, and still am, alarmed at how often people think that the second, professionalism, is some sort of a force for good against patriarchy. “Oh, but professionals have ethics!†I got that line when I was a “patient†in a “mental health†center. The implication in that context was that nobody *but* professionals had ethics. I also found out that “professional ethics†operated primarily as a code of behavior towards other professionals, not towards “patientsâ€, though the mythology was that it was *primarily* a tool for patient protection and professionals benefitted from it little or not at all. “Patients†could be and were treated in the most unethical ways imaginable and there were no repercussions whatever. I am not just talking about rape and sexual assault, this went to severe psychological abuse masquerading as “therapyâ€, lying about and slandering “patients.â€
http://womensspace.wordpress.com
Frankly, if somebody doesn’t tell me they are notifying his new employer, I am going to feel VERY let down by this group of bloggers. If you hate the peope you’re supposed to care for; if you hate half the population, then you can not be trusted to do right by them.
Heh. Looks like I figured out how to use WHOIS just before he changed it. He is in trouble!