How many different doctor did you have growing up for Exams?

How many different doctor did you have growing up for Physical Exams?

For example…I had my regular pediatrician, a school doctor I saw twice, and a random doc who I saw when I was 17 with my regular doctor wasn’t available.

If you had different docs growing up, were the exams different or the same? How so?

Elementary and HS until graduation, I had the same doc. WWII vet and ex military doc. From undergrad until 30 or so, various docs since I did not know where I was going to live. I would go to college health office or clinic's near the campus. From 30-50 I had a couple of different docs since I moved from one city to another and it was too far to go for exams.

I have seen the health system go from really intensive exams to just barely feeling if you have a pulse.

Between 40 and 50 I had a really good "mature" doc who was very old school and I still "striped to my underwear" for him. Hell, I even striped while he was in the exam room since he was running late.

Currently, my doc is a couple of years older than me and I strip to my underwear for him.

I only had one doctor when I was a child and a teenager, who was a pediatric family doctor.

I don't think I can count how many doctors I saw during my early childhood years using both my hands and feet. I was in foster care until age 11 and I had to see whatever medical provider was available. More often than not I was in the exam room alone with the provider despite rules stating an escort had to be present during an exam. I had (and still have, regretfully) asthma and low weight and on more than one occasion I was abused or at least mishandled by so called medical professionals.

Shortly before my 11th birthday I went to a new foster home. I was expecting the same old dog and pony act. Another year of parental abuse then getting dumped back into a group home only to start the process all over again. This lack of consistency only exacerbated my feelings of perpetual anxiety.

My FPs were nothing short of a godsend. We bonded quickly and we developed some solid trust over the next three years. They adopted me at 14. My biological mother struggled with addiction and was not capable of caring for me. She overdosed and died the day after my 15th birthday.

Within a few weeks after being in my new foster home I was taken to a Pediatric Adolescent Medicine Specialist for a very comprehensive physical. There was concern about my asthma, low weight and emotional problems. All three (Mom, Dad and my doctor) along with a pediatric pulmonologist worked very hard to get me heathier and physically fit. I was on my school's diving team. The only relief I found for my stress was on that diving platform. I was taught how to carry on with that momentarily confident demeanor I had on the diving platform after getting out of the pool. The love and care I had in my new home sent me on the road to a relatively normal adolescence. I had great days, good days, mediocre days and some awful nights of sleep deprivation and very bad nightmares, but I slowly started making progress. I was under this doctor's care until I finished college at 22.

I only had two besides the school doctor in elementary school

Two pediatricians. The first was from birth until mid 6th grade. He had me strip down to my briefs for my physical exams but always had me take them off at the end to have my genitals examined. He let my mother stay in the exam room.

In February of 6th grade we moved and soon after my mother took me to my new pediatrician who I had until the end of high school. Not unusual for the time I stripped down to my briefs but when the doctor came into the exam room he had me strip them off to get weighed and he kept me nude for the entire exam. He also let my mother stay in the exam room.

At the very end of high school my dad took me to his doctor for my college physical exam. I stayed with that doctor for years after that.

I underwent some school physicals, I'm unsure how many exactly. I recall only one with some clarity (I recall having to take my briefs down). I suppose the doctors would be different.

When little I went to pediatricians and doctors but I don't recall them. From age 6 to 19, I think I had 3 different GPs: a woman and her husband, and then another lady. I recall seeing another lady but I don't recall why. I also saw specialists (at least 3 surgeons, an ear/throat/nose specialist, etc.).

I mostly recall the two women GPs.

Good question. I have a little anecdote about the family doctor when I was a baby. The first GP I had seen in my entire life, and his stamp is still on my health record. He was not taking babies, but because I was my mother's daughter, he made an exception for me. If you called his secretary to book an exam for a baby, she'd go "ah, sorry, Dr. [name] does not examine infants, find another doctor". But then if you said my mother's last name, she'd go "ah, yes, let me find you something" lol. I was his only baby patient and it feels kind of special now. Wonder where he is now, wouldn't be surprised if he was retired.

But in all honesty I had probably one doctor per place of living in my childhood which... means probably a lot. Probably all the exams were the same, my memories are fuzzy about it. I was rarely going to the doctor except when I was genuinely sick (not little colds or having thrown up once at night, like, real illness with fever, things that would warrant me missing school kinda thing), and for vaccinations. Probably my biggest reason to go to the doc was for that more than for being sick. For the very rare injury that warrants medical attention like the one on my foot ligament at age 10, too. All of them were GPs, not pediatricians. I saw only one of the latter when I was two and the experience was so bad my parents never took me to one again (recounted it in another thread, but basically the guy was massive, scary, and also a jerk).

I remember vividly one female doctor with destroyed fingernails when I was 8. Bleach blonde woman with short hair, black eyeliner, brown eyes I think, in her mid 50s probably. I don't remember her as being a bad doc, she was pretty nice, but I remember her fingers. Looking back, for her nails to look this bad and bitten... she must've been going through some shit. At the time I was biting mine to the point I'd bleed too, and my dad would say, "you'll have Dr. [name]'s fingers if you keep doing that Hi'iaka!", along with showing me gross gory pictures of infected bitten nails in an effort to "shock" me into stopping that habit. But I didn't. I think I only stopped after moving away and began again as soon as shit hit the fan again in that new place. Only stopped biting them for real in my teens to evade bullying, but then my coping mechanisms became something else. Again, wonder where this one is now. She's got a very common last name. I just hope she's okay, whatever was bothering her at the time.

I had 2 pediatricians growing up.

The first one examined me from birth until I was about 6 years old. He was a man in his 60s. I always had to be in my underwear from the beginning of the exam, then he would take my weight, height, then take my temperature and blood pressure then check my eyes, ears and throat while I was sitting on the exam table. After that I had to lie down so he could do a full abdominal exam. After that he would take off my underwear and then examine my balls and retract my foreskin.

The second was a woman in her 40s. I used to hate her lol. The exam was similar except she required me to take off only my pants for the exam, then she would measure me, weigh me, take my blood pressure and temperature then check my eyes, ears and throat. After that she would make me lie down and briefly pull down my underwear to examine my genitals.

Growing up, there were 2 family doctors in their private practice. I saw either at annual physicals. Their demeanor was the same as far as I could tell.

For physicals, all I remember was our family medicine GP. I don’t remeber if I ever had a group sports physical in junior high, all I recall is getting a release form filled out by our doctor to return to the school.

The first pediatrician from infancy to about 10 was a lovely man who died from a heart attack. He was so kind and gentle with his exams. I really don't recall having to be naked for him though there was the occasional rectal temp taken from the nurse. He looked like a teddy bear.

The second one was not nice and very thoughtless when it came time to see me from ages 10-12. He largely believed that a rectal temp was a prerequisite for any visit so clothing was optional, meaning I had to be bare for the exam. Shots went in the tush.

We switched to an "adolescent specialist" from 13-18. He was okay; his exams meant losing my briefs every exam and gave me my first rectal at 18. He was business like for the most part. His exams were thorough and shots always updated; typically in the butt.

College and grad school meant using the school clinics. Each was a bit different but exams were thorough and complete in general.

I had three different doctors growing up. My normal pediatrician I saw for the most part from 12-20 and then had two fill in doctors once each...one was really embarrassing and super thorough...talking a lot about my development, doing measurements and checking me totally naked and with my boxers pulled down.

Hard to count, two for one on one general physicals. However there was an around the stations physical at 11, last year at Primary school.

More than I could count, and I’m not sure why. I had a regular pediatrician up through, like age 6 (and occasionally saw different ones at the practice if he wasn’t available) but then about halfway through elementary school we started going to a family practice, and I never had a regular doctor there and haven’t really had one ever since.

I had only one pediatrician. When I was there for the last time, I think he was over 70.