Colon and Rectal Surgeons - Ann Arbor, MI

"I am an otherwise healthy 48-year old male referred by my PCP to Colorectal Surgery at Michigan Medicine for an internal hemorrhoid. I was initially scheduled to see a female PA-C; however, due to the rather compromising medical exam I was expecting I opted for a male provider. At my appointment, a female medical student briefly reviewed my medical history and symptoms. She was followed by the colorectal surgeon, Dr. John Charles Byrn. Dr. Byrn called in his female medical assistant before describing the exam he would perform, then asked me to hop up on the table in a crouch with my bare bottom pointing upward. He did not ask once if I was comfortable with either a female medical student or a female medical assistant being present during the exam. I had been assured by my wife, who is a physician, that it was customary to ask a patient if they were comfortable with, for example, a medical student of the opposite gender being present, particularly during a physical examination. I told Dr. Byrn of my discomfort with having female students/assistants present during the exam. He told me, with palpable condescension, that he couldn’t tell them to leave, that he needed chaperones and that “UMHS is a teaching institution and medical students have a right to be present in the room” I asked him to reconsider but he refused, only this time replying “In this case, you may have to go somewhere else.” I said, “Ok, we’re done, I am leaving.” He took his surgical gloves off indicating that he was done with me. I was shaken and angry, and I called him rude, unprofessional, and arrogant to his face. He then told me he’d try and talk to his medical team to see if he could find a male chaperone. At this point any possible rapport was irreparably damaged and I just wanted to leave. He kept repeating over and over his argument about the compromises patients must make in a teaching institution. I grew frustrated and pointed out to him that what just took place, even before the medical exam, was patronizing and humiliating to me as a patient. I challenged the logic of his arguments. His attitude toward me turned combative and he even accused me of “abuse”. I guess his definition of “abuse” is being called unprofessional and arrogant. He called security and had me wait for them. Security personnel displayed the courtesy and empathy that the doctor lacked, and gave me the number to Patient Relations to file a complaint. According to Michigan Medicine’s chaperone policy, “Whenever possible, but not required, the chaperone should be the gender that the patient feels most comfortable with.” As mentioned, this option (of a male chaperone) was not even given to me initially and was only presented as a possibility after much argument and dissuasion. To see how egregious Dr. Byrn’s behavior towards me was, you need only to reverse the genders of patient and chaperones and replace them with a 19 year old female patient and male chaperones. Or how about a 50 year old Orthodox Jewish woman as a patient? Would using “patients must compromise in a teaching institution” guilt to bully these hypothetical patients be appropriate? How about calling security on them for strenuously objecting? In case it’s not blatantly obvious, I do not recommend Dr. Byrn. "