WEBVTT 00:00:11.019 --> 00:00:14.119 Welcome to Our Voices Our Future, the podcast 00:00:14.119 --> 00:00:16.539 where we amplify the voices driving change and 00:00:16.539 --> 00:00:18.940 equity within medicine and beyond. Brought to 00:00:18.940 --> 00:00:21.539 you by the Gender Equity Task Force, a community 00:00:21.539 --> 00:00:24.500 committee of the American Medical Women's Association. 00:00:25.019 --> 00:00:27.379 We're here to challenge norms, break barriers, 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:30.480 and ignite conversations that matter. I'm Rhea 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:32.840 Monohur, and in each episode, we'll bring you 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:35.439 candid discussions with leaders, change makers, 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:38.359 and advocates working to create a more inclusive 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:41.630 and just world. No more silence, no more waiting. 00:00:42.049 --> 00:00:44.929 You're listening to our voices, our future. Let's 00:00:44.929 --> 00:00:48.289 get into it. So today we are welcoming Dr. Sophia 00:00:48.289 --> 00:00:52.250 Yen, a physician, scientist, CEO and co -founder 00:00:52.250 --> 00:00:56.329 of Pandia Health, activist, feminist and mom. 00:00:56.770 --> 00:00:59.149 Dr. Yen is a leading voice in reproductive health 00:00:59.149 --> 00:01:02.469 and gender equity known for her advocacy to make 00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:05.819 Hashtag periods optional through education on 00:01:05.819 --> 00:01:09.000 the science and safety of saving periods. She's 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:11.599 also pioneered an algorithm for personalized 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:15.640 birth control, prescribing, achieving remarkable 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:18.640 success in patient satisfaction, and continues 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:21.200 to champion research that reflects diversity, 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:24.280 equity, and inclusion. Through her work, Dr. 00:01:24.439 --> 00:01:26.780 Yan is reshaping conversations about women's 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:30.159 health, representation and research, and innovation 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:33.260 led by women physicians. Well, thank you so much 00:01:33.260 --> 00:01:36.400 for being here with us today. Thank you so much 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:40.260 for having me. You wear many hats, physician, 00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:43.480 scientist, entrepreneur, activist, feminist, 00:01:43.579 --> 00:01:46.260 and mom. Can you share a little bit about your 00:01:46.260 --> 00:01:49.159 journey and what inspired you to combine medicine, 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:53.159 advocacy, and innovation into your career? I 00:01:53.159 --> 00:01:56.260 would say once you've chosen medicine, and I 00:01:56.260 --> 00:01:58.480 won't give you the story of how I chose medicine, 00:01:58.739 --> 00:02:03.640 but short story there is I like stickers. How 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:09.539 I got to from. Yeah, the early starts of my passion 00:02:09.539 --> 00:02:13.360 for reproductive health, adolescent health, was 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:17.840 I was a pregnancy test counselor at Planned Parenthood, 00:02:17.879 --> 00:02:20.879 you know, pre -med, high school, 15 year old, 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:23.939 volunteering, got to run pregnancy tests, which 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:26.780 was like serious chemistry for me, you know. 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:30.159 Unfortunately, I ran a pregnancy test and it 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:33.599 turned positive for a 13 year old. And I was 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:39.030 like, Oh, and we always ask people before the 00:02:39.030 --> 00:02:41.590 results come in because we want them to answer 00:02:41.590 --> 00:02:43.710 before they're all freaking out and panicking. 00:02:44.110 --> 00:02:46.750 You know, if this were to turn positive, would 00:02:46.750 --> 00:02:49.409 you continue the pregnancy, continue and give 00:02:49.409 --> 00:02:51.669 up for adoption and terminate the pregnancy? 00:02:51.830 --> 00:02:54.710 What would you do? And I knew walking in running 00:02:54.710 --> 00:02:57.930 that test that this young woman was going with 00:02:57.930 --> 00:03:01.840 continue the pregnancy. And, you know, I then 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:04.520 handed her off to a professional counselor after 00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:09.400 getting that result and just knowing where the 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:14.699 roads would fork. I would go on to MIT, UCSF, 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:17.840 Children's Oakland, back to UCSF to specialize 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:20.560 in adolescence, what we call sex, drugs, rock 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:23.719 and roll, and then an MPH at Berkeley just to 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:27.099 get more degrees specializing in maternal child 00:03:27.099 --> 00:03:30.569 health. focusing on childhood obesity, and then 00:03:30.569 --> 00:03:32.729 go to Stanford where I'm a clinical associate 00:03:32.729 --> 00:03:35.090 professor in the Department of Pediatrics and 00:03:35.090 --> 00:03:37.729 Division of Adolescent Medicine, and then finally 00:03:37.729 --> 00:03:40.870 at Pandia Health where I'm the CEO and co -founder. 00:03:41.270 --> 00:03:43.770 And where would this young woman end up? It would 00:03:43.770 --> 00:03:47.930 be a lot harder as a 13 -year -old that's like 00:03:47.930 --> 00:03:51.169 eighth grade, right? Eighth grader, pregnant. 00:03:51.689 --> 00:03:54.009 Are you going to finish high school? Are you 00:03:54.009 --> 00:03:56.090 going to finish college? Are you even going to 00:03:56.090 --> 00:03:58.530 get to college? Are you going to get to graduate 00:03:58.530 --> 00:04:01.150 school? And certainly we've seen it done, but 00:04:01.150 --> 00:04:04.669 it's very, very hard. And certainly we've seen 00:04:04.669 --> 00:04:07.689 the person with the penis stick by their side, 00:04:07.909 --> 00:04:11.780 but we've also seen many of them walk away. I 00:04:11.780 --> 00:04:16.279 was like this is so preventable if we had only 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:19.680 given her comprehensive sex ed if we had only 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:22.120 given her birth control and that's my thing is 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:25.199 you can have sex but don't get pregnant and don't 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:28.100 get sexually transmitted infections and also 00:04:28.100 --> 00:04:31.939 in any heterosexual interaction only 30 % of 00:04:31.939 --> 00:04:35.339 those with the uterus get off and if you're not 00:04:35.339 --> 00:04:37.899 getting off then why are you risking pregnancy 00:04:37.899 --> 00:04:41.209 and sexually transmitted infections either mutual 00:04:41.209 --> 00:04:45.089 masturbation or make sure you get yours you know 00:04:45.089 --> 00:04:49.310 and if we had also given her something to aspire 00:04:49.310 --> 00:04:52.310 to because I was pre -med I knew that if I was 00:04:52.310 --> 00:04:54.750 sexually active I could not afford to get pregnant 00:04:54.750 --> 00:04:57.769 because it would make it very difficult to get 00:04:57.769 --> 00:05:01.290 through high school college med school residency 00:05:01.290 --> 00:05:04.490 fellowship and everything I needed to do to get 00:05:04.490 --> 00:05:07.850 where I needed to go. And so where that comes 00:05:07.850 --> 00:05:12.149 in is my sorority sister dragged me into co found 00:05:12.149 --> 00:05:16.449 she heroes dot org and she heroes is free online 00:05:16.449 --> 00:05:19.589 videos targeting third graders and up before 00:05:19.589 --> 00:05:22.550 the young people trim their tree of possibilities, 00:05:22.910 --> 00:05:26.170 showing them that women can be whatever we want 00:05:26.170 --> 00:05:29.269 to be as long as we work hard towards that goal. 00:05:29.269 --> 00:05:32.459 And as long as we get some help from some Allies, 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:34.579 but really focusing on we can do whatever we 00:05:34.579 --> 00:05:37.019 want to do as and but there will be obstacles 00:05:37.019 --> 00:05:41.519 to overcome and so That came she heroes and then 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:43.939 for Pandia help. I was giving a talk to a bunch 00:05:43.939 --> 00:05:47.060 of doctors Why don't women take their birth control 00:05:47.060 --> 00:05:49.759 and one of the top reasons was? Didn't have in 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:52.300 their hand and my friend and I are like we resolve 00:05:52.300 --> 00:05:55.000 that we will just ship them birth control Keep 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:57.439 shipping them birth control until they tell us 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:01.220 to stop And then we ran ads, free birth control 00:06:01.220 --> 00:06:04.319 delivery, and 60 % of the people that responded 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:07.500 to such an ad did not have a prescription. And 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:11.019 I'm like, oh, do you not know you need a prescription? 00:06:11.579 --> 00:06:14.480 And thank goodness I'm a physician. So I was 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:17.540 like, fine, I will write your prescription. And 00:06:17.540 --> 00:06:20.480 so that's how Pantia Health was born. I did not 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:24.060 want to do telemedicine, but it is what was needed 00:06:24.060 --> 00:06:27.259 to happen. And it was kind of a perfect storm. 00:06:27.339 --> 00:06:30.439 laws, they had just passed a law in California 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:33.240 allowing pharmacists to prescribe. So we took 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:36.160 the protocol that allowed pharmacists prescribe 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:39.579 and threw a layer of doctor on top of that. And 00:06:39.579 --> 00:06:42.899 that is our asynchronous telemedicine. And then 00:06:42.899 --> 00:06:45.980 lastly, I hit menopause and all my friends are 00:06:45.980 --> 00:06:49.160 like, man, I'm hot. And I'm like, yes, I will 00:06:49.160 --> 00:06:51.079 find the best treatment for me because I want 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:53.480 the best treatment for me. And then I will share 00:06:53.480 --> 00:06:56.300 it with all of you. But in building our hundred 00:06:56.300 --> 00:07:01.410 percent physician team, we picked up two OB -GYNs 00:07:01.410 --> 00:07:04.790 each with 20 years experience in menopause. And 00:07:04.790 --> 00:07:07.129 I was like, you, you are leading the team. You 00:07:07.129 --> 00:07:09.649 are developing the protocol. And if any of us 00:07:09.649 --> 00:07:12.410 have any questions, we'll consult you. So for 00:07:12.410 --> 00:07:15.730 Pandia Health, we see birth control patients 00:07:15.730 --> 00:07:19.600 in one business day. For menopause, three to 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:21.519 five business days. In case our doctors have 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:24.639 any questions, they can consult the super menopause 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:28.060 experts. But know that because we are asynchronous 00:07:28.060 --> 00:07:31.139 telemedicine, and if I lose my license, then 00:07:31.139 --> 00:07:34.060 the whole company goes down. So we can't do anything 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:39.019 off label. We can only do the four indications 00:07:39.019 --> 00:07:41.800 for HRT, which unfortunately are limited. And 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:44.019 you'd be surprised the one that isn't on there. 00:07:44.459 --> 00:07:46.720 So HRT was originally developed because they 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:48.810 noticed that women had our heart attacks. later 00:07:48.810 --> 00:07:52.350 than men. and they actually started with HRT 00:07:52.350 --> 00:07:56.040 giving estrogen to men to prevent Heart attacks 00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:59.480 didn't work so well. But anyway, the four indications 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:03.300 are hot flashes, night sweats, genitourinary 00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:06.879 syndrome of menopause, which is painful sex, 00:08:07.379 --> 00:08:11.300 dry sex. I call it sandpaper vagina or the urinary 00:08:11.300 --> 00:08:13.939 feeling like you got a pee when you don't have 00:08:13.939 --> 00:08:15.959 much pee going on or feeling like you have a 00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:18.000 urinary tract infection when you don't or having 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:21.060 recurrent urinary tract infections because when 00:08:21.060 --> 00:08:24.220 estrogen goes away, the vagina dries up and the 00:08:24.220 --> 00:08:26.899 urethra right above it and that dries up too 00:08:26.899 --> 00:08:29.600 and so it increases your risk for urinary tract 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:32.539 infections and then lastly as women of color 00:08:32.539 --> 00:08:35.179 I'm always like we don't get a leg up on anything 00:08:35.179 --> 00:08:38.220 all of medicine is based on a Caucasian white 00:08:38.220 --> 00:08:42.519 you know male and so women of color is the exact 00:08:42.519 --> 00:08:46.409 opposite of that But because we're people of 00:08:46.409 --> 00:08:48.690 color and a lot of us are lactose intolerant, 00:08:48.929 --> 00:08:52.570 then we automatically qualify for at risk for 00:08:52.570 --> 00:08:55.330 osteoporosis. So if you are lactose intolerant, 00:08:55.429 --> 00:08:57.669 don't get enough calcium, or if you're a small 00:08:57.669 --> 00:09:00.350 frames kind of person, then you're immediately 00:09:00.350 --> 00:09:02.389 at risk for osteoporosis. And certainly if you 00:09:02.389 --> 00:09:04.950 have an immediate family member that has osteoporosis, 00:09:05.029 --> 00:09:08.909 that qualifies you as well. Well, thank you for 00:09:08.909 --> 00:09:12.529 sharing so much about what has kind of brought 00:09:12.529 --> 00:09:16.070 you to where you are now and how that journey 00:09:16.070 --> 00:09:18.629 has changed over time. I think a lot of us think 00:09:18.629 --> 00:09:20.950 that we need to follow this like singular path 00:09:20.950 --> 00:09:24.870 from point A to point B and recognizing that 00:09:24.870 --> 00:09:28.450 that journey really changes as the opportunities 00:09:28.450 --> 00:09:33.580 and experiences around us modify that. So with 00:09:33.580 --> 00:09:35.620 that what I really want to talk about is you've 00:09:35.620 --> 00:09:38.519 been a leading voice in the periods optional 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:41.100 movement for listeners who may not be familiar. 00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:43.779 Can you explain the science and safety behind 00:09:43.779 --> 00:09:46.320 saving periods and why you believe that this 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:49.480 is an important option for people who menstruate? 00:09:49.659 --> 00:09:52.240 Thank you so much for asking because this is 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:55.929 really like. My one gift to the world before 00:09:55.929 --> 00:09:59.190 I die if I could get this out to like everybody 00:09:59.190 --> 00:10:02.549 anybody with a uterus that is bleeding every 00:10:02.549 --> 00:10:06.840 single month that is Hashtag periods optional. 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:10.259 You don't have to do that I realized this in 00:10:10.259 --> 00:10:12.960 trying to get pregnant with my first child because 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:14.980 I'd been on the birth control pill so long I 00:10:14.980 --> 00:10:17.440 had forgotten what it was like to have a period 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:19.899 but in order to have babies you got to come off 00:10:19.899 --> 00:10:23.220 the birth control pill and so I want people to 00:10:23.220 --> 00:10:26.879 picture a uterus which is like a vase and every 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:30.179 single month it fills up to a level 10 thickness 00:10:30.179 --> 00:10:33.120 with blood and nutrients waiting to catch an 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:38.330 embryo and oh no embryo it sloughs all that lining 00:10:38.330 --> 00:10:41.029 falls out of the hole and that's the cramps and 00:10:41.029 --> 00:10:43.850 the blood that come out every single month and 00:10:43.850 --> 00:10:46.990 every time you build that lining it can mutate 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:50.200 and turn into endometrial slash uterine cancer 00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:53.220 and then every month you pop an egg out of your 00:10:53.220 --> 00:10:55.559 ovary and when you pop an egg we don't know if 00:10:55.559 --> 00:10:57.279 it's the popping the healing we think it has 00:10:57.279 --> 00:10:59.740 something to do with the tubes that increases 00:10:59.740 --> 00:11:03.720 your risk of ovarian cancer and then lastly as 00:11:03.720 --> 00:11:05.639 your uterus is going up and down up and down 00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:08.519 every single month trying to catch an embryo 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:12.490 of the colon is around the uterus and I like 00:11:12.490 --> 00:11:15.250 to think it's sympathetic and it's like oh ain't 00:11:15.250 --> 00:11:18.669 sad for you and it either runs faster diarrhea 00:11:18.669 --> 00:11:23.490 or runs slow constipation in 30 percent so you 00:11:23.490 --> 00:11:25.269 are not alone that's my whole thing is you are 00:11:25.269 --> 00:11:27.570 not alone you are not crazy it's not all in your 00:11:27.570 --> 00:11:30.629 head it's not a quote hysteria it's real we all 00:11:30.629 --> 00:11:32.950 suffer through it and we as women and you derive 00:11:32.950 --> 00:11:36.269 bearing people should hashtag stop sucking it 00:11:36.269 --> 00:11:40.899 up so um my point is from age 12 and a half to 00:11:40.899 --> 00:11:45.220 52 40 years up and down up and down every single 00:11:45.220 --> 00:11:48.000 month popping an egg popping an egg when really 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:52.840 on average now we only you know give catch an 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:56.000 embryo trying to catch an embryo two times maybe 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:58.539 four times you know if we're very aspirational 00:11:58.539 --> 00:12:01.720 or whatever but like why are we doing this every 00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:05.460 single month from 12 and a half to 52 if we only 00:12:05.460 --> 00:12:08.320 need to catch an embryo twice. And then I thought 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:10.480 I came up with this brilliant idea of hashtag 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:14.279 periods optional, but Dr. Cuntinho and Dr. Sagal 00:12:14.279 --> 00:12:18.399 had written a book in like 1999 with all of the 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:21.620 medical evidence cited in there. And then Malcolm 00:12:21.620 --> 00:12:24.159 Gladwell, who's a writer for the New Yorker, 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:27.340 had written an article called John Rock's Error. 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:30.320 And John Rock was the original founder, one of 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:32.629 the original founders of the birth control pill 00:12:32.629 --> 00:12:35.730 devout Catholic goes to church every single morning 00:12:35.730 --> 00:12:39.169 at 7 a .m. and his two co -founders were like 00:12:39.169 --> 00:12:41.549 dude why you make it women bleed every month 00:12:41.549 --> 00:12:43.850 we could make them bleed every three months every 00:12:43.850 --> 00:12:47.610 six months whatever and he was like no I'm gonna 00:12:47.610 --> 00:12:50.129 make periods regular regular regular so we can 00:12:50.129 --> 00:12:52.110 get it through the Catholic Church and he got 00:12:52.110 --> 00:12:54.549 it through the nuns nuns are very liberal he 00:12:54.549 --> 00:12:56.659 got it through the priests I don't know how he 00:12:56.659 --> 00:12:59.840 did that and then it hit the pope and the pope's 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:03.840 like so he died a sad catholic but because of 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:06.480 him and also the fear that women couldn't handle 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:09.980 it if they didn't bleed every month every single 00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:12.659 birth control method has had this artificial 00:13:12.659 --> 00:13:16.500 bleed once every four weeks when it could be 00:13:16.500 --> 00:13:19.580 every three months every six months or never 00:13:19.580 --> 00:13:22.620 and then people always say oh that's unnatural 00:13:22.620 --> 00:13:26.059 well actually this Every single month from 12 00:13:26.059 --> 00:13:31.080 and a half to 52 is unnatural. We bleed 350 to 00:13:31.080 --> 00:13:35.419 400 times in our lives versus Dr. Beverly Strossman 00:13:35.419 --> 00:13:38.340 is an anthropologist that studies the Dogon tribe 00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:40.720 in Mali, Africa and they die about when we die. 00:13:41.019 --> 00:13:43.820 but they only have a hundred periods in their 00:13:43.820 --> 00:13:46.679 lives. They have no ovarian cancer. They have 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:50.980 no endometrial cancer because they're pregnant 00:13:50.980 --> 00:13:54.100 with eight babies. And how many periods you have 00:13:54.100 --> 00:13:57.220 when you're pregnant with eight babies? Zero. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:00.299 And then they're breastfeeding every two to three 00:14:00.299 --> 00:14:05.799 hours for 12 to 18 months so multiply that times 00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:08.620 eight babies and so they have a hundred periods 00:14:08.620 --> 00:14:12.259 in their lives we have 350 400 enough for two 00:14:12.259 --> 00:14:18.620 or three other people so And also bleeding results 00:14:18.620 --> 00:14:20.980 in hormones going up and down, up and down, up 00:14:20.980 --> 00:14:23.700 and down. And there are many medical things that 00:14:23.700 --> 00:14:27.039 are better with stable hormones, specifically 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:32.179 diabetes, seizures, headaches, migraines, and 00:14:32.179 --> 00:14:36.299 then anything involving periods. So PMS or heavy 00:14:36.299 --> 00:14:39.299 periods or painful periods. The number one cause 00:14:39.299 --> 00:14:42.139 of miss school and work for a person with a uterus 00:14:42.139 --> 00:14:46.820 under the age of 25 is heavy. painful periods 00:14:46.820 --> 00:14:50.600 so a lot more people could go to work and school 00:14:50.600 --> 00:14:54.799 and in some cultures religion they'll kick you 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:59.940 out or like I have a South Asian friend who Couldn't 00:14:59.940 --> 00:15:02.059 visit her in -laws because if she were to visit 00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:04.759 her in -laws in India They would force her to 00:15:04.759 --> 00:15:07.120 stay in the kitchen for three days while she's 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:09.799 having her period and not go out anywhere and 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:11.960 had she known about periods optional or at least 00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:14.740 the option to move her period around she could 00:15:14.740 --> 00:15:17.500 move it before she visits so she wouldn't be 00:15:17.500 --> 00:15:20.139 confined when she is visiting her in -laws and 00:15:20.139 --> 00:15:22.820 now she's a menopause so she can go but before 00:15:22.820 --> 00:15:25.820 if she'd known we could have changed her relationship 00:15:25.820 --> 00:15:29.279 with her in -laws So like, so much could be better. 00:15:29.340 --> 00:15:31.639 And then there's a whole bunch of work on period 00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:34.559 poverty. And I absolutely agree that those of 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:37.720 us who bleed should give access to free period 00:15:37.720 --> 00:15:40.179 products. And if we don't, then it's just totally 00:15:40.179 --> 00:15:44.080 sexist. But if we make hashtag periods optional, 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:47.759 there will be far less need and demand for that 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:50.860 while decreasing ovarian endometrial colorectal 00:15:50.860 --> 00:15:55.110 cancer and NEM. Well, thank you so much for sharing 00:15:55.110 --> 00:15:57.009 and kind of talking through that. I think a lot 00:15:57.009 --> 00:16:00.529 of people are not necessarily up to date with 00:16:00.529 --> 00:16:04.049 or don't necessarily understand the science behind 00:16:04.049 --> 00:16:06.669 it and the public discourse isn't necessarily 00:16:06.669 --> 00:16:09.629 there. So it's hard to kind of fathom and wrap 00:16:09.629 --> 00:16:12.070 your mind around something when you're not really 00:16:12.070 --> 00:16:14.990 educated about it yet. Yeah, and I'm so glad 00:16:14.990 --> 00:16:17.570 that we're able to talk about this on the Amla 00:16:17.570 --> 00:16:21.029 podcast. So with that, I want to shift gears 00:16:21.029 --> 00:16:23.850 a little bit. You developed an algorithm to help 00:16:23.850 --> 00:16:26.350 match patients with the best birth control pill, 00:16:26.690 --> 00:16:28.970 achieving impressive satisfaction and adherence 00:16:28.970 --> 00:16:32.049 rates. What inspired this innovation and how 00:16:32.049 --> 00:16:34.970 does your approach differ from traditional prescribing 00:16:34.970 --> 00:16:39.779 practices? So I was the original prescriber for 00:16:39.779 --> 00:16:43.759 Pandia Health and so I wrote 3 ,000 birth control 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:47.000 prescriptions in two years more than most physicians 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:49.659 would write because we have you know 50 to 100 00:16:49.659 --> 00:16:52.820 people coming to our platform a day and so I 00:16:52.820 --> 00:16:55.139 couldn't just write the prescriptions and watch 00:16:55.139 --> 00:16:58.419 women suffer and I realized that everything in 00:16:58.419 --> 00:17:01.860 medicine was based on a 70 kilo white male is 00:17:01.860 --> 00:17:04.359 our standard in medicine if anyone's non -medicine 00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:07.619 listening to this and certainly for birth control 00:17:07.619 --> 00:17:10.480 similarly. All the research and data that we 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:14.200 had was on Caucasian females. And that pill that 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:16.920 we've been taught at the major academic institutions, 00:17:17.079 --> 00:17:20.680 Harvard, UCSF, Stanford, is a pill that works 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:23.420 great. If you're a Caucasian female that wants 00:17:23.420 --> 00:17:25.420 to bleed every month. And the way most people 00:17:25.420 --> 00:17:28.000 are taught is here's a pill, your professor likes 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:30.019 it, if it doesn't work, good luck with that. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:33.329 And most lay people and doctors know there's 00:17:33.329 --> 00:17:35.329 different pills but mostly people don't realize 00:17:35.329 --> 00:17:39.289 there's 40 different formulations eight different 00:17:39.289 --> 00:17:42.269 progestins and the progestins are the things 00:17:42.269 --> 00:17:45.069 that vary between the pills mainly and they have 00:17:45.069 --> 00:17:46.930 different side effects and different stuff like 00:17:46.930 --> 00:17:50.289 that and so I took the pill that we were prescribing 00:17:50.289 --> 00:17:53.309 I noticed a side effect in people of Asian and 00:17:53.309 --> 00:17:57.009 Black and Latina descent fixed that and then 00:17:57.009 --> 00:17:59.789 we had modifiers if you have polycystic ovarian 00:17:59.789 --> 00:18:02.890 syndrome if you have acne if you're a cash versus 00:18:02.890 --> 00:18:05.230 insurance patient will offer you two options 00:18:05.230 --> 00:18:07.089 saying this one might be cheaper but it might 00:18:07.089 --> 00:18:09.789 have more But most people don't notice it's up 00:18:09.789 --> 00:18:14.440 to you blah blah and so with that Dr. Yen's algorithm 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:16.740 that we've trained everyone at Pandia Health, 00:18:16.920 --> 00:18:19.779 all the 100 % physicians that do practice on 00:18:19.779 --> 00:18:23.400 our platform. We have 93 % of our patients happy 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:26.519 with the first pill prescribed at the 10 -week 00:18:26.519 --> 00:18:28.799 follow -up, where we're like, breakthrough bleeding, 00:18:29.299 --> 00:18:32.519 acne, munchies, anything. You want to change 00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:35.319 or you want to stay? And 93 % are like, let's 00:18:35.319 --> 00:18:38.240 go. And then more importantly, the gold standard. 00:18:38.339 --> 00:18:41.380 At a year, new people to the birth control pill. 00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:44.099 How many are still? on it in general research 00:18:44.099 --> 00:18:47.630 studies only. 33 percent of people who started 00:18:47.630 --> 00:18:51.049 the pill at a year are still on it and probably 00:18:51.049 --> 00:18:53.190 gives a side effects possibly because they couldn't 00:18:53.190 --> 00:18:55.750 get to the pharmacy to get their drug but with 00:18:55.750 --> 00:18:58.130 our company which delivers a drug and the whole 00:18:58.130 --> 00:19:00.490 motto is no one runs out of birth control on 00:19:00.490 --> 00:19:04.690 our watch um and you know picking a pill that 00:19:04.690 --> 00:19:09.589 has no side effects ideally we achieve 82 percent 00:19:09.589 --> 00:19:13.029 that is a huge jump and we've seen in our competitors 00:19:13.029 --> 00:19:16.779 they'll hit 55 percent with delivery, but we 00:19:16.779 --> 00:19:20.039 do delivery and we pick the right pills. So with 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:22.519 that, you can have a lot better adherence and 00:19:22.519 --> 00:19:25.099 also I think education of hashtag periods optional 00:19:25.099 --> 00:19:29.559 as well. Well, that's super interesting to kind 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:33.940 of hear about and see like how that how you've 00:19:33.940 --> 00:19:38.319 used this algorithm to perfect in a certain way, 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:41.680 patient care in ways that a lot of people aren't 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:46.000 necessarily aware that You can have these options. 00:19:47.069 --> 00:19:50.190 And I do want to point out, we use race, ethnicity, 00:19:50.410 --> 00:19:53.009 self -reported. And so we have, I've noticed, 00:19:53.450 --> 00:19:55.170 Black people say they're white. And I was like, 00:19:55.269 --> 00:19:57.170 OK, that's fine. If you want me to use the white 00:19:57.170 --> 00:19:59.829 algorithm, I'll use the white algorithm on you. 00:20:00.569 --> 00:20:03.309 But in the future, we will do genetics. We have 00:20:03.309 --> 00:20:07.190 competitors who are charging people $250 to do 00:20:07.190 --> 00:20:09.490 genetics. And I'm like, a lot of people have 00:20:09.490 --> 00:20:11.529 had their genetics done, so how about you just 00:20:11.529 --> 00:20:14.069 give it to me. And if you do, then you're contributing 00:20:14.069 --> 00:20:16.170 to making your health better and potentially 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:19.240 for menopause as well. And right now we have 00:20:19.240 --> 00:20:21.880 150 people that have given us their genetics. 00:20:21.980 --> 00:20:26.220 We need about 300 or 500 to get to a good thing 00:20:26.220 --> 00:20:30.200 that we can predict what's the best birth control. 00:20:30.279 --> 00:20:32.980 And then just also as a side note, because ADHD, 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:38.440 menopause, etc. Note that for AI, it's really 00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:41.539 important that if you have crap data in, you 00:20:41.539 --> 00:20:45.950 get crap data out and so we have good data in 00:20:45.950 --> 00:20:49.170 and hopefully we'll have good data out because 00:20:49.170 --> 00:20:52.369 92 percent 93 percent of our patients are happy 00:20:52.369 --> 00:20:54.730 with the first pill and 82 percent are still 00:20:54.730 --> 00:20:57.750 on it at a year but I had a bunch of bright -eyed 00:20:57.750 --> 00:20:59.990 bushy -tailed undergraduate students were like 00:20:59.990 --> 00:21:03.970 we ran this thing on two million humans and we 00:21:03.970 --> 00:21:06.329 came up with the best treatment for PCOS and 00:21:06.329 --> 00:21:09.390 I was like We'll see. And then they came back 00:21:09.390 --> 00:21:11.990 and the first pill was okay. The second pill 00:21:11.990 --> 00:21:15.029 was one pill that if you went to UCSF, Stanford, 00:21:15.250 --> 00:21:18.349 Harvard, or you followed the World Health Organization's 00:21:18.349 --> 00:21:21.390 suggestions, you would not write for. So one 00:21:21.390 --> 00:21:23.789 way to check if your doctor's up to date on the 00:21:23.789 --> 00:21:25.569 latest and greatest is take a look at your birth 00:21:25.569 --> 00:21:27.950 control pill and if it has the three letters 00:21:27.950 --> 00:21:32.529 T -R -I. Try. That means that it's a triphasic 00:21:32.529 --> 00:21:34.630 pill that there are three different colors and 00:21:34.630 --> 00:21:37.549 then a different color for placebo. That is not 00:21:37.549 --> 00:21:40.049 recommended because it was trying to mimic the 00:21:40.049 --> 00:21:42.670 normal cycle, but it was so super physiologic. 00:21:43.029 --> 00:21:46.049 It's a farce and it's just much better to have 00:21:46.049 --> 00:21:49.660 smooth hormones then. this this cycling and so 00:21:49.660 --> 00:21:53.339 because they put in 2 million rando people not 00:21:53.339 --> 00:21:56.079 restricting it to academic centers not restricting 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:59.000 it to the last 10 years practice or whatever 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:02.259 of the best and the brightest they got crap data 00:22:02.259 --> 00:22:07.019 out so beware. Well that's something I actually 00:22:07.019 --> 00:22:10.019 want to talk about you've been really outspoken 00:22:10.019 --> 00:22:12.940 about the need for more funding and women founded 00:22:12.940 --> 00:22:15.539 and women led companies especially in health. 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:20.380 in health tech, what systemic barriers have you 00:22:20.380 --> 00:22:23.279 encountered and what changes do you think could 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:26.500 help close that funding gap? I think it's really 00:22:26.500 --> 00:22:29.460 important for people to realize that companies 00:22:29.460 --> 00:22:33.779 exist when they get funded. Companies exist when 00:22:33.779 --> 00:22:38.079 you choose to use them. And so I beg you, please 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:42.099 ask, who is the founder? Who is benefiting from 00:22:42.099 --> 00:22:45.180 you shopping at this company? No offense, but 00:22:45.180 --> 00:22:50.180 is it a bro? Or is it not a bro? And would your 00:22:50.180 --> 00:22:53.420 health be best taken care of by somebody who's 00:22:53.420 --> 00:22:56.660 taken an oath? Do no harm. Or better by somebody 00:22:56.660 --> 00:22:58.900 who went to Harvard Business School whose goal 00:22:58.900 --> 00:23:02.450 is to make the most money possible. We see the 00:23:02.450 --> 00:23:05.809 push by venture capitalists sometimes to do stuff 00:23:05.809 --> 00:23:08.829 that is not standard of care. So people are pushing, 00:23:09.150 --> 00:23:11.369 why don't you just spend two emergency contraception 00:23:11.369 --> 00:23:12.930 at a time? And I was like, that would double 00:23:12.930 --> 00:23:16.029 the health care cost on the entire nation. No, 00:23:16.529 --> 00:23:19.109 why don't you use this pill or this patch? That's 00:23:19.109 --> 00:23:21.829 not cost effective. Why don't you just, you know, 00:23:21.829 --> 00:23:25.470 we see these things and you're pushed by it. 00:23:25.470 --> 00:23:28.150 You have to do what your investor funder does. 00:23:28.529 --> 00:23:33.460 So know that Only I believe three percent of 00:23:33.460 --> 00:23:36.200 venture capital are women so we need more women 00:23:36.200 --> 00:23:39.539 to go into venture capital and know that very 00:23:39.539 --> 00:23:42.700 few women founded women -led companies succeed 00:23:42.700 --> 00:23:46.319 because not because we're incompetent but because 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:50.720 we need the funding and what I saw was two dudes 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:54.039 get funded for birth control companies over me 00:23:54.039 --> 00:24:00.430 and I am a woman I am a doctor I I'm a 50 -year 00:24:00.430 --> 00:24:02.289 -old, and they're like, well, you're old. And 00:24:02.289 --> 00:24:04.769 it's like, well, look at my LinkedIn. My LinkedIn 00:24:04.769 --> 00:24:07.470 crushes your LinkedIn. My friends are the head 00:24:07.470 --> 00:24:10.309 of everything. You just graduated college, which 00:24:10.309 --> 00:24:13.869 is cool for you, but give some of us older people 00:24:13.869 --> 00:24:16.549 a chance. And so I've always wondered, if my 00:24:16.549 --> 00:24:20.569 husband went to go pitch, Asian, MIT, Apple, 00:24:21.190 --> 00:24:25.390 money would fall from the sky. But Asian, mom, 00:24:25.769 --> 00:24:29.410 doctor. a lot harder to get. And so please, you 00:24:29.410 --> 00:24:34.099 know, encourage If you all know any venture capital 00:24:34.099 --> 00:24:38.039 to invest in women founded women led Please patronize 00:24:38.039 --> 00:24:40.859 women founded women led and know that there are 00:24:40.859 --> 00:24:43.819 a lot of good Organizations out there one. I 00:24:43.819 --> 00:24:45.839 have to give a shout out to start X which is 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:50.160 Stanford's accelerator They are very pro DEI 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:53.599 or you know getting to equality. I'm not asking 00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:57.920 for more I'm just asking for level footing level 00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:01.420 funding and then springboard and enterprises 00:25:01.420 --> 00:25:04.819 is focused on women entrepreneurs. It's a nonprofit. 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:08.640 Corliss is a great effort out of Vicky Saunders 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:11.799 of Canada, but she does it in any country. You 00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:16.960 get 500 investor donor women to throw up $1 ,100 00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:20.559 a year. $100 goes to overhead. $1 ,000 is bundled 00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:23.839 together. And then you all vote on five women 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:25.759 -founded, women -led companies that you want 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:30.200 to give $100 ,000 interest -free loan. And then 00:25:30.200 --> 00:25:32.740 you pay it back over four or five years. And 00:25:32.740 --> 00:25:35.299 if you do well, who can't pay back $100 ,000 00:25:35.299 --> 00:25:37.180 over four or five years? You hopefully should 00:25:37.180 --> 00:25:42.190 and can. And so that is some good people. The 00:25:42.190 --> 00:25:44.089 other, I have to give a shout out to Precursor 00:25:44.089 --> 00:25:48.170 Ventures, who is Charles Hudson, amazing, and 00:25:48.170 --> 00:25:52.069 his team. And he funds all companies, but with 00:25:52.069 --> 00:25:56.430 an emphasis on underrepresented people of race, 00:25:56.630 --> 00:26:01.210 ethnicity, as well as gender. And then Arlen 00:26:01.210 --> 00:26:05.319 Hamilton with Backstage Crowd, which is... People 00:26:05.319 --> 00:26:08.220 who are accredited investors can invest little 00:26:08.220 --> 00:26:10.539 bits of money put them together in one check 00:26:10.539 --> 00:26:13.849 to help people and know that there are these 00:26:13.849 --> 00:26:17.630 kind of vehicles, check out website catacap .org. 00:26:18.029 --> 00:26:20.890 They're allowing people to invest as little as 00:26:20.890 --> 00:26:24.089 $250 tax deductible. So it's getting to the end 00:26:24.089 --> 00:26:25.890 of the year. If anybody needs tax deduction or 00:26:25.890 --> 00:26:28.690 just any time you want tax deduction, minimum 00:26:28.690 --> 00:26:32.230 $250 can choose what company you want to invest 00:26:32.230 --> 00:26:34.730 in. It has to do good. And then they pile the 00:26:34.730 --> 00:26:37.599 checks together and then help fund a company. 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:40.559 So Catacap will be launching a promotion to promote 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:43.079 women -founded, women -led companies that you 00:26:43.079 --> 00:26:47.119 can invest in in a tax -free manner. Well, thank 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:50.539 you so much for everything you've shared. As 00:26:50.539 --> 00:26:52.539 we are kind of moving towards the end of our 00:26:52.539 --> 00:26:55.680 podcast and our time here, as someone who's bridged 00:26:55.680 --> 00:26:58.920 medicine, entrepreneurship, and advocacy, what 00:26:58.920 --> 00:27:01.740 advice would you give to young women and future 00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:04.740 physicians who want to challenge norms, innovate, 00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:08.839 and lead with purpose in healthcare? I think 00:27:08.839 --> 00:27:11.480 it's important to do something that you enjoy. 00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:14.819 Because whatever it's going to be, if it's medicine 00:27:14.819 --> 00:27:20.680 or startup, it's going to be 24 -7 at some point. 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:24.019 I mean, Pandia Health is 24 -7 for me. I work 00:27:24.019 --> 00:27:26.799 one half day a week at Stanford in their weight 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:30.299 clinic. But the rest of the time, 24 -7, always 00:27:30.299 --> 00:27:33.980 be closing. If you choose a specialty, you also 00:27:33.980 --> 00:27:35.720 don't want to be doing something that makes you 00:27:35.720 --> 00:27:38.420 sad or bored. You want something that excites 00:27:38.420 --> 00:27:41.859 you. And I thank anyone who's willing to go into 00:27:41.859 --> 00:27:44.740 medicine because I've scared all of my relatives 00:27:44.740 --> 00:27:47.880 and my siblings and my own children from going 00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:52.099 into medicine. It is a hard haul. And, you know, 00:27:52.180 --> 00:27:56.599 you come out and you see like my joke is my husband 00:27:56.599 --> 00:28:00.480 makes 10 times what I make. And I went to 12 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:03.450 years more. And people are googling stuff and 00:28:03.450 --> 00:28:05.269 coming and saying, Dr. Yen, you're trying to 00:28:05.269 --> 00:28:08.730 give my kid autism. And I'm like, I'm a pediatrician. 00:28:08.970 --> 00:28:12.950 Do you think I want to give anybody autism? No, 00:28:13.089 --> 00:28:15.849 I'm just trying to prevent measles, mumps, and 00:28:15.849 --> 00:28:18.750 rubella. And if your son gets measles, he's going 00:28:18.750 --> 00:28:21.950 to have mumps, he'll get mumps or kitis, and 00:28:21.950 --> 00:28:25.130 he'll go sterile. And then he can sue you because 00:28:25.130 --> 00:28:27.569 you didn't give him the vaccine. But that is 00:28:27.569 --> 00:28:29.789 not to say the vaccine has anything to do with 00:28:29.789 --> 00:28:32.299 autism. The research has shown that those who 00:28:32.299 --> 00:28:34.740 get the vaccine and those who don't have the 00:28:34.740 --> 00:28:37.920 same rate of autism. It just happens that the 00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:41.079 measles mumps rubella is given it two and two 00:28:41.079 --> 00:28:43.539 is when some people notice that their kid has 00:28:43.539 --> 00:28:46.299 autism. But I say if you had paid attention, 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:48.240 you wouldn't have noticed your kid had autism 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:53.019 before too. But that's just me. So it is a hard 00:28:53.019 --> 00:28:56.019 haul, but it is absolutely rewarding to help 00:28:56.019 --> 00:28:58.619 people. And, you know, I want to leave the world 00:28:58.619 --> 00:29:03.279 better than I came in. Well, thank you so much. 00:29:03.420 --> 00:29:06.279 That's a wrap on this episode of Our Voices, 00:29:06.279 --> 00:29:09.220 Our Future. We hope today's conversation inspired 00:29:09.220 --> 00:29:11.799 you, challenged you, and reminded you of the 00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:14.339 power of raising your voice. The fight for equity 00:29:14.339 --> 00:29:17.500 doesn't stop here. Join us in the movement. Subscribe 00:29:17.500 --> 00:29:19.900 wherever you get your podcasts, and if you loved 00:29:19.900 --> 00:29:21.859 this episode, share it with someone who needs 00:29:21.859 --> 00:29:25.319 it. Until next time, stay bold, stay vocal, and 00:29:25.319 --> 00:29:28.119 keep the conversation going. This is Our Voices, 00:29:28.200 --> 00:29:28.799 Our Future.