My journey to full time menopause practitioner has been one fed by intellectual curiosity and desire to meet the needs of patients as skillfully as possible.  I have always enjoyed researching which led me to pursue a PhD in Psychology.  However, during those studies I learned that I wanted a broader and more clinical career and decided to attend medical school.  Even NYU Medical School there were seeds of menopause practice planted due to my advisor and other faculty who were leading Menopause researchers and practitioners.  However, I also developed a love of surgery and chose Ob/Gyn because of the depth and duration of the patient relationship combined with Surgery.

In residency at Tufts University we had a 10-week self-directed block. I chose to read a difficult endocrinology textbook.  It was winter and I went to the Boston Public library every day and read my copy of Speroff’s Clinical Gynecologic Endocrinology and Infertility. When I finished residency.

I felt very well trained in Obstetrics but felt that I needed some additional Gynecology training.  I decided to go to every gynecology course I could find that addressed topics I wanted to study deeper.  I went to an excellent course on menopause in Washington, DC at one point that was run by a menopause leader.  I worked off those notes for years.  

Then I had one of those perfect storm series of life events involving loss, grief, and unexpected changes that seems devastating at the time, but a blessing in hindsight.  This led to a quiet job with time to set goals and consider working on skills.  As I researched and considered what resonated with me and met the needs of patients, I learned about the North American Menopause Society and the option of studying and becoming a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner.

That was more than 10 years ago and of course I have learned the most from seeing patients, prescribing, and then working with patients to help them reach their goals. As the years have gone on I have stopped other aspects of practice which I loved, but perimenopause and menopause have risen to the top and will be my sole area of practice at this point.