Ep. 27: Dr. Sarah's story & why women’s healthcare needs to be sex-specific

Dr. Sarah Shaw’s path into women’s health started at 12 years old, in a body cast, after a spinal surgery — watching how little room healthcare left for the actual patient in the room. That question followed her through a career as a social worker, then a developmental psychologist running outreach for street workers in Nova Scotia, then research at Harvard studying young women who self-harm, before she finally went to medical school and spent 17 years as a family doctor. Now she’s one of four women who built Lume Women’s Health in Toronto, a clinic designed around a simple argument: medicine has been built on the male body, and anything less than sex-specific care isn’t actually equitable care. Amy and Sarah get into what a 45-minute midlife wellness visit could look like compared to the ten minutes most doctors are given, why there’s only one province in Canada with a menopause billing code, and the national policy push happening right now that listeners can actually add their voice to.KEY COMPONENTSShe traces her entire career back to one question she asked at 12 years old! What a childhood spinal surgery taught her about how little room healthcare makes for the patient’s own voice.Only one province in Canada has a billing code for menopause care, and what that actually means for how much time a doctor can spend with you.A national policy push just launched the day of this recording: What the Menopause Foundation of Canada is asking the public to do about it, right now.Why she walked away from 17 years as a family doctor to start over with three women she’d never met: What finally made her ready to “jump off the cliff.”“As women, we are so good typically at advocating for our children, our loved ones, our friends. And yet when it comes to ourselves, we really struggle. And as a healthcare provider, I put myself in that category. I find it much harder to advocate for myself when I am a patient.”Check out Lume Women's Health Follow Lume on Substack Connect with Dr. Sarah on LinkedIn Follow Lume on InstagramSign the Menopause Foundation Of Canada's Menopause Policy Agenda For Canada 👉 Click here to join the movement at downthereaware.org🩲 Subscribe, like, and share to show us you care!🤘 Podcast produced by Binge-Worthy Studio For informational and entertainment purposes only — not medical advice. We're here to get loud, not to play doctor.