When I first gave a talk entitled, “The 2 Minute Breast Exam,” in 2004 I received several messages from women’s health advocates who said I was making a dangerous suggestion that a breast exam could be done in such a short time.
I can see that “2 minutes” might seem almost a dismissively short time; and I agree that it is important in some situations to spend a lot more time.
However, 2 minutes is so much more time than most women receive that it seems a very valid place to begin. When all women receive at least a 2 minute clinical breast exam every year, we will be in a position to begin to test whether a longer exam is better. This will require a randomized trial, not just opinions.
My personal prediction is that when clinicians do clinical breast exams on all women, and spend just 2 minutes per patient, they will become very skilled; and 2 minutes will be sufficient.
The reason for this is that I do a double exam on all women. The first exam lasts about 2 minutes and the second exam rechecks the first exam. I have yet to find something on the second exam that I have missed on the first, 2 minute exam.
As the Canadian researchers, Leo Mahoney and Adele Csima, wrote over 20 years ago, a 2 minute exam done routinely should be our first major goal.
Click here to view a 2 minute breast exam
In presentations, when women are shown a video of a CBE as short as 2 minutes, only about one in five says that she has had a breast exam that is even that thorough. More »
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