A man says he hadn’t had a physical in so long he forgot what happens, so after hearing friends talk about Pap smears, he asked his doctor for one

Mark Roberts (mmarkroberts) recently shared a video on Instagram that has pulled in hundreds of thousands of views, in which he said he “made a fool of [himself] at [his] doctor’s appointment.” Roberts told his viewers that he neglected his annual physical for a while and, as a result, “I kind of forgot, like, what the doctors even did, like what their procedures were.” He noted that he often heard his friends mention Pap smears and assumed he needed one, not realizing that only his female friends mentioned it.

Roberts said that he sat through his appointment, waiting for the doctor to offer a Pap smear as she gave him a clean bill of health. When she finished the physical and asked if he needed anything else, he decided to take his sister’s advice about advocating for himself and asked for the test. He noted, “She looks at me with the blankest stare for like five excruciating seconds,” before asking if he wanted the test for someone else. Roberts said he vehemently stated it was for himself.

“This doctor, in the most elegant way, goes on to be like, well, after doing your physical, I’ve come to the conclusion that you don’t exactly qualify for a Pap smear,” Roberts said. When he asked if it was an insurance problem, she corrected him, saying it was an anatomy problem. He told his viewers that he still didn’t get it, at least until he looked it up after he left. Roberts wryly noted, “I quickly found out what a Pap smear actually was and to think that I thought I was being an advocate that whole time.”

The test screens for cervical cancer, so it only applies to people with a cervix

According to the Mayo Clinic, a Pap smear is a procedure used to collect cells from the cervix to screen for cervical cancer. The cervix is the lower, narrow end of the uterus. The test, which is often performed during a pelvic exam, helps find cancer early or identify cells that could become cancerous later. Mayo Clinic notes that screening is recommended for anyone who has a cervix, starting at age 21.

Roberts’s video drew amusement and frustration from viewers who were annoyed by the general lack of knowledge about women’s health or outdated OB-GYN exams. As one user asked, “Is education in the U.S. a crime or something?” Most comments were kind about it, with another user writing, “I love that you were so passionately advocating for yourself to get a procedure that you didn’t even know what it was.”

Others talked about having similar conversations with men. One user shared a story about their youngest brother asking if he needed a Pap smear, while another shared that their ex was concerned about getting endometriosis after learning about the condition.

Others shared that men also have gender-specific tests, with one person noting, “Nah, bro. We get the prostate exam instead. It’s the guy version of being violated in a health screening.” Others talked about exams like testicular exams, and one user, who identified themselves as a doctor, shared that women have also asked for prostate-specific tests.

In his caption, Roberts asked if he was the only one who was clueless, then offered an amusing takeaway. He wrote, “The lesson is that you should always advocate for yourself cause if you do you may just learn something.”

Attack of the Fanboy was unable to independently verify the doctor’s side of the story, as this account originates solely from Roberts’s Instagram video.