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The GPs putting menopause in the spotlight
The RACGP Women in General Practice Weekend brought together dozens of doctors to expand their knowledge of the once-taboo topic.
Pelvic health physiotherapist Rachel Andrew hosting an exercise session at the Women in General Practice Weekend. (Image: supplied)
From hot flushes to breast care, pelvic floor exercise, and mental health advice, a successful RACGP event saw 55 GPs gather to learn new skills and techniques for guiding their patients through menopause.
The Women in General Practice Weekend was held in Bothwell, Tasmania last week and included GPs from across the state gathering for two days of presentations and activities.
Presentation topics included the consideration of breast care in the context of menopause, mental health skills for menopause, and metabolic indicators of health in the context of midlife.
Launceston GP Dr Natasha Vavrek hosted a presentation on ‘Hot flushes and hot nights: Embracing sexual health in menopause’.
‘When you look at menopause books that are out and about, they’ll talk about sexual wellness in terms of vaginal dryness and fixing that, but they don’t really go into that much depth about orgasm and the psychology around sexual wellness,’ she told newsGP.
‘The whole point of my talk was to make everyone uncomfortable so that they could then become comfortable discussing sexual wellness with women, particularly women in midlife.
‘Now more than ever, it’s really important that GPs in particular are well versed in women’s health and treatment, because what we’re also seeing is, with this big wave and interest in these topics, there’s a lot of misinformation out there and there’s a lot of people preying on the community.’
Launceston GP Dr Natasha Vavrek presenting. (Image: supplied)
The weekend’s theme comes as recent research found most women are still battling through ineffective menopause treatments and misinformation.
It revealed that more than 85% of all women in high-income countries do not receive effective, regulator-approved treatment for their menopausal symptoms.
This is something pelvic health physiotherapist Rachel Andrew knows all too well as the co-founder of Vagenius Training, an RACGP-approved platform for GPs to learn more about pelvic health.
Ms Andrew presented throughout the weekend as well as hosting an exercise session for attendees, telling newsGP ‘exercise is medicine for menopause’.
‘Especially for pelvic health, everyone’s too scared to exercise because there’s been a big message which unfortunately went a bit far, about safe and risky exercise for the pelvic floor,’ she said.
‘When really, we know that no exercise is risky for the pelvic floor and essentially, everyone should be assessed before they stop doing exercise.
‘GPs do have a lot of power and prestige and if they’re saying to their women, especially in perimenopause, you need to keep exercising, this is really important.’
Ms Andrew said with medical research only recently establishing that ‘women are not small men’, it is exciting to see so many like-minded medical professionals now advocating for women and their healthcare.
‘We need to really put our foot on the pedal, because if women knew their anatomy better, if in school they had better sex education, they’d be able to come to a doctor if they were having problems and articulate better what’s going on,’ she said.

Around 55 GPs gathered for a weekend of presentations and activities in Bothwell, Tasmania. (Image: supplied)
Dr Vavrek agreed, saying she walked away from the weekend with much more knowledge, as well as being inspired by her peers and the work they are undertaking.
‘I remember when I started my training and there was no training in menopause, there was no discussion of menopause even though a lot of women would be suffering, and it just wasn’t anything that was deemed important enough to develop skills in,’ she said.
‘It was just really interesting about hearing all the data and research that has been done in this space.
‘You’re in a room with 60 other women who are just as enthusiastic about women’s health as yourself, so it’s not hard to really reinvigorate that passion you already have.’
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