Background: Cervical cancer is a major cause of mortality in women. Pap smear is a screening test used in the screening of cervical cancer. There are well defined guidelines regarding its use. It should be offered to all sexually active women between the ages of 30-65 years, irrespective of whether or not they are symptomatic. Moreover, those women who have undergone hysterectomy for reasons other than cervical cancer or precancerous lesions, do not require this test.Materials and methods: We undertook an observational study to describe the age, presenting complaint, previous history of hysterectomy and reason for hysterectomy in women undergoing Pap smear testing in a private super specialty hospital in Central India in the past 3 years.Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine how closely the aforementioned guidelines were being followed, so as to deduce how wisely were we choosing the women to whom the test was being offered.Results: This study found that a significant proportion of tests were being offered to women who did not need them. And more importantly, we were missing the opportunity to screen women who presented with non-gynecologic complaints in our hospital.Conclusion: Hence we present the findings of this study to emphasize the role of Pap smear as a screening test, the primary goal of which is to identify high grade precancerous lesions of the cervix; and to sensitize specialist physicians other than gynecologists to offer Pap smear to women presenting with complaints unrelated to the genitourinary tract.