386. Nuances and Myths of Menopause with Dr. Shepherd

The longer we treat menopause as something to survive quietly instead of understanding fully, the more women get left without real answers.

Dr. Shepherd is an OB-GYN, and we use menopause as the entry point into a much bigger conversation — the myths still circulating about menopause and sexual health, why clinician expertise and actual hands-on experience matter more than a lot of people realize, and how insurance and the broader healthcare system quietly shape what choices women even know they have. We also get into AI and new technology in medicine — where it genuinely helps, and where it's moving faster than anyone can vet it. And we land on something I keep coming back to on this show: aging well is not a solo project. Community and connection are part of the medicine.

Dr. Jessica Shepherd is a board-certified OB-GYN focused on women's health, menopause, and sexual wellness in midlife. Generation M - Dr. Jessica Shepherd's book

What We Cover

• Menopause as a gateway. Why menopause is so often the first time women start really engaging with their own health, and what that says about the gaps earlier in the system.
• The myths that won't die. Common misconceptions about menopause and sexual health that Dr. Shepherd still has to correct in the exam room, every week.
• Expertise actually matters. Why the clinician you choose, and how much hands-on experience they have, changes the quality of care you get, especially in a field this nuanced.
• The system shapes the choice. How insurance coverage and healthcare structures quietly limit what options get presented to women in the first place.
• AI in medicine — promise and risk. Where artificial intelligence and new technology are genuinely useful in healthcare, and where the pace of change is outrunning oversight.
• Community as medicine. Why connection and support are not a "nice to have" in aging well, they're part of the actual strategy.

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