S1 Ep63: Are Current Screening Guidelines HELPING women or HURTING Women? Controversies in Public Health Policy with Dr. Melissa Simon

Today I am talking to Dr. Melissa Simon. Dr. Simon served on the US Preventative Services Task Force Recommendation Committee (USPSTF), the government organization that shapes public policy and sets recommendations followed by doctors all over the country. So, when your doctor says you only need a Pap test every 3 years and that you no longer need a Pap test at all after age 65,  it is based on the recommendation of this committee. 
How do they come up with these guidelines? And, are they always right? In this episode I challenge Dr. Simon on some controversial Task Force recommendations that have informed the way your doctor practices medicine, and dictated the health care you receive. And if you listened to Episode 58 Two Experts Two Timely Topics, you know what an amazing guest Dr. Simon is! 

We discuss: 

• The role of the National Institute of Health (NIH) 
• The role of the National Institute of US Preventative Services Task Force Recommendation Committee (USPSTF)
• Problems with the current Pap test recommendations
• If women over 65 should get a pap test, and if so, who would benefit
• Who should get genetic testing for the BRCA mutation 
• Why urinary incontinence is a public health issue
• The public library and public health
• How you can influence public health policies 

US Preventative Services Task Force Recommendation Committee https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/

Health for All Library Project: https://healthforallproject.org/ 

To leave a comment on cervical cancer screening: (comments periodically close but often open up again) https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/draft-update-summary/cervical-cancer-screening-adults-adolescents

 Final plan for cervical screening  which will also post for public comment: https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/document/final-research-plan/cervical-cancer-screening-adults-adolescents

To find out what preventative services you should have: https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/apps/


                                                  Melissa Simon MD
Twitter: @DrMelissa Simon
LinkedIn: 2Melissa-simon
https://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/faculty-profiles/az/profile.html?xid=16856

For more information:
Episode 26: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion  in Health Care, and Why it Matters with Dr. Fenwa Milhouse
Episode 39 A Personal Trainer for Your Pelvic Floor with Dr. Janelle Howell 
Episode 44 A Deep Dive into RECURRENT UTI
Episode 58 Two Experts Two Timely Topics


Lauren Streicher, MD is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and the founding medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause. She is a certified menopause practitioner of the North American Menopause Society. 

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Dr. Streicher is the medical correspondent for Chicago’s top-rated news program, the WGN Morning News, and has been seen on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, NPR, Dr. Radio, Nightline, Fox and Friends, The Steve Harvey Show, CBS This Morning, ABC News Now, NBCNightlyNews,20/20, and World News Tonight. She is an expert source for many magazines and serves on the medical advisory board of The Kinsey Institute, Self Magazine, and Prevention Magazine. She writes a regular column for The Ethel by AARP and Prevention Magazine. 
 Follow Dr. Streicher on 
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Books by Lauren Streicher, MD

 Slip Sliding Away: Turning Back the Clock on Your Vagina-A gynecologist’s guide to eliminating post-menopause dryness and pain

Hot Flash Hell: A Gynecologist's Guide to Turning Down the Heat

Sex Rx- Hormones, Health, and Your Best Sex Ever

The Essential Guide to Hysterectomy