Students Attend 6th Annual Endometriosis Medical Conference

In May 2015, the Endometriosis Foundation of America (EndoFound) extended its mission of educating the medical community by offering scholarships to medical students to attend the 6th Annual Endometriosis Medical Conference. These scholarships were awarded to promising individuals from multiple U.S. medical schools to shape future leaders in gynecologic care. The experiences and reflections shared by the recipients reveal both their enthusiasm for the subject and the transformative power of focused, expert-level training in endometriosis care.

Scholarship Recipients and Their Reflections

The following students, hailing from five different medical schools, were selected to attend the conference. Each provided a testimonial on their experience, and together, they reflect the diversity of backgrounds and passions that drive the future of women’s health.

Vivian Yu (Georgetown University School of Medicine, Class of 2017)

“I had such a wonderful experience at the endometriosis medical conference. It was intriguing to listen about lecture topics from experts in the field. There was a diverse group of physicians there with different practices and opinions. This opened up a lot of room for discussion. I specifically enjoyed the portion of the conference about the most current initiatives to teach endometriosis in schools.

Attending this conference makes me excited to eventually be a physician working to improve women’s health.”

Vivian emphasizes the richness of hearing from a wide range of clinicians and researchers. She found particular inspiration in sessions about integrating endometriosis education early in medical school or perhaps even before, and sees this as fueling her own aspiration to contribute to women’s health with greater awareness and competence.

Jacqueline Lee (Georgetown University School of Medicine, Class of 2018)

“The EFA conference provided a great opportunity to gain an interdisciplinary perspective of endometriosis. The clinicians and academic researchers engaged in discourse that ultimately focused on improving the quality of their patients’ lives.”

Jacqueline’s reflection underscores how the conference bridged the gap between research and real-world clinical care. She appreciated that experts not only discussed scientific advances but also how those advances translate into tangible improvements in patient outcomes.

Claire Sokas (Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Class of 2016)

“It was such an honor to attend the EFA annual conference! The intimate setting gave me the opportunity to not only hear talks from experts in the field but to interact with them personally. It also empowered me to be a better patient advocate. I hope future students will have the opportunity to learn about an issue that is too-often forgotten in our curriculums, but so integral to women’s health. Thank you EFA for the experience, and I hope to continue to attend as a resident and physician!”

Claire highlights the value of smaller, focused environments where attendees can ask questions, engage directly with thought leaders, and internalize their roles as advocates. Her hope is that future curricula incorporate endometriosis more fully — a sentiment echoed by many in the field.

Versha Patel (Georgetown University School of Medicine, Class of 2016)

“The Endometriosis Foundation of America’s ‘Ending Endometriosis Starts at the Beginning’ Conference was an exciting new look at a pathology that is largely overlooked, and whose long- and short-term effects are grossly underestimated in the field of gynecology. The conference gave an in-depth review of the cutting edge research and technology that the field has to offer. It also addressed the issues concerning quality of life of sufferers of this disease.”

Versha reflects on the dual nature of endometriosis: both as a complex scientific problem and a deeply personal quality-of-life concern. She appreciated that the conference did not treat endometriosis merely as a surgical or pathologic entity, but also considered how it affects daily living, mental health, and long-term well-being.

Themes and Insights from the Students’ Experiences

From these testimonials, several key themes emerge:

1. Exposure to Experts and Diverse Perspectives
   Many students remarked on the value of hearing from clinicians and researchers working in different settings — academic, private practice, surgery-focused, and advocacy-driven. This diversity allowed attendees to compare approaches, question assumptions, and envision their own future roles in endometriosis care.
2. The Power of Small, Interactive Conferences
   Because the meeting was more intimate, students had access not just to lectures, but to Q&A, informal conversations, and mentorship. For emerging clinicians, such access to thought leaders can be rare — and potentially career-shaping.
3. Broadening Education and Awareness
   Several students noted how endometriosis is still underrepresented in medical curricula. Attending the conference sparked in them a desire to better integrate the disease into teaching — both for doctors-in-training and in public health education more generally.
4. Bridging Research and Patient Care
   The conference did not merely present scientific advances in a vacuum. Rather, it emphasized translation — how new findings in disease mechanisms, diagnostics, and therapeutics can and should inform real improvements in diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life.
5. Empowering Advocacy
   Many testimonials reflect a shift: from “learning about the disease” toward embracing roles as advocates, educators, and innovators. These students saw themselves not just as future physicians, but as change agents for a condition often underappreciated or misunderstood.

Why Such Scholarships and Conferences Matter

The offering of scholarships to medical students is not merely a gesture of goodwill; it’s a strategic investment in the future of women’s health. Endometriosis remains a disease with gaps in awareness, diagnosis, and treatment — and by educating future physicians early, programs like EndoFound’s conference aim to shrink those gaps.

For many of these students, the conference is a first in-depth exposure to endometriosis as a complex, multidisciplinary field. It may shape how they approach patients in the future, how they counsel, refer, investigate, or even conduct research. The ripple effects include:

• Better patient care: When more clinicians understand endometriosis — including its atypical or silent forms — patients may have more timely diagnoses, fewer misdiagnoses, and more holistic care plans.
• Expanded research interest: Students inspired by the field may pursue research careers, generating new insights into disease mechanisms, diagnostic tools, or therapies.
• Cultural shift in medicine: When more physicians carry awareness of endometriosis into their practice — even in specialties not directly gynecologic (e.g., gastroenterology, urology, pain medicine) — the overall medical culture becomes more sensitive to women’s chronic pain and reproductive issues.
• Public awareness and education: Some of these future physicians may take on roles as educators or advocates, helping to lower stigma, correct misconceptions, and empower patients to seek care.

Reflections on the Broader Context

While the testimonials focus on this particular conference, they reflect a larger trend in women’s health: the drive to bring neglected or misunderstood diseases into the mainstream of medical education and patient care. Endometriosis, despite afflicting many, often suffers from under-recognition, delayed diagnosis, and fragmented treatment.

The 6th Annual Endometriosis Medical Conference, supported through these scholarships, stands as a model for targeted education — not just presenting facts, but cultivating relationships, dialogue, and passion. For the students involved, it was more than a conference: it was a formative moment in their budding careers.

In the words of Vivian, Jacqueline, Claire, and Versha, attending the event is not simply attending lectures — it’s stepping into a community dedicated to improving lives. It’s being reminded that behind the pathology, there are real people, and that every clinician has a role to play in changing the narrative.