Editor - Geniuses were considered lunatics, and saints were branded as witches before people realised their real contribution to society. This is an unfortunate aspect of human mentality.

No wonder the gynaecological teaching associates, who are doing such a commendable job, are being condemned and are accused of being prostitutes, lesbians, etc.¹ Eventually these critics will let go of their conservative mind sets and acknowledge the services provided by these noble women. It would be proper to legitimise their efforts by recognising them as health professionals.

In India, where I work, we cannot even think of the concept of gynaecological teaching associates for two reasons. Firstly, financial constraints in hiring additional personnel—even manikins are beyond affordability. Secondly, and more importantly, societal attitude towards such a job would make it hard to hire.

But we are fortunate to have patients who unknowingly do serve in this role. These are the patients from the lowest socioeconomic class, who are illiterate and do not object to being examined by student doctors. We don't get the feedback that real associates give, but it does help to hone the clinical skills ofstudents. These women, although inadvertently, are contributing their bit to our society.

Guidelines: We intend publishing within 24 hours all responses that contribute substantially to the topic under discussion. To avoid points that have already been made please read other people's responses before posting your own. All responses will be eligible for publication in the paper studentBMJ, providing that current appointment and place of work are given. Name and email address are required to send a response and will be published with the response.

Please note: When writing a respnse to a response, please enter the original title of the article and the author of the response you are responding to.