The Case for Female Surgeons in Anorectal Practice
By Dr. Swati Tongale, MS Ayurveda Shalya Tantra
The Consultations I Remember
I remember a woman in her mid-forties who had been living with a painful anal fissure for three years. Three years. She had not consulted a doctor because her local specialists were all male, and the thought of examination was, in her words, "impossible to imagine." When she finally came to our hospital because someone told her there was a female surgeon, she cried in the consultation room before we even started talking.
I remember a young woman with a fistula that had progressed to complex disease over two years of avoidance. Her fistula could have been treated much more easily two years earlier.
I remember dozens of women who told me, quietly, that they had specifically requested a female specialist and were relieved to find one. Not because male specialists are bad. Because for certain examinations and procedures, patient comfort with the doctor's gender matters, and the option should exist.
What This Access Barrier Actually Costs
In much of Vidarbha and rural Maharashtra, female surgeons are uncommon. Anorectal specialists specifically are even rarer to find in female form. This is not an abstract statistic; it is a lived reality that costs women health outcomes every day.
Women delay consultation for:
- Anorectal problems (piles, fissure, fistula)
- Female-specific concerns (gynaecological Ayurvedic care, Uttarbasti indications)
- Sensitive medical issues generally
The delay converts easily-treatable conditions into complex ones, and treatable conditions into chronic ones. It is a real, measurable cost.
Why I Focus on Female Care
Practising as one half of a husband-wife surgical partnership at Shri Manmukund Hospital, I have deliberately built my clinical scope around this access gap. My practice includes:
- Female proctology (piles, fissure, fistula, pilonidal in women)
- Uttarbasti for infertility (a specialised Ayurvedic application)
- Menstrual disorders and postnatal Ayurvedic care
- General surgical care with a female-patient-preferred option
The intent is not to make gender central to every consultation. It is to remove gender as a barrier when it is one, and to be available as a specialist when female patients want that specifically.
What Male Colleagues Get Right and What They Cannot
Male surgeons are excellent clinicians. I have learnt substantially from male teachers, colleagues, and my clinical partner Dr. Vipin. Nothing in this piece suggests otherwise.
But there are consultations, examinations, and procedures where a female patient simply prefers a female specialist. This preference is not irrational, not old-fashioned, not something patients should be pushed to overcome. It is a legitimate preference that deserves accommodation.
The best male colleagues understand this and welcome female-specialist availability as a benefit to patients. The best clinical partnerships include both genders precisely so patients have the choice.
What I Would Like Female Patients to Know
If you have been delaying a consultation because your local specialist is male, please consider:
- The problem you are avoiding is very likely treatable.
- Delay often makes it more complex to treat, not less.
- Female-specialist options exist. Ours is one; there are others across Maharashtra and India.
- In the consultation, you will be treated with dignity, in privacy, at your pace.
- A companion (mother, sister, husband, friend) is welcome to accompany you.
You have carried this concern long enough. Let a specialist help.
What I Would Like Medical Systems to Do
At institutional and policy level, three things would improve female access to specialty care:
- More female surgical trainees, especially in surgical specialties historically male-dominated.
- Institutional recognition that female-specialist availability matters for female patient outcomes.
- Marketing and communication from hospitals that explicitly acknowledges the female-specialist option.
None of this is anti-male. It is pro-patient. Female patients deserve the option.
What I Do in My Own Practice
Every female patient who comes to Shri Manmukund Hospital is offered the option of female-specialist care. If she prefers to see Dr. Vipin, she does. If she prefers to see me, she does. If she wants a companion during examination, one is welcome. If she wants to bring her mother, sister, or husband, they are welcome.
These are small things. They add up to something larger: a practice where female patients feel comfortable seeking care they need.
That is the case for female surgeons in anorectal practice, in my words.
Dr. Swati Tongale, MS Ayurveda Shalya Tantra, is co-founder of Shri Manmukund Hospital, Amravati, and lead of the Female Care Unit. Her clinical focus includes female proctology, Uttarbasti for infertility, menstrual disorders, and postnatal Ayurvedic care. She practices alongside her clinical partner Dr. Vipin Tongale, and specifically serves patients who prefer a female specialist for sensitive care.
- Dr. Swati's page
- Female Care Unit
- Female Proctology
- Uttarbasti for Infertility
