In this episode, Dr. Meera Kirpekar chats with Dr. Rebecca Podolsky. Dr. Podolsky is Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at NYU Langone Medical Center and the Director of NYU's Center for Vulvar Health.

Dr. Podolsky addresses all of your questions regarding vulvar and vaginal disorders, topics that are often dismissed, disregarded, or misunderstood by patients and the medical community alike. This conversation will focus on common and uncommon conditions that affect females of all ages as well as misconceptions in the understanding and treatment of vulvo-vaginal disorders.

Whether you're seeking specific answers, have felt dismissed in the past, or just want to understand your body better and the changes it may go through better, this episode provides evidence based answers on vulvar health.

In this episode, Dr. Alopi Patel sits down with Dr. Jessica Opoku-Anane, a minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon and Associate Professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where she serves as Chief of Complex Benign and Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery and leads the Comprehensive Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Program.

Dr. Opoku-Anane addresses one of the most common and underrecognized challenges in women's health: distinguishing normal menstrual symptoms from conditions that warrant clinical evaluation. She discusses why endometriosis diagnoses are so often delayed, how clinicians differentiate between fibroids, adenomyosis, and endometriosis, and when surgery is—and isn't—the right course of action. The conversation also covers modern minimally invasive techniques, fertility-sparing approaches, and the documented disparities that lead to later diagnoses and less aggressive treatment for Black and other marginalized patients.

Whether you're a patient navigating chronic pelvic pain or a clinician seeking practical insight, this episode offers an evidence-based look at improving gynecologic care.

In this episode, Dr. Alopi Patel chats with Dr. Kristen MacKenzie. Dr. MacKenzie is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at Stanford University. She practices at the Stanford Pain Management Center, where she specializes in chronic pelvic and abdominal pain, as well as peripartum pain.

Dr. MacKenzie serves as Co-Director of the Stanford Pelvic Pain Program and is part of the Stanford Pelvic Health Center, where she works with an all-female interdisciplinary team. She also co-directs the Women's Sexual Dysfunction Case Conference. With the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), she is currently Co-Chair of the Women in Pain Medicine Shared Interest Group and Chair of the Media & Public Relations Committee for 2025–2026. A passionate advocate for taking women's pain seriously, she's known for the line: "Women's pain has been accepted as inevitable for so long. It's time to change that." Outside of clinic, she's a trail runner and mom to two young boys.

In this episode, Dr. Alopi Patel sits down with Dr. Maria Sophocles to talk about one of the most underserved chapters of a woman's life — sex and intimacy after menopause.

Dr. Maria Sophocles is a board-certified OB/GYN and certified menopause practitioner with more than 25 years of experience, and the founder of Women's Healthcare of Princeton. Women's Healthcare of Princeton Her mission centers on closing what she calls "The Bedroom Gap" — educating women and men about the sexual changes of menopause and challenging the centuries-old model of sex defined by male pleasure. She is the author of the forthcoming book The Bedroom Gap, a roadmap for midlife women, couples, and clinicians navigating the physical and societal effects of aging and sexuality.

In this episode, Dr. Alopi Patel delves into the profound connection between spirituality, faith, and chronic pain. Reverend Christine Davies shares her perspective on how spiritual frameworks can offer resilience, purpose, and comfort to those navigating long-term pain conditions. Whether you're a provider, a patient, or someone seeking meaning in the midst of suffering, this conversation offers a thoughtful look at how faith can be a powerful tool in the journey toward healing.

Podcast Note: There are brief audio connection issues in a few moments during this podcast. Apologies for the inconvenience.

In this episode, The Female Pain Docs are joined by Dr. Blair Peters, also knows as @queersurgeon on social media. Dr. Peters is a plastic surgeon specialized in gender affirmation surgeries, who also advocates for the LGBTQ+ community. In this episode, they discuss representation and allyship for the LGBTQ+ community, the progress within medicine so far, and how patients can be better served.

The opioid epidemic has swept the nation since the 1990s. In its aftermath, many patients with chronic pain have experienced the unfortunate reality of addiction to the medications they previously received as pain treatments coupled with inadequate treatment of their pain while dealing with addiction and dependence. In this episode, Dr. K explores the field of addiction medicine with special guest, Dr. Sudheer Potru, an interventional pain physician and addiction medicine specialist, whose goal is to find a balance between treating addiction while also adequately treating chronic pain.

In this episode, The Female Pain Docs are joined by patient advocate Ilana Jaqueline to discuss the topic of medical gaslighting. Medical gaslighting occurs when a healthcare professional dismisses a patient’s concerns or wrongly misdiagnoses symptoms as mental illnesses. They discuss signs for patients to lookout for, how patients can advocate for themselves, and changes that need to be made within the medical community to combat medical gaslighting.