Working in Himerus Health not much surprises us. We have generally heard it all. Most people come in really afraid and nervous and leave feeling a whole lot better. Often because they realise that what the have is entirely treatable, or that they haven’t what they thought they had . Sometimes even just chatting to us and realising that they are normal lifts a big weight off your shoulders.
Sometimes people are hesitant about having an STI screen as there is an urban legend out there that if you have an STI test and in particular a HIV test, it can affect your future insurance. This myth is absolutely that, a myth. You medical notes and especially any sexual health notes are entirely secure, they are between you and your Doctor and are only contained within the practice and are not accessible outside. For any part of your medical notes to be given to a third party your written consent has to be obtained. Even if there was a reason you wanted your insurance company to have access to your sexual health notes you cannot be penalised for having had an STI screen, in fact it shows you are responsible with your health care.
Patients come to us with all sorts of problems and we don’t bat an eyelid. When you do this job day in day out you end up hearing a lot of stories many of which are of a very sensitive nature and so it is important it is treated as such. Often we get asked why we do what we do. Personally speaking one of the best aspects of being a Doctor is using your knowledge to make someone feel a whole lot better, in sexual health you can do that in most consultations and it is a great feeling when your patients leave visibly relieved, that makes this job great.