Medical Herstory

The Elevate Prize would support the ground-breaking work that Medical Herstory does in eliminating sexism, shame, and stigma from health experiences. The funding and programming would support our storytelling, workshops, events, and research advancing gender health equity. We have so far helped 40 individuals share their vulnerable illness narratives, educated 200 medical students about gender bias in medicine, and engaged 2,000 event attendees about changing the narrative around women's health. The Elevate Prize would help launch Medical Herstory to the next stage of its development by reaching more medical providers, patients, and fellow advocates. Currently, Medical Herstory is making an impact thanks to a team of 120 dedicated volunteers across 30 universities and 7 countries, but imagine how much more it could do and how many more people it could reach if we had greater access to funds and mentorship. We also recognize that nothing, especially monumental and important social change, is accomplished alone, and the Elevate Prize’s amplification methods and connections would serve as an invaluable resource for Medical Herstory as it would allow us to connect with and collaborate with other trailblazing change-makers.

Medical herstory began with my own story of living with chronic illness, experiencing medical dismissal, and navigating shame and stigma. After recounting my medical history to countless physicians to only be gaslight, belittled, or shamed, I decided to reclaim my story and launched Medical Herstory as a platform to counteract gender health inequity. A platform did not exist for us to share these stories, so I created one. 

After sharing my story publicly, I quickly learned that I was not alone but that many women and gender-diverse people had experienced similar medical inequities, but due to shame and stigma were afraid to speak up. I created Medical Herstory to be the platform where we could reclaim our voices and challenge gender norms that keep us suffering in silence. 

Today, Medical Herstory spans 7 countries and I plan to continue growing this organization globally after witnessing how gender bias in medicine is universal. I envision a world where discussing sexual and mental health is no longer taboo, where patients are empowered to self-advocate, and where medical professionals are equipped to dismantle gender bias in their practice. I get to witness my purpose every day through our community testimonies about our impact. 

Sexism, shame, and stigma in healthcare negatively affect everyone all around the world. However, these effects disproportionately affect women. Gender bias in medicine leads to lost hope, lost access, and lost lives. 

Within clinical encounters, patients are often unable to self-advocate and feel dismissed. For example, discussions on sexual health with young adults last on average 36 seconds per healthcare visit. 

There is a lack of training amongst healthcare professionals as many medical school curricula devote little to no attention to sexual health, common gynecological conditions, or gender bias in medicine. This results in conditions like endometriosis that affect 10% of people with vaginas taking an average of 8 years to be diagnosed due to the normalization of women's pain.

To counteract the reductive medical history, we coined the Medical Herstory as a form of first-person storytelling that allows individuals to reclaim their voice and share their entire story. We run an online publication, social media campaigns, research and community events, and a workshop series to advance feminist health. To combat medical student's lack of education, Medical Herstory has developed a workshop curriculum written by patients that we present across the world directly to medical students to eliminate gender bias. 

Medical Herstory is unique in centering the lived experience of those most affected by the issues we are addressing. 

Our online platform is disrupting traditional publishing through our unique trauma-informed approach. After recognizing how women's pain is often ignored or sensationalized, we developed an editorial process that retains the author's agency at every stage of publishing. First, authors have the final say on all edits and no changes will be made without their consent. Second, each author is given the opportunity to work with a graphic designer to create custom designs for their work as often women's health stories are accompanied by sterile images of fruits or flowers which reinforce taboo. Lastly, authors are able to make changes at any point to their stories even once officially published as we recognize that authors own their stories and these experiences continue to be lived long after the final sentence is written. 

In our workshops, we then utilize these patient stories as case studies in our curriculum which we present to medical students, other patients, and the public. Many of our workshop facilitators have also shared their own stories which fosters the de-stigmatization and humanization of these difficult issues. 

Health and well-being are the foundations of a person’s life, and without the right to equal and quality healthcare, people will suffer. Medical Herstory is a movement born out of pain, frustration, and hopelessness, but we have used this pain to generate concrete change. Our platform is changing lives every day as patients are able to share their story for the first time and be truly heard, as medical students attend our workshops and leave better equipped to challenge their own biases, or as we speak loud and proud about taboo topics and move the needle towards normalizing these conversations. Storytelling has been recognized by the WHO as a powerful tool for change and we center lived experience in all that we do, making our work informed by those most affected by these painful issues. 

Teaching patients how to advocate for themselves is an effective method as self-advocacy is a life-long skill that can be passed onto others. Empowering practitioners to recognize, call out, and address biases goes to the source of the issue. Making individuals aware of the biases that cause gender health inequities in care is the most effective way to change the way that care is performed.