 Introduction Physical examination of the pelvis is an important core skill that medical students need to acquire. However, the experience of undergraduates to vaginal examination is becoming increasingly limited such that medical students in Birmingham can qualify without ever performing a vaginal examination in an outpatient setting personal communication, Raut N. It is well recognised that the intimate nature of the examination poses additional challenges to medical students and their teachers in gaining consent for supervised training. However, other factors may now be affecting student experience. These include competing pressures on contemporary undergraduate medical curricula resulting in traditional clinical placements, such as obstetrics and gynaecology OG, becoming shortened in many academic medical institutions. Empowerment of patients combined with changes in their expectations of interactions with medical professionals may have further restricted access to clinical cases. Changes in attitudes to teaching gynaecological examination may not be restricted to patients; medical educationalists may also have become more conservative or less experienced such that they find teaching vaginal examination an increasing challenge. 