A pelvic examination in women may be called an internal examination. Your doctor puts one or two gloved fingers into your vagina, while pressing on your abdomen with the other hand. So they can feel for any changes in your vagina, cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, rectum and bladder. They may also use an instrument called a speculum to spread the walls of the vagina to examine the cervix. This type of examination can be uncomfortable, but should not take more than a few minutes.