19: Spanning Generations in Obstetrics and Gynecology

In this insightful episode of Vital Visions, the Vedala Brothers sit down with Norman Regional Care for Women OB/GYN Mady Ohs, MD for an honest, informative, and wide-ranging conversation about women’s health at every stage of life that encompasses care for everyone with a uterus.

From navigating the different forms of birth control and supporting expectant mothers, to helping women navigate the physical and emotional changes of menopause, Dr. Ohs shares expert knowledge, compassionate advice, and real-world scenarios from her experience.

Whether you're a parent, patient, or just curious about the incredible journey of women’s health, this episode offers vital perspectives and practical takeaways you won’t want to miss! 

Guest Host Bio:

A. Mady Ohs, MD, is a board-certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist (OB/GYN) at Care for Women – Norman who delivers babies and performs surgeries at Norman Regional Hospital.

Dr. Ohs received her Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Oklahoma and completed her residency at TriHealth Bethesda North and Good Samaritan Hospitals in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Dr. Ohs states that it is important for her to provide a safe space where patients can share their concerns, learn about their health, and feel cared for.

Dr. Ohs can see patients ages eight (8) years old and up.

She's LGBTQIA+ Friendly (She/Her/Hers)

Special Interests:

Obstetrics

• Breastfeeding Support
• Comprehensive Norman and High-Risk Pregnancy Care
• Postpartum Care
• Pre-Pregnancy Counseling

Gynecology

• Birth Control including Intrauterine Devices and Nexplanon
• Cervical Cancer Screening
• Evaluation and Management of Heavy, Painful, and/or Irregular Menstrual Periods
• Management of Abnormal Pap Smears
• Menopause Health
• Pelvic and Breast Wellness Care
• Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis Evaluation
• Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) Evaluation and Management

Dr. Ohs is accepting new patients. To schedule an appointment with her, call 405-793-2229.

Links: 

A. Mady Ohs, MD

Norman Regional Care for Women Norman

Blog: What You Need to Know About Cervical Cancer Risk: Tips from Norman Regional OB/GYN

Blog: Can You Still Get Pregnant if You Have Endometriosis?

Blog: What Should You Expect After Having a Hysterectomy?

Blog: The Genetics of PCOS and What It Means for Your Health

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The information in this show is not to be used as medical advice. If you are needing medical care, please consult with your physician.

Norman Regional is hiring! See all our open opportunities here: https://careers.normanregional.com/careers-home/

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;25;09
Unknown
Welcome, friends. Doctor Veer Vedala here. And I'm Doctor Krishna Vedala, and we are the Vedala Bros. Guess what, folks? We're back. And now, with season three of our podcast. That's right. Your favorite podcast, Vital Visions of the Vedala Brothers, is back where we bring you insights into health, wellness and our community. This season, we're diving deeper into the stories, science, medicine, and strategies that shape our vision for a healthier future.

00;00;25;16 - 00;00;44;21
Unknown
From breakthrough research to powerful patient stories here at Norman Regional and excellent perspectives from some of our amazing providers and new technologies and services that no one regional has to offer. We're here to connect the dots and empower you on your journey. So join us each episode as we explore new dimensions in health. One vital conversation at a time.

00;00;44;22 - 00;01;06;21
Unknown
Let's get started on season three. Welcome back to Vital Visions, where health meets community. Welcome back friends. Doctor Veer Vedala again here joined by my co-host Doctor Krishna Vedala. And we are the Vedala Brothers. Thank you again for joining us on our Vital Visions podcast, where we discuss all things vital, empowering our community one topic at a time.

00;01;06;24 - 00;01;47;15
Unknown
Krishna. I was going to start this episode with a Barbie quote today, but okay, I'm sure people have had enough of that. Oh, okay, I get it, I get it. Yeah. Good. Okay, thanks, I get her. Therefore. Therefore, instead, I'll begin by dedicating this episode to all the women out there, especially our family, friends, colleagues and listeners. I think I speak for both Krishna and myself when I say our journeys to this point have been paved by trails of wisdom, support, and kindness from remarkable women who have guided us and uplifted us.

00;01;47;15 - 00;02;14;14
Unknown
And we can't thank them enough for their unwavering belief in us. Man, with their empowering presence and their boundless strength, which have and continue to inspire us and keep us going during times where we believe that we can't. So thank you. Women's health is a multifaceted and vital aspect of our overall well-being, encompassing the unique physical, emotional, and social needs of women throughout their lives, from adolescence to motherhood and beyond.

00;02;14;17 - 00;02;39;27
Unknown
Understanding and prioritizing women's health is essential for fostering thriving communities and a healthier society. In this exploration of women's health, we delve into the intricacies of, reproductive well-being, mental and emotional balance, and disease prevention. And we are joined today by the wonderful Doctor Mady Ohs, our ob/gyn specialist here at Norman Regional. Krishna, you want introduce our guest?

00;02;39;28 - 00;03;04;23
Unknown
Of course, of course. We've been just waiting to have Doctor Ohs on our podcast. Doctor Mady Ohs, as she was, I believe, two years ahead of us in medical school. And, just one of the most kindest, nicest, sweetest person that we've ever met. And every time I've always seen her and she's always has this wonderful, beautiful smile. And that just makes life just a lot more pleasurable just to and enjoy and and just makes it more enjoyable.

00;03;04;26 - 00;03;27;05
Unknown
And so, without any further ado, please, welcome on board, Doctor Mady Ohs. Well, thank you so much. And I feel so inspired by your, introduction on my own specialty. Oh, my gosh, doctor, that's what I'm here for. I'm so excited to be here today. I can't believe how many years it's been since we've all been hanging out in med school together.

00;03;27;07 - 00;03;48;11
Unknown
Yeah, it's been more than a decade. Yeah, probably ten years now. So. And also, we have a very special guest and a treat for you guys. We have meds. I know, speaking of med school, we've got, I guess, our podcast intern now. I don't know what to call. Oh that's all right. But fourth year medical student extraordinaire, Miss Christa Bellack.

00;03;48;11 - 00;04;07;13
Unknown
Christa, you want to introduce yourself? Yes. Thank you guys so much for having me. My name is Christa Bellack. I'm a fourth year medical student at OSU. I listen to podcasts all the time. I've never been on this side of the microphone, so I'm super excited. So thank you guys. We're so excited to have you here. This is the first for us to we're going to look we're looking forward to it.

00;04;07;15 - 00;04;30;10
Unknown
So Dr. Ohs can you please tell us how you got interested in the ob gyn field? Yeah. So I guess to start, since we've got Krista here in medical school, we do rotate rotations through all of the different specialties. And so when I did ob gyn and got to deliver a baby, I just had the biggest smile on my face after that.

00;04;30;10 - 00;04;56;10
Unknown
And, I think that definitely is why I ended up picking that and sticking with it before that. You know, going back to high school. And my biology teacher was so awesome and inspiring, and I really found that my love for science and taking that biology class, and then my mom had a hysterectomy during high school as well.

00;04;56;10 - 00;05;16;01
Unknown
And so I think those life experiences, of course, all play a part. When I was in college, my grandpa, always said, are you sure? You're like, do you want to be a doctor? Do you want to be a doctor? And so having him, may he rest in peace. But having him believe in me, is what he was.

00;05;16;01 - 00;05;53;04
Unknown
The final push to actually, you know, commit to going to med school because it is it is a long time, a time and financial investment. And it's I love being here. I love doing what I do. So it definitely is great. Yeah. We can we agree with that I'm sure. Krista just kind of what you, feel like we all have, some kind of life experience that also pushes us, towards the direction I, I had my, Krishna knows and maybe influenced him, too, but I grew up with juvenile epilepsy.

00;05;53;04 - 00;06;12;15
Unknown
And so that's what kind of pushed us towards the medical field. We had that exposure to the health care field early on. Yeah. But, Christa, something like that for you too, or. Yeah, definitely. My dad has type one diabetes, so I think growing up, watching him manage that, he was diagnosed a little later in life as well.

00;06;12;15 - 00;06;46;28
Unknown
So, watching him kind of learn to manage that disease. Was really inspiring to help me pick family medicine as well. Yeah. That's awesome man. Well, for me, it was it was fun watching Veer go through the whole juvenile epilepsy issue. And then, of course, just having a lot of people, from our close friends that were within the medical field to really kind of inspired me to kind of look into medicine and then really get myself involved into it and kind of get to know all facets of all the different facets of the health care system.

00;06;47;01 - 00;07;13;09
Unknown
And, yeah, and here we are, and doing a decade later. So I feel like all of us like science. But yeah, yeah, yeah, we're all a little bit of a little nerdy. I definitely did not like math for sure. So, glad I didn't want to go down that route. So. So, Doctor Ohs one of the first questions that we or issues we want to talk about is how often should patients be getting these routine pap smears?

00;07;13;11 - 00;07;42;20
Unknown
So first, let me get on a soapbox about something. A lot of people think that a pelvic exam and a pap smear are the same thing. And that's not the case. So a pelvic exam is any time you have an examination that's looking down in that area, pap smear is screening for cervical cancer, and that can be completed at the time of a pelvic exam.

00;07;42;22 - 00;08;13;20
Unknown
But every time someone has a pelvic exam, it doesn't mean that they're also getting the pap smear. That makes sense. So the pap smear, which is when we use like a swab or a brush kind of across the cervix, that checks for cervical cancer or pre-cancer, and we recommend starting a pap smears at age 21. And if they're always normal, then it's recommended every three years.

00;08;13;22 - 00;08;47;12
Unknown
And then at age 30 we can also start screening for HPV. And if, HPV is negative then you can do the Paps with HPV co-tested every five years. Now your history history of abnormal Paps, you know, depending what's going on that may change those guidelines. The routine pelvic exam really depends how often that's needed. And there's lack of data as far as, you know, how often we need to be doing those.

00;08;47;19 - 00;09;07;04
Unknown
So really, it's a discussion with, your health care provider. And, you know, if and when you need to do those, but definitely starting pap smears at age 21. Is is the recommendation and you do from age 21 to 65. Is that correct?

00;09;07;10 - 00;09;32;29
Unknown
So again, over time, the recommendations change. We usually, used to say, if your pap smear always normal, then then you could stop doing them at age 65. But now more recent, guidelines, I think as we really try to individualize medicine is now more a shared decision making with your provider if you want to continue doing them or not.

00;09;33;01 - 00;09;49;11
Unknown
Yeah. And we've definitely had patients that come to us and they're like, hey, I know I'm 67, but I have so-and-so family history, could we get a pap done? So I think that shared decision making is actually a pretty valuable. Yeah. And and I think the other thing to remember too is again, the difference between a path and a pelvic exam.

00;09;49;11 - 00;10;09;21
Unknown
So sometimes there may be other reasons that that area needs to be examined. Just to make sure everything is healthy. Right. And then just for our audience, what what are what specifically are like some the risk factors. I have pap smears. We talk about cervical cancer screening, but what are the risk factors of cervical cancer. Yeah.

00;10;09;21 - 00;10;34;20
Unknown
So you had brought up earlier like family history and really less so with cervical cancer. The biggest risk factors for cervical cancer are going to be smoking which can increase risk of so many types of cancers. And then HPV virus or the human papilloma virus. And there's lots of different strains of that virus. Some strains can cause genital warts.

00;10;34;27 - 00;11;04;06
Unknown
Other strains can increase your risk of having an abnormal pap in cervical cancer. Doctor Ohs, as you mentioned, HPV as a significant risk factor for cervical cancer. Could you talk a little bit about the importance of the Gardasil HPV vaccine for us? Yeah. So Gardasil is a vaccination that can help prevent cancer. So how cool is that? It's recommended starting at age 11 to 12 for boys and girls.

00;11;04;09 - 00;11;32;14
Unknown
To, to protect against HPV related cancers. And so we a lot of times just think about HPV and cervical cancer. But HPV can also increase the risk of vaginal. And for all of our cancers penile cancer in men, anal cancer in throat cancer. So it's not just no women, not just for your cervical health. You can get this vaccine.

00;11;32;14 - 00;11;56;20
Unknown
It's recommended up to age 45, but really it's going to be more effective to get earlier. So the other thing, if you get it earlier is that kids, when they're less than 15, only need the two doses. And after age 15, you need a series of three doses of the vaccination to be fully protected. Most people don't have side effects with it.

00;11;56;23 - 00;12;25;19
Unknown
I got it. I definitely would recommend that for cervical cancer prevention and these other kinds of cancers as well. Yeah, especially when you're younger because less shots is always better. That's true. That is definitely true. Yeah. One of the common misconceptions that we see in the primary care field, often with some of our patients is, when they get a hysterectomy in the past and then they say, oh, well, we don't necessarily or I don't necessarily need a pap smear.

00;12;25;22 - 00;12;57;00
Unknown
Is that is that necessarily accurate? Because I know there's some exceptions when even if you do get a hysterectomy, you still do require a, pap smear. Yeah. So it really depends. So again, just to reiterate, pelvic exam and pap smear are different. So if, someone's had a hysterectomy before, they still may need exams upon discussion with their doctor just to make sure that area of their body is healthy, just like, that every other, you know, place that we check at each visit.

00;12;57;03 - 00;13;22;22
Unknown
Most of the time the cervix is removed at the time of hysterectomy. And so the pap smear, the cervical cancer screening part may not be needed, but there are exceptions to that. And so if someone has had abnormal pap smears in the past, then they may need to continue pap smears after the hysterectomy. May may depend on the reason that they had the hysterectomy.

00;13;22;25 - 00;13;46;26
Unknown
So again would be something to discuss with your provider. Sometimes at the time of a hysterectomy, for different reasons, the cervix may still be left in place. And so, if someone's having a hysterectomy, it would be important for them to review with their providers. You know what? What was removed at that time? Okay. Definitely a lot of factors that go into it.

00;13;46;26 - 00;14;14;16
Unknown
And again, going back to that shared decision making inspect. Great. So we covered cervical cancer screening. Thank you Dr. Ohsfor all that helpful info. I think another thing that, we discussed our patients, that's really important women's health is this, reproductive, counseling. Right. So birth control counseling and, a lot of patients, you know, that know that there's different methods, like the pill.

00;14;14;18 - 00;14;41;23
Unknown
But now we've, gained access to the that long acting contraceptives, like the IUD or the implantable nexplanon. Can you kind of briefly talk through, those different methods with us and some benefits there? Both. Yeah. So the the IUD, the, neck, implant, arm implant called the next planned on. Those are both very effective, reversible, pregnancy prevention options.

00;14;41;23 - 00;15;04;13
Unknown
They also can have other benefits, like making periods lighter. So there may be other reasons that people are using, those what we call birth control, hormonal birth control. The other than just pregnancy prevention. Then there's a lot of. So I'm not on. Tick tock. I guess I'm too old for that or not old enough, I don't know.

00;15;04;16 - 00;15;27;21
Unknown
But there's also had that, like, misconstrue options I think are some scary things going around about, you know, how uncomfortable it can be to get an IUD inserted and the scary stuff that can happen. And you guys know there's risks and benefits and everything in medicine. Gotta take a step back and look at the big picture. Look at what your goals are.

00;15;27;26 - 00;15;51;28
Unknown
Look at the pros and cons to everything. A great advantage of an IUD or an explanation is that you don't have to remember anything every day. And so if you really, really don't want to get pregnant, you can remove that kind of user error, because none of us are perfect. And so it can be hard to remember a birth control pill every single day.

00;15;52;01 - 00;16;27;23
Unknown
So that's one of the biggest advantages with an IUD or an explanation, right? Specifically, if you want actual numbers like failure rate for, you know, your typical birth control pill, I found a resource. It's 7 to 9%. And then with the idea next put on less than 1% off. So and that 7 to 9% I think comes from just it is really hard to remember to do something at the same time every single day, you know, not if you lose your birth control pack or you started late.

00;16;27;24 - 00;16;56;26
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. That because that happens, there's a risk of pregnancy if you miss one day. Right. But the birth control can. Yeah. Or a lot of times what I see is if, people don't start their new path on time. So maybe you weren't able to get to the pharmacy to pick up, you know, your next month or your next three months on time, you may haven't missed any pills in the pill pack, but you actually have because you're starting your new pack late then.

00;16;56;26 - 00;17;19;00
Unknown
So, that's where I think a lot of times when people get pregnant and they said they didn't miss any of their pills, I sometimes wonder, we making sure we're starting those new packs on time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the IUDs, I think the two most common ones that people are is Mirena is probably the hormonal one that you and your Mirena, or Liletta, is another brand.

00;17;19;00 - 00;17;49;06
Unknown
They're basically the same, both progesterone, IUDs. There's also a lower dose IUD called the choline. It's a little bit smaller, and has lower dose hormone in it. But these can be options for anybody. There's some and, adult like if you're a teenager, it can still be an option. You don't have to have a had a baby before to be able to get an IUD.

00;17;49;07 - 00;18;16;21
Unknown
Yeah. I mean, I'll be honest, it is uncomfortable to get it placed in my office. But you can do it if you're thinking about it. You know, it's it's tolerable. And it certainly hurts a lot less than having a baby. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, and certainly lots, lots less side effects than pregnancy, too. And then to understand why they're called, you know, long term contraceptives.

00;18;16;21 - 00;18;45;21
Unknown
Right. Because you talk to us. How many years? Typically you need to get them replaced and stuff. Yeah. So it depends, which IUD you pick. So that's going to be anywhere from like 3 to 10 years. It was the, the, the, typical one now is approved the Mirena. And while that I think up to eight years and then the there's also, for five years, it's approved treatment for heavy periods as well.

00;18;45;23 - 00;19;09;04
Unknown
The arm implant is only three years. Yeah, yeah. Thank you for going through that with us. That's, very helpful info. And. Yeah, that's a another different options. Yeah. And just be careful on TikTok election. You know, however, a huge advocate of people like you use your resources. You know, there's nothing wrong with googling questions. I mean, we all do that.

00;19;09;04 - 00;19;30;00
Unknown
And it's we're blessed to be able to have that. But you have to look at like where your information is coming from. Before you make a decision based off of that. Yeah. Yeah. I think there's a lot of like people ChatGPT-ing things too now, and I don't think is perfect by any means, because it'll still pull stuff from the search engines, right?

00;19;30;02 - 00;19;46;18
Unknown
Oh, man. Yeah, yeah. So it's, you know, it's best to talk to your provider and get get their expert opinion. I definitely I mean, doctor Google is Doctor Google, but Doctor Google didn't necessarily go to medical school and all those years of training. Right. So there is, there's stuff that that Doctor Google could be helpful for.

00;19;46;21 - 00;20;09;23
Unknown
But please be aware that your providers are the ones that have received years and years of training and experience in regards to these issues. Yeah. So and Doctor Google is not going to place you hired or deliver your baby. Thanks for watching. Thankfully now. So doctor, as you've been in practice now for several years, can you talk a little bit about, some daily challenges that you see, in your practice?

00;20;09;26 - 00;20;35;04
Unknown
Yeah. So I mean, one thing that that's challenging is, and you may be let us know if med school's changed, but, you really don't know how much stuff costs when we're taking care of patients. And there's really a lack of trans parents see in that, so. Well prescribe medication. We don't really know what your insurance is going to cover, what the pharmacy is going to charge.

00;20;35;04 - 00;21;01;08
Unknown
You know, how much the test is going to cost. I know in the United States we overspend on health care, and it doesn't necessarily increase the everybody's health that significantly for how much we spend. But it would be nice to know, with the business of medicine, if how much stuff costs before you go through with it.

00;21;01;08 - 00;21;22;08
Unknown
Right. Like definitely like, you know, we got you get new carpet, you get a quote, you know how much it's going to cost, right? Like I don't it's kind of weird that health care, even though it's, it's this weird mix of a business and a service. And so not knowing how much stuff costs, I think is really challenging, especially on the patient side.

00;21;22;08 - 00;21;39;19
Unknown
But I think it is for us providers. Yeah, it'd be great if that was a class in med school business admin. Yeah, I didn't get I didn't get that class unfortunately. Okay. But that would be great. There's there definitely could be more transparency on our side as well to know how much things are before we.

00;21;39;19 - 00;22;04;27
Unknown
Yeah. And we probably would have hated that differently. What a test would have been really hard for the midterm and really hard. We just said we were good. You went to med school because we didn't want to do other things, I guess. But, I think that some education of that me, it's really surprising to me because I like, we don't even know, like the different insurance companies that are out there that are medical school and we don't learn about it till residency.

00;22;04;27 - 00;22;26;22
Unknown
Right. I mean, even in residency, you don't really. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Until you're practicing yourself. So I guess, you know, I apologize to our patients that quit. So we can't give you that all the time. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's something I'm learning as a medical student is, I've only seen things from the patient side, from the side.

00;22;26;22 - 00;22;51;12
Unknown
And, you know, from that point on, my life now, is that, you know, most people are frustrated on both sides of their patients and physicians and medical professionals. When things don't go right in that way, everyone's frustrated. So, yeah, I think I think a big message to our patients is as providers and students, people in the healthcare field in general, our intent is, is only to help.

00;22;51;15 - 00;23;23;17
Unknown
And, but we have barriers for, you know. Yeah, I think that's why all of us went into this field is because we want to help other people clinically. So, definitely for sure. And like, Veer touched on, and like, Doctor Ohs has touched on, the financial aspects of health care is, a significant barrier because like you said earlier, we don't really know exactly what the costs are going to be until we've already set forth a certain course of action.

00;23;23;20 - 00;23;46;01
Unknown
And then oftentimes we do have to kind of go back and kind of work with the patient regarding their, financial availability. But yeah, that's a that's a big issue. Even just accessing the care, you know, a challenge to and now insurance, some insurances accepted and then all of a sudden something changes. And now you can't see that doctor I don't know top boy.

00;23;46;02 - 00;23;56;07
Unknown
You know that's that's a sad thing when you have to, when you're happy with your doctor and then have the switch for that kind of reason just doesn't seem fair.

00;23;56;07 - 00;23;57;10
Unknown
Yeah.

00;23;57;10 - 00;24;22;19
Unknown
So one of the reasons I have chosen family medicine is because I want to be able to see people throughout their lives from adolescence, adulthood, parenthood, motherhood, and, into, older age. So when do you think would be a good time for adolescents, young women to, start seeing an ob gyn for care? And, a practice like yours.

00;24;22;21 - 00;24;48;06
Unknown
Yeah. So, like, we kind of keep saying with the answering these questions, this into pens. Yes. So I think it depends on, what the like a pediatrician or the family medicine, you know, doctor is comfortable with, with their patient what that relationship is like, what's going on with that absence life. And like, what needs they have?

00;24;48;08 - 00;25;23;00
Unknown
So I will start seeing, kids as young as, you know, maybe 11, 12, some some ObGyn may see, you know, 16 and older, even chills to see 18 and older. I really love seeing adolescents and just getting to teach about how their bodies work and helping them understand. I mean, there are so many people that grow up not knowing, like what ovulation means or, you know, just like stuff.

00;25;23;08 - 00;25;59;07
Unknown
I mean, sometimes I feel inspired to like, go teach a health class, the reproduction part in schools. So I love that education aspect of it. And so if like as a family medicine provider, one of the awesome things is, you know, you can incorporate that care, you know, into what you do. So you may feel comfortable talking about all of that with your patients, what it's like to start periods and how to manage that, and what's going on with changes in your body or now period related problems, things like that.

00;25;59;15 - 00;26;28;21
Unknown
So that's one of the things that I can help with, you know, if, providers, families feel like an ObGyn, know they need that extra care. And then my job so awesome because I can keep taking care of people all the way up. You know, where, like, forever. That's such a cool thing about ob gyn and family medicine, because we can have that continue is care, all the way through.

00;26;28;23 - 00;26;38;14
Unknown
So even from starting periods to menopause, when they stop, you know, and then beyond that, I'm here for you.

00;26;38;14 - 00;26;54;10
Unknown
absolutely. Doctor Ohs And I think, that's one thing that, you know, Christa and I love about family medicine and even Krishna, being an internal medicine physician, he starts seeing patients as early as 18 and all the way to, them getting older and just like you, you you brought up the topic about menopause.

00;26;54;10 - 00;27;11;00
Unknown
I think that would be a great segue into asking about that aspect of life as well. And so could you just walk us through, like what? What can women expect going into menopause? What are some things that they need to be working on to promote health as they transition to their to that process? Yeah. Awesome question.

00;27;11;03 - 00;27;35;27
Unknown
And again, not something that you learn about in school. Like how are you supposed to know all of this stuff. The average age of menopause is 51. So some women in the earlier than that some might be later. Oldest reported pregnancy spontaneously I think is like age 55. So pretty much like after age 55 shouldn't be having periods anymore.

00;27;35;27 - 00;28;11;11
Unknown
So it's still, you were women were bleeding. They would want to follow up. And then if still having periods need to still be thinking about pregnancy prevention, certainly harder as as we get older and get closer to that age. But it's not impossible either. So again, something to be discussed with, your provider. So common symptoms of menopause can be like the hot flashes, night sweats, irritability, vaginal dryness.

00;28;11;14 - 00;28;38;21
Unknown
But not everybody has a significant experience with those symptoms or not. Everybody's transition is a little bit different. Some those symptoms might be really severe. And last years and years other people may go through that transition. And lucky for them, one day their periods just stopped. And then they're they just get to enjoy a period free life, you know.

00;28;38;23 - 00;29;08;19
Unknown
So it yeah. So it's it's again back to why we really just need to individualize medicine because everybody's situation experiences unique. Certainly if those symptoms are really severe debilitating, definitely encourage talking to your doctor health care provider about it because I have lots of tools that may be able to help. And there's pros and cons to everything, you know, all the different options.

00;29;08;19 - 00;29;28;08
Unknown
But that's definitely something that we can talk about to really help your quality of life be better. And it. So, one of the hopes of this podcast is to, for any of our listeners that are interested in getting into the healthcare field is to kind of inspire them, kind of provide them some advice on, achieving their dreams.

00;29;28;10 - 00;29;35;01
Unknown
And so, do you have any words of wisdom for, anyone that's listening that would like to go into the ObGyn field?

00;29;35;07 - 00;30;06;08
Unknown
So for people that want to go into ob gyn, I think this is a really amazing, unique and rewarding field. It's definitely hard and has its challenges. I mean, med school, I would go back and do that again in a heartbeat. Loved all of that. Studying and learning in the community and residency where I did my four years of training to become a, you know, obstetrician and gynecologist.

00;30;06;10 - 00;30;37;06
Unknown
Really challenging. There's so much to learn. And so but it's necessary, you know, you need to do it to be able to get all the experience so that you can confidently take care of patients on your own. After that. I think that while it's hard and has it's, you know, down parts, it's really amazing to be able to try to support people through those harder days.

00;30;37;06 - 00;31;07;02
Unknown
You know, ob gyn is not always just happy delivering babies, bringing life into the world, you know, certainly that is a big part of it and is one of the things we love about it. But not everything goes how we plan in life. And, so it's really important if you're interested in doing this, to be prepared to help support women through really dark times, to help.

00;31;07;04 - 00;31;34;20
Unknown
And now that you know they're not alone and it's going to get better and not be afraid to reach out for help. In all very important words. And I because I'm sure any field you go into, we kind of share some similar experiences. Yeah. Really I feel like they make us stronger. Yeah, they do well. And that kind of goes back to how we started this episode up how we can all got here.

00;31;34;22 - 00;32;03;27
Unknown
It's thing we all had challenging experiences in our life and that inspired us to go into this. Well, Dr. Ohs, we can't help notice that, you're glowing. Thank you so much. Yes, I am, growing twin boys, anticipating they will come in September and feel very thankful that everything's going smooth so far. That's amazing.

00;32;03;27 - 00;32;29;22
Unknown
Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah. Twin boys is no small feat. Yeah, so we're, We'll figure that I'm prepared for my life to be crazy, but awesome. And I do plan to keep practicing as a ObGyn. Definitely not planning to give this up. Oh so well, congratulations to you and your family. I'm really happy for you guys.

00;32;29;22 - 00;32;52;02
Unknown
But, this brings us to a great question. We think, you know, being, a mom and, being pregnant and, experiencing that, motherhood aspect of your life. How is it like being an ObGyn and being able to relate, to your patients in a more personal it it's I think it's made a big difference.

00;32;52;03 - 00;33;18;20
Unknown
I actually had a miscarriage last summer. And it was thankfully smooth, uncomplicated. And, you know, I was totally okay, physically. But I realize, like, the mental toll that that has, this is kind of one of those dark sides of being an ObGyn that not everything is just you decide to have a baby and then try and it goes like you hope it well.

00;33;18;20 - 00;33;40;27
Unknown
And so that experience I think changed me a lot as a provider is just understanding what it's like, to to go through that and then, you know, kind of every month after when you're hoping for a pregnancy, you know, thinking about that kind of make makes me tear up. But it definitely made me be a better provider.

00;33;40;29 - 00;34;09;00
Unknown
Because I, I realize how much that affects you more affected me more than I realized it could. Because medically, what I went through was really not that significant. But emotionally, it actually was. And then that, of course, there are some women that do go through really sad losses, and it is medically significant too for them, for them.

00;34;09;00 - 00;34;47;12
Unknown
And they have to overcome, that again, another reason that I feel honored to be able to do what I do to support women through those really hard times. So all that to say, I really went into this year trying to accept that, I was just a family of three. I have a five year old. And then I think as soon as I accepted that I was already pregnant, and I actually ultrasound myself, there were two little sacs in there, and, and so I'm expecting twin boys.

00;34;47;15 - 00;35;11;15
Unknown
Come. Hopefully I'll stay pregnant. The rest of this summer, so congratulations again, doctor. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for sharing such a personal story with us. And, you know, hearing you, we can really feel the passion that you have for this field. And, we're so grateful to work with such an amazing provider like you. And, but we're so happy that you're here.

00;35;11;20 - 00;35;40;14
Unknown
Oh, thank you so much. And I feel thankful that I'm able to, you know, have your guys's support and and be able to share our patients as well. Of course. Yeah. So we've talked a lot today about women's health care. But, you know, ob gyn care is not exclusively for cisgender, people. Can you talk a little bit about, ob gyn care for a gender diverse people?

00;35;40;17 - 00;36;02;21
Unknown
Yeah. So I think we have said women's health and talking about women. And I think it's important to remember that, you know, if you have a vagina, if you have a cervix, you may not identify as a woman, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to be able to see you and take care of you. So kind of going back to who needs a pap smear?

00;36;02;21 - 00;36;29;00
Unknown
I mean, if you have a cervix, you have a vagina in it. You want to get that pelvic exam, you want to get those routine preventative screenings. And I think coming in to do that exam maybe could be more challenging. You know, nobody likes getting that exam done. But it is important to, to get that, that cervical cancer screening.

00;36;29;00 - 00;36;59;17
Unknown
And I try my hardest to make that as comfortable or at least uncomfortable as possible. No matter who you are, no matter how you identify, no matter what you've been through in your life before. Well, definitely try to make that experience the least and comfortable as possible. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. It's already, like you said, not a comfortable procedure at all.

00;36;59;20 - 00;37;27;01
Unknown
But on top of that, having any, anything psychological on top of that being distressing, thank you for keeping that in consideration in your practice, you know. Thank you. Yeah. And that was we just wanted to say thank you so much for, coming to our podcast and answering all of our questions and spending all this time with us and sharing some of your experiences, and we just really can't thank you enough for, for, for everything today.

00;37;27;01 - 00;37;47;08
Unknown
So thank you so much for coming. Coming on by. So. Oh well, it's been a pleasure to be here. Thank you guys so much. Yeah. Dr. Ohs again reiterating what Doctor K said over here is we really, really appreciate you. And then and, really grateful to have our extraordinary intern here, Christa asking some amazing questions.

00;37;47;08 - 00;38;10;23
Unknown
Thank you, Krista, for joining us today. Yeah. I, I love having you here. I this is awesome. I mean, you kind of remind us why we all decided to become doctors to begin with. You know, taking us back to the beginning doesn't spending days. Well you guys help me look to the future. So thank you guys for having me and is a great experience for me.

00;38;10;26 - 00;38;20;06
Unknown
You all right, everyone. And we like to thank our listeners. Thank you guys for joining us today. And as always, stay classy, my friends, and stay out of trouble.