(ASHLEY) I'm not in a monogamous relationship
and I just want to make sure I'm protecting myself.
(DEIJA) I don't have a boyfriend
but I do sometimes see someone I like.
(MADELINE) I like boys and girls but I am not sexually active.
(EDRIC) Because I'm sexually active
I get myself tested every three months.
I think your doctor's a good person to talk to
about sexual health because they can help you
as far as doing an assessment of your risk.
Your doctor can be a partner in your journey
during your teenage years.
It's the physician's responsibility
to make sure that we take a complete and comprehensive
sexual history on all patients.
But for teenagers, I do it with every visit.
I say, "Is everything okay,
do we have any needs in regards to sexual health?"
Sexual health is about having
a positive and respectful and responsible approach
to sexuality and a relationship.
You can't tell if your partner has an STD
just by looking at them.
Most STDs don't have any symptoms,
so a good way to have a safe and healthy sexual relationship
is to go with your partner and get tested before you have sex.
A sexually transmitted disease
can be passed on from one person to the next
through any type of sexual contact.
Typically penile, vaginal, sexual contact
or it may be even passed on through skin-to-skin contact.
I know sometimes people feel that oral sex is much safer,
but you can still contract STDs that way as well.
STDs, from oral sex?
(DR. WIMBERLY) Yes, yes.
(RENEE JENKINS) The person at risk
for getting a sexually transmissible infection
is anybody who has unprotected sex.
We try to, first of all,
encourage young people not to have sex.
But for those who choose to have sex,
ways to prevent STDs, are going to be to use condoms,
amongst teenagers that's a very common method,
but not only using a condom,
but knowing how to use the condom.
I had had a sexual experience with my first partner
and I was like, I need to tell the doctor.
And I know they're going to ask if it was with a female or male,
and I needed to be honest.
It was scary.
My doctor was very cool.
She actually calmed me down.
She was like, it's okay;
I see that kind of thing all the time.
So when was the last time you had sex?
It was about a month ago.
Okay, do you have sex with males, females or both?
Males.
Okay.
It's important at the onset
of the relationship with the patient,
to tell them that I know that things may be embarrassing.
I'm going to meet you where you are as you are,
and appreciate that.
When I went to a general checkup for my doctor
it was the first time I talked about sex or asked about sex.
So I was nervous about asking
and the reason I asked was because I was very curious.
She asked if I was sexually active,
if I was dating a boy or a girl.
And I said I am not currently sexually active
and I like boys and girls,
but I do not have a boyfriend or a girlfriend.
I teach physicians all the time
about being as nonjudgmental as possible,
especially when you're talking about sex.
When I spoke to my doctor, I had a negative experience.
I had a new partner and we used protection
but I developed, like a rash,
and I just felt like I should go get it checked out.
And, she looked at it and she said,
"If it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck,
then it's probably a duck."
And I just felt like that was really inappropriate;
like I left the appointment crying because I was so upset,
and finally they called me back to get my actual results
and they were negative.
If your doctor is judgmental when you bring it up,
then you really need to think about
if that is the provider for you.
When I go into the room I say
everything that we're going to talk about in this room,
once the parent or guardian steps out, is confidential,
unless I think that you're going
to harm yourself or others.
I encourage all physicians to have policies
that are posted in their office,
to talk about what are the confidentiality issues.
Confidentiality is really important
because I know that if I were to be having sex
and my mom was informed, I would be like,
I'm never going to talk to you ever again.
So there has to be trust.
If anyone finds it hard
to talk about sexual health with their parents,
then they should definitely talk to a doctor.
Now when I talk to my doctor about sexual health,
I really don't have a problem with it because I developed
a good relationship with my doctor.
(EDRIC) Learning about sexual health and the issues around it
make it easier to talk to a partner or partners.
The more you talk about it,
the more comfortable you get talking about sex.
So you can say,
"No, that's going to put us at risk for HIV, herpes,
"gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis.
So let's not do that; let's do this instead."
(ELIZABETH TORRONE) As a young person,
you have a right to talk to your health care provider
about your sexual health.
You don't have to be embarrassed.
Your provider can help you figure out
for which STDS you need to be tested,
and also help you figure out how to protect yourself
against getting STDs.
(DEIJA) You need to talk to a person
who is experienced in health.
It's like, Duh! 00:04:53.433,00:00:00.000