Its going to seem like I'm picking on Egypt here but I don't mean to, it is just the country where we have something in common. I've worked with lots of Egyptian Gynaecologists during my early years of rotations and still meet up with quite a few at Egyptian medical events in the UK. They are superb doctors, with lots of knowledge and very highly skilled. Let's just say though that some of them tend to let religion and culture infringe on their views with regards to things like abortion, fgm and hymens, regardless of how skilled they may be otherwise. A surgeon should not be bringing god into the conversation at all. And no, god won't just take care of them himself and this is one of the few things I get annoyed about whenever I'm in Egypt. 'Nobody will look after him/her better than God', as there are literally tens of millions of examples across Egypt and hundreds of millions of examples across the Muslim world of the exact opposite of that happening. One of the street kids Nelly was telling me about was born out of wedlock, had no identity, schooling, access to healthcare. She lived her entire life on the street, with no real family other than other street kids. I'm sure her mum was raped or had sex out of wedlock, like that's something which should condemn multiple people to a horrible life. She would get rounded up by the police at times. She had been raped multiple times, beaten many many times, spat on, hit, shunned. Lived a pretty horrific life really. And died as a teenager. Where exactly was God looking after her in this case?
Not to mention that some congenital abnormalities leave the foetus viable in utero yet they always die within a few hours of birth so not really fitting in with the God spontaneous abortion theory either.
Yet many 'respected' Egyptian obstetricians were perfectly happy to perform FGM in their clinics. I do know in Egypt it is a different story of course but that doesn't mean I think it is right. Like I said, I think even the words being used are a problem. We just discount the guy as a 'playboy' and nothing ever happens to him. The woman's life is literally turned upside down though. Essentially she either dies from a backalley abortion, she gets it and most likely lives with incredible guilt for her whole life, whether she's Christian or Muslim, or she has the child and is most likely shunned by society. Meanwhile the guy goes around continuing to screw.
Firstly, as a medical student, you know very well I'm sure that there are lots of reasons why someone may not choose to use certain contraceptives. Pretty much all of them come with some kind of side effects if they involve hormones. The IUD also comes with side effects and some women are not comfortable with having something permanently inserted in that way. I'm happy and proud that medicine in the UK and most of the rest of Europe/North America/ Oceania is based as much around patient preference as possible.
Look man, I get it. I don't mean this in a patronising way at all but I know what Egyptian culture is like and how many people think, your approach is completely normal and typical in Egypt and I don't blame you. Its how you've grown up. I saw that you were saying you're looking to move to the UK to work here once you're finished with your studies. Firstly, good luck! Secondly, if you can tolerate the distance, it being slightly more competitive and a significantly increased rate of casual racism (often borne of ignorance rather than actual malice), seriously think about Australia. The living conditions, work/life balance, general atmosphere, respect and money are all on a different level to the UK. To be honest, every single aspect of being a doctor is better there. And thirdly, I'm by no means saying you should loosen your religious beliefs or become an atheist or whatever. But I do hope a move to the West will open up your viewpoints a little bit and maybe introduce you to some different experiences, as it has for many people before, my friend.
