For personal reasons, I opted to change doctors and use one that specializes in internal medicine right in my hometown that has Saturday appointments.
I had only seen the outside of the office, but when I went there, the practice has been temporarily relocated a few blocks up the road. I don't know if equipment had been left behind because I have never been inside the original place.
When I was called into her office, there was no exam table. I sat in a chair and we discussed what i was there for (an annual physical), why i was changing doctors (I basically took the high road), and family history. She was getting to know me for the 1st time as a new patient. When I told her about the history of cancer, she said she was going to give me a full exam. I think she meant a full blood exam. As I sat there, she put a blood pressure cuff on me, and the reading was crazy. She told me to not mind it.
In addition to her taking my blood, she listened to my chest and back over my shirt as i continued to sit there. The exam concluded with her giving me a container for a urine specimen.
She didn't even do HEENT.
And here i wore my GRID jockstrap, which has a strong waistband that doesn't fold over while i'm sitting like some other waistbands. But I never had a chance to be exposed in it.
I'm figuring since this was the 1st time she met me, and that this may be a temporary set up, I just left it at that for now. I'll see her again in about 6 months for a script refill, and then for another annual physical next year. At which time, i may or may not ask about a DRE since i have a family history of prostate cancer and that she is already aware of it.
From reading people's accounts on here, I suspect this is typical for modern day wellness exams. Especially since she knows I see a dermatologist annually and get colonoscopies periodically. I suppose the next medical professional that would see my genitals would be a urologist if I were to develop any issues.
One of the things I can always do is to call up the offices of various PCPs and ask about what their annual physicals or wellness exams would entail. To make sure there is an option out there to be looked at more thoroughly, which may more closely resemble the way I've known exams to be conducted.
I still blame all the people who have made claims of sexual impropriety, or complained about or had issues with modesty., as well as those medical professionals who actually did overstep their bounds. Although we're far removed from the days when medical professionals had more of a military background or accustomed to such.