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I agree with Berlin.

Yes, doctors are there to provide recommendations and sometimes common sense to their patients, but in no way are they there to judge.

 

It is their professional obligation to provide the best care possible to their patients, whatever the situation of their patients.

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Anyone else get the 20 questions from their doctor?

 

Yep. Which is why I've been going to sexual health clinics for the last ten years. I started getting tested when I began university, and to be completely honest, I wasn't always the strictest in using protection at the time. So I'd request testing from my doctor and at THREE different doctors I was told 'nah, you're fine you're not high risk'. I'd say 'I just told you I have been having unprotected sex, exactly what is risky behaviour to you?' and at all three doctors I literally had to demand testing.

 

It's funny because now I don't take any risks, but now I have no problems getting my tests done. Ahhh life is 'funny' that way.

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I sometimes think these doctors feel like they are paying personally for the tests, or they have a max free and more than that is extra.

 

If you have to argue to get testing, I'd worry that the doctor doesn't check off everything you should be tested for, like the weird things you never hear about or hep B or something out of the ordinary. Go to an std clinic and its like they won't let you to turn down anything on their list lol.

 

I'm set up on their system under a pseudonym, no care card, no SIN, nada. If you were working in the country illegally, it is a great option to go there as well. They are interested in promoting testing, they aren't going to discourage you from doing it. They will track the info, because everything can be added to the stats, and the more people get tested, the better health everyone has.

 

I found at the place I go to you have to ask on the first visit for written results, and you do have to go in to pick up the HIV results, whether pos or neg, doesn't matter. Its also sometimes a struggle to get a hard copy of test results from family doctors. Not impossible, but it shouldn't be a huge effort to get anything from your doctor.

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Browsing the Ottawa site listed at the top of the thread, it looks like if you test positive they are required by law to do a few things, contact previous sex partners, etc. etc.

 

While this obviously has a good reason, it does imply that at some point the testing can't be fully anonymous.

 

Opinions?

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Browsing the Ottawa site listed at the top of the thread, it looks like if you test positive they are required by law to do a few things, contact previous sex partners, etc. etc.

 

While this obviously has a good reason, it does imply that at some point the testing can't be fully anonymous.

 

Opinions?

 

 

Even at that point, it would depend on the std. The clinic or health dept here makes it clear that they contact the other sex partners, and let them know that someone came in, tested positive, and they need to get tested. There is no reason why they need to provide a name to the one they are informing. The point is to encourage testing not to get your real name.

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I prefer not to involve my personal physician in any way with my routine sti testing. Instead, I've relied on visits at walk-in clinics or at a community health clinic specializing in testing.

 

The community health clinic offers the only "anonymous" testing, as they submit their test applications and specimens under a coded number, one that they have assigned in place of the client's name. The results are returned to the community health clinic and you are given an appointment date to review your results with the nurse. If your tests are positive, you can then deal with the nurse directly on the sensitive bits. By law, they still need to report your positive test results to the province, but the clinic's health nurse will contact your partners (you will be asked to provide some way of contacting those that have been in sexual contact with you).

 

However, if you go to your physician or to a walk-in clinic, you will be asked to provide your provincial health number. Your health number will be used to track the test through the process. If you test positive, a copy of the report is forwarded to the province and one of the health nurse will contact your partners to tell them that a partner has tested positive. Unfortunately, the province will also send a letter to your home address to "ask" you to come in for an appointment to "deal with a health matter".

 

For that reason, I tend to use the "anonymous" service provided by the community health clinic.

 

We depend upon the health care system to safeguard our private information. However, any system is only as sound as the weakest component. The weakest components are "humans".. I interviewed a job candidate recently for a position in our company. This person disclosed that a previous job was a clerical position with the testing lab that performed all of the sti testing in the province. This persons' job was to maintain records of all tests being submitted and to record the results of all tests into the medical database. In the interview, the candidate mused how "interesting" this job was (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) which I understood to mean "look at all the prominent people that are getting sti tests performed.."

 

Needless to say, I didn't hire that one..

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Browsing the Ottawa site listed at the top of the thread, it looks like if you test positive they are required by law to do a few things, contact previous sex partners, etc. etc.

 

While this obviously has a good reason, it does imply that at some point the testing can't be fully anonymous.

 

Opinions?

 

I get tested regularly and the only testing I know of in Ottawa that is fully anonymous, is testing for HIV.

 

http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/health/living/sexual/clinic_en.html#P58_3572

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