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The mere mention of the word circumcision is enough to make some men cringe, and a new study suggests they might have more reason to flinch than they thought.

Many of the doctors who perform the procedure are generalists and poorly trained for the task, possibly explaining the steady stream of complications seen in emergency wards, some with life-long consequences, conclude researchers in Hamilton, Ont.

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Given that there is relatively little medical reason to perform circumcisions, it is important at least that physicians know what they are doing to prevent slip-ups, the Hamilton physicians’ newly published study says.

“People who do circumcisions, the majority of those who do circumcisions, they are not surgeons. They have some training, but never enough to go out and do these operations,” said Dr. Jorge DeMaria, the McMaster University urologist who headed the research. “They go to a colleague and say ‘Show me how to do it’ … The majority don’t do it that well.”