An online petition started by a Point Cook woman calling for greater menopause training for GPs, has received a huge response.
Julia Browne is member of The ‘Peri Pausers’, a group of friends who originally came together on Instagram to share stories of their struggles with menopause.
After all reported bad experiences with their doctors, the ‘Peri-Pausers’ launched a petition on change.org calling for a comprehensive menopause training for Australian GPs.
Starting on July 25, the petition still had under than 200 signatures late last week, but has since exploded to more than 6000.
“It incredible, it’s amazing” said Julia Browne about the spike in interest which she attributed to it being a widespread concern.
“It just goes to show that people feel there is a genuine need.
We need our local GP’s to be better educated.”
The 52 year old came across the issue herself when she began experiencing symptoms such as brain fog, weight gain, hair loss and hot flushes during lockdown.
Diagnosed with peri-menopause, Ms Browne was underwhelmed by the help provided by her male GP.
“The advice I was given was very generic and prescriptive and not tailored to my specific needs,” she said.
“The second consult I had I was just given a piece of paper with common symptoms of menopause and sent on my way.”
After her mental health took a downturn, Ms Browne became even more concerned with her GP’s advice.
“The third consult was incredibly worrying because I literally given a piece of paper with different anti-depressants and asked which one I wanted prescribed.”
Her doctor’s unprompted reference to vaginal dryness also made Ms Browne uncomfortable.
“ I’d never mentioned in my discussion with him that I’d had problems with my sexual relationship and I felt upset that he brought it up.“
Menopause affects a majority of women, but up until recently General Practice had been a male dominated profession.
Julia Browne said a lack of menopause education wasn’t just an issue with male doctors.
In a statement the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said their curriculum already includes a women’s health component.
“The RACGP provides evidence-based education and training in reproductive health, including on menopause, for GPs’ continuing professional development, which GPs do throughout their career.”
The RACGP also pointed to lower Medicare rebates for longer consultations as a barrier to adequate menopause care.
The petition can be found at: https://shorturl.at/jxHKS
