Rules for studying and practising obstetrics and gynaecology

A question from a medical student on attending practical obstetrics and gynaecology classes, men specialising in the field, and patients being pressed to be examined before students, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that women should in principle treat women, need is met only as far as it goes, and a patient may not be compelled. ¹

A medical student asked about three things: attending practical teaching in which a patient's private parts are exposed even though some women object; a male doctor specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology; and a professor refusing to treat, or scolding, a patient who refuses male students, on the grounds that her treatment is free. ¹

The Department answered that the sharia encourages seeking treatment and learning medicine, which jurists count as a communal obligation not limited to one sex, but that in principle women treat women and men treat men, and any need is met only as far as it requires. ¹ It said the same applies to teaching: women should teach women and men teach men, and providing specialists of both sexes must be pursued; where no specialist of the same sex is available, a man may treat a woman or the reverse out of need, observing the rules, citing al-Bujayrimi's gloss. ¹ In teaching, teaching aids that achieve the aim without exposing private parts come first; if that is not possible, practice should be among students of the same sex, within the limits of need. ¹ It said that compelling a patient to be treated by a male doctor or trainee breaches the rules protecting patient privacy, and is not permitted in sharia when a female doctor or trainee is available. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3817, dated 17 October 2023. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.