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Adolescents and their parents may have become confused on when to schedule a teen’s first gynecologic exam when updated cervical cancer screening guidelines were issued in November 2002 by the Atlanta-based American Cancer Society. The 2002 guidelines called for Pap tests beginning either at age 21 or three years after a woman first has sexual intercourse; previous recommendations advised an initial Pap screen shortly after first intercourse or by age 18, whichever occurred first.

Don’t time first teen visit to first Pap test