Michelle is a patient advocate passionate about closing research and education gaps in female sexual health, and creating connections among advocates.
Michelle is an engineer by day and her passion for solving complex problems extends into her advocacy work where she fights for patients with rare and complex conditions. Her passion for advocacy was sparked by her own long journey navigating seizures, chronic pelvic pain, vulvodynia and recurrent infections.
Michelle has experienced the unfortunate and frustrating process of shuffling from doctor to doctor only to hear “just relax” or “it’s all in your head” or “you’re too young, there’s nothing wrong with you” over and over again. Over the years she received numerous diagnoses, some incorrect, and many taking years to establish. She has experienced the common obstacles to care, mental health implications of chronic pain, medical trauma, and the complexities of overlapping conditions that cause pelvic symptoms. Michelle sees her determination as a patient to self-educate as they key for finally finding experienced medical providers. Therefore, increasing patient access to evidence based educational materials is at the root of her advocacy efforts.
Michelle began her advocacy work in 2019, the same year she became a patient advocate member of ISSWSH. She has worked on multiple research projects presented at the ISSWSH annual meetings that focus on patient voices and fulfilling patient needs. Michelle also serves on ISSWSH committees to helpISSWSH expand their impact and meet the needs of patients and the public.
Outside of ISSWSH, Michelle’s advocacy ranges from simple everyday acts such as always saying “yes” when asked if a medical student can sit in on her office visit to working directly with providers and other advocates. Michelle has worked with other women’s health groups to design, coordinate, and lead events for medical students to foster their interest in sexual medicine. These events centered on exposing medical students to key knowledge missing from their curriculum, showing them how they can collaborate with patient advocates, and giving them deeper understanding of often difficult patient experiences. Michelle recently launched a new organization namedDiscover SexMed to advocate for female sexual medicine. The main goals of this organization are to (1) help patients find evidence-based information, knowledgeable providers, and community support, and (2) create a network of advocacy groups and draw attention to the momentum of the growing movement for better female sexual health.
