During his examination of Cal, Dr. Luce came prepared with his own agenda, asking leading questions to try to determine what gender Cal associated with. Dr. Luce never explains to Cal why he is asking the questions. Because of the abrupt nature of this question-and-answer method, Cal did not realize this could help discovery of his own identity, and instead, tried to cater his answers to Dr. Luce. As a physician, I would have done things a little differently from Dr. Luce. It would have been better to ask more gradual, open-ended and unbiased questions so that Cal felt more comfortable opening up and answering questions honestly.
Dr. Luce’s diagnosis was based on his personal theory and research – that despite having XY chromosomes, Cal’s primary gender was the gender assigned at birth (a female). It also seemed like common practice at the time to hide a sensitive diagnosis from a patient. Dr. Luce should have been honest with Cal, explaining the condition instead of taking it upon himself to assign a gender to Cal. I would have taken into consideration genetic findings as well as patient identification, environment and sexuality to try to help Cal identify with a gender (or degree of gender fluidity). Other tests that may not have been available at the time would be to do hormone tests, karyotyping and ultrasound to try to determine the “biological” relationship to Cal’s gender. …show more content…
Luce used gender-neutral terminology, which conveyed insensitivity. Dr. Luce gave the impression that he forgot that that Cal was still a person with a disease; instead Luce treated the interaction like a scientific discovery rather than patient care. Dr. Luce should have recognized the feelings both Cal and his parents, and tried to alleviate any anxiety and isolation, instead of adding to
Dr. Luce’s diagnosis was based on his personal theory and research – that despite having XY chromosomes, Cal’s primary gender was the gender assigned at birth (a female). It also seemed like common practice at the time to hide a sensitive diagnosis from a patient. Dr. Luce should have been honest with Cal, explaining the condition instead of taking it upon himself to assign a gender to Cal. I would have taken into consideration genetic findings as well as patient identification, environment and sexuality to try to help Cal identify with a gender (or degree of gender fluidity). Other tests that may not have been available at the time would be to do hormone tests, karyotyping and ultrasound to try to determine the “biological” relationship to Cal’s gender. …show more content…
Luce used gender-neutral terminology, which conveyed insensitivity. Dr. Luce gave the impression that he forgot that that Cal was still a person with a disease; instead Luce treated the interaction like a scientific discovery rather than patient care. Dr. Luce should have recognized the feelings both Cal and his parents, and tried to alleviate any anxiety and isolation, instead of adding to