Dr. Somi Javaid is the Founder and Lead Chief Medical Officer of HerMD, a passionate team on a mission to make women’s healthcare exceptional by educating, advocating for, and empowering patients to take control of their health concerns. She is a board-certified OB/GYN, leading women’s sexual health thought leader, menopause advocate, and mother who has defied all odds to build her dream and fulfill a mission to care for women. Dr. Javaid has been featured in Forbes, Vogue, Well+Good, InStyle, Parents, Refinery29, Mashable, Adweek, and Popsugar. In August 2020, Dr. Javaid spoke about Gender Bias and the Female Sexual Health Revolution on the TEDx mainstage, and in January 2021 she was featured in Women on Top for her work as a trailblazer and pioneer in women’s sexual health. ⁠She is a true menopause maverick, and a benevolent disruptor changing healthcare for women!  If you want to know more about options for getting access to an insurance based model that puts gynecology, menopause, and sexual health under one umbrella, Dr. Javaid is the leading this charge nationwide.  HerMD is a unique evidence-based model aiming to repair that provider-patient relationship with experts in menopause and sexual healthcare.    When they saw patients from 35 states and 3 countries, they knew they had to scale!  On the episode, we talk about The HerMD Founder Journey Dr. Javaid’s personal journey with her mother's health as a medical student FemTech / Gender Bias in medicine (changing the status quo) / Barriers to care; how did we get here?  A 2019 survey found that 45% of females didn’t think their healthcare professionals took their pain seriously Studies have found that in the emergency department, men wait an average of 49 minutes before receiving pain medication, while women wait an average of 65 minutes Nearly 95% said it was important or very important to be trained to manage menopause Fewer than 7% felt prepared to “manage women experiencing menopause”  20% of respondents reported they had zero menopause lectures during their residencies.  Lack of specialized care means less effective treatment options are offered to patients, leading to poorer outcomes. Key callouts: (Certain barriers underpin the disparities: provider bias, underrepresentation in clinical research trials, lack of access to education, lack of female decision-makers in key spaces, lack of funding) Provider Training - Mayo Clinic HerMD Model Her MD: What makes it different? : More time- 40-60 minutes with providers who are expertly trained in menopause and sexual healthcare  Patients are invited to be  a part of a community and a partner in their care and have a place if adverse events/side effects occur Robes!!!!  Lighting!!!    Her MD University   Her MD University: What is it? A “classroom-to-clinic” experience offering enhanced educational opportunities for both HerMD healthcare professionals and patients alike. HerMD University embraces various educational clusters administered in a multidisciplinary fashion to ensure, above all, the most up-to-date and evidence-based treatment options and optimal health outcomes for HerMD patients. Botox for Vaginismus - NAMs research  95% of participants reported improvement in vaginismus symptomatology 88% reported successful intercourse  95% of participants reported subjective improvement in their overall GSM symptomatology 90% of participants reported improvement in their symptoms (incontinence)  Botulinum Toxin (Botox®) for the Treatment of Vaginismus Utilizing Advanced, Innovative Technologies To Improve Symptoms Associated with Sexual Health and Menopause Conditions LGBTQIA+ Care - creating safe and inclusive spaces  Sexual health care + survivorship 43% of women suffer from some type of sexual dysfunction In 2021, 25.8% of Americans reported having no sex at all in the past year S