11. Explaining the Inequity of Women's Healthcare with Dr. Jocelyn J. Fitzgerald

Did you know doctors are paid systematically less for procedures on female anatomy? (For example, 45% more to biopsy a penis than a vagina). This shocking reality, highlighted by creator René Jay @bornwithadarktan [https://instagram.com/bornwithadarktan] and Dr. Kemi Doll's book A Terrible Strength [https://www.amazon.com/Terrible-Strength-Hidden-Survival-Healing/dp/0593977475], is a baked-in structural issue. In this episode of Our Womanity, host Dr. Rachel Pope sits down with urogynecologist Dr. Jocelyn Fitzgerald—the lead researcher behind the landmark study "Price and Prejudice [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39978776/]"—to dismantle the financial architecture failing female patients and their specialists. Dr. Jocelyn Fitzgerald, MD is a board-certified urogynecologist and reconstructive pelvic surgeon at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, and an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Her clinical work and research span chronic pelvic pain, female sexual dysfunction, pelvic floor disorders, and genitourinary syndrome of menopause. She is a prominent advocate for equity in women's healthcare, famously publishing research detailing the surgical reimbursement inequities embedded within female anatomy billing. Key Conversation Highlights: * The RVU Trap: How the Relative Value Unit (RVU) billing system systematically devalues the female body, gynecologic surgery, and non-surgical menopause visits. * "Moms of Medicine" Dilemma: Why society expects OBGYNs to constantly absorb uncompensated emotional labor and primary care duties, diluting their specialized surgical value. * The Workforce Crisis: Why post-op "ghost towns" and devalued billing are driving a massive OBGYN shortage, with only six states projected to have adequate care by 2040. * Beyond "Lady Stuff": Why menopause is a systemic transition overlapping with cardiology, rheumatology, and neurology, demanding interdisciplinary research. * The Allderdice Connection: A fun look back at Rachel and Jocelyn's shared feminist upbringing at Taylor Allderdice High School in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh. "In medicine, if we don't study it and we don't name it, it's not there. It's just treated as 'lady stuff.'" — Dr. Jocelyn Fitzgerald Connect & Listen: Subscribe to Our Womanity on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and follow Dr. Rachel Pope on Instagram: @DrRachelPope [https://instagram.com/] for daily midlife wellness tips! The Study: Price and Prejudice: Reimbursement of Surgical Care on Male Versus Female Anatomies [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39978776/] by Madeline Penn, Donessa Colley, Pratistha Koirala, Dr. Louise King, and Dr. Jocelyn Fitzgerald.