In this episode of Coming Together for Sexual Health, host Tammy welcomes Dr. Bethany Golden, a nurse midwife, to discuss the many ways midwives support sexual and reproductive health beyond childbirth. Bethany shares how midwives provide holistic, patient-centered care, including contraception, abortion, STI treatment, gender-affirming care, and primary healthcare for people of all genders and ages. She talks about studies that show that most midwives provide reproductive health services and almost half provide primary care: “…so this is a large portion of what we do. And so the public perception…is that we are doing pregnancy-related care. Again, that is part of what we do, but we spend a lot of time focused on other moments in people’s lives.” 

Bethany also talks about her work with the Reproductive Health Service Corps, which is training more midwives and clinicians in abortion care. Tune in for an insightful conversation on reimagining reproductive healthcare for a more inclusive and equitable future. 

Read the transcript of the episode.

Guest Bio: 

Bethany Golden, RN, CNM (she/her), is a registered nurse and a certified-nurse midwife with deep clinical experience and knowledge of comprehensive reproductive health including abortion. As a clinician, consultant, and lecturer, and as part of research teams, she has worked in clinics, hospitals, universities, and villages in New York City, SF Bay Area, Chicago, Fiji, and Nicaragua. Most recently, as a member of the Future of Abortion Council’s workforce committee and the policy advisor at Training in Early Abortion for Comprehensive Healthcare (TEACH), she initiated, co-developed, and advocated for the successful passage of bill AB1918. The law created the CA Reproductive Health Service Corps to train and diversify the entire health care team, which she currently co-directs at TEACH with Megan Kumar. Since 2002, she co-founded and continues to operate ICAS/Juntos Adelante, a not-for-profit that focuses on health and human rights in Nicaragua. 

• Check out Bethany Golden’s website 

• Connect with Bethany Golden on LinkedIn and Instagram 

• Bethany’s Publication: Emerging approaches to redressing multi-level racism and reproductive health disparities 

• Related episodes of Coming Together for Sexual Health: Trauma-Informed Pregnancy Care with Becca Schwartz, LCSW & Abortion and Reproductive Justice Across State Lines 

Have any questions, concerns, or love letters? Send us a message on Instagram @comingtogetherpod or email us at captc@ucsf.edu  

Don’t forget to leave us a review on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. s a review on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.  

Monica Gandhi, MD, reflects on her decades-long work in HIV care, from providing care early in the epidemic to leading implementation of today’s groundbreaking medical advances. She discusses the science behind HIV (including how 7 people have been cured), the groundbreaking shift from complex pill regimes to long-acting injectable therapies, and how these innovations help patients facing medication challenges. Monica also draws parallels to COVID-19 as she underscores the importance of harm reduction; encourages bipartisan support while talking about policy and funding; addresses social determinants of health that impact HIV prevention and treatment. For her, HIV is not just an infection, but a movement driving healthcare and equity forward. 

Links: 

• Read the transcript of the episode.
• Connect with Dr. Monica Gandhi on Twitter and LinkedIn 

• Endemic, by Monica Gandhi 

• CAPTC HIV & PrEP Resources 

• Long-Acting Injectable PrEP 

• Previous episode with Dr. Monica Gandhi: S1 E7: How Effective Are COVID-19 Vaccines? with Dr. Monica Gandhi 

Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH, is a Professor of Medicine and an Associate Chief in the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. She is the director of the UCSF Center for AIDS Research and the Medical Director of the HIV clinic (Ward 86) at SF General Hospital. Dr. Gandhi also serves as the Associate Program Director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship at UCSF. Her research focuses on HIV treatment and prevention optimization, HIV in women, adherence measurements in HIV and tuberculosis, adherence interventions, and optimizing the use of long-acting antiretroviral therapy. Dr. Gandhi has been in the HIV workforce since 1996 and brings an extremely important level of expertise to the field. Her book, Endemic, illustrates the lessons to be learned and applied to future epidemics from the HIV epidemic.  

Read the transcript of the episode here. 

Have any questions, concerns, or love letters? Send us a message on Instagram @comingtogetherpod or email us at captc@ucsf.edu 

Don’t forget to leave us a review on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.  

Ina Park, MD, is back again for a focused look at her (second) favorite sexually transmitted infection: syphilis (favorite because it’s fascinating). She says, “it’s one of the most challenging conditions to diagnose in clinical medicine because it literally can look like anything.” Join Ina and Tammy as they explore how syphilis was almost eliminated around 2000 and then surged again to current rates of infection in the US. Ina spotlights how a rise in congenital syphilis has fueled a mobilization in public health efforts, even while she celebrates declines in rates of the most infectious types of syphilis. As national syphilis screening guidelines are adapted to increase screening, including in emergency departments, Ina is optimistic for a reduction in future syphilis rates. But here’s the takeaway for healthcare providers and patients alike: keep syphilis on your radar. A quick shot of penicillin early-on can save everyone a lot of trouble. 

Links: 

• Connect with Dr. Ina Park on her website, LinkedIn,  X, and Instagram 

• Resources mentioned in episode 
  • CDC Geographic Risk Calculator 
  • Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs 

• CAPTC related training and resources 
  • STI Clinical Update Webinar – Introduction to Syphilis and Congenital Syphilis
  • CAPTC Disease Intervention Trainings 

• Previous episodes with Dr. Ina Park 
  • Dr. Ina Park Unwraps the CDC’s New 2023 STI Report 
  • S4 E7 Dan Savage on the Magic Question “What are you into?” & Dr. Ina Park on How Providers Can Help 
  • S3 E7: Breaking Down STI Stigma with Dr. Ina Park & Courtney Brame  
  • S1 E6: Fighting STIgma With Humor & Honesty with Dr. Ina Park 

Ina Park MD, MS, is the author of Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs. She is the Principal Investigator at the California Prevention Training Center. Ina is a Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and a Medical Consultant in the Division of STD Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is a co-author of the 2021 CDC STD Treatment Guidelines, the country’s premier resource for diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.   

Read the transcript of the episode here. 

Have any questions, concerns, or love letters? Send us a message on Instagram @comingtogetherpod or email us at captc@ucsf.edu 

Don’t forget to leave us a review on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.  

Check out a compilation of three previous episodes on reproductive justice and family planning. After you hear what each of our guests has to share, take a listen to one (or all!) of the full episodes: 

• S4 E4: When People Have or Are Denied Abortions: The Turnaway Study with Dr. Diana Greene Foster 

• S4 E5 Lesser-Known Forms of Birth Control and Downplayed Side-effects: Providing Empowering Contraceptive Care 

• S4 E6 Family Planning as Gender Affirming Care with Trans and Nonbinary Patients 

Have any questions, concerns, or love letters? Send us a message on Instagram @comingtogetherpod or email us at captc@ucsf.edu 

Don’t forget to leave us a review on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Did you know the visible part of the clitoris is less than one-third of its actual size? Cliterally just the tip of the iceberg! In this second part of our series with Rachel Gross, Rachel and Tammy’s excitement sparks an important conversation about this understudied organ and its friends–the vagina, vulva, and pelvic floor. Afterall, it is not common knowledge that (gasp) all sexual organs differentiate from the same embryonic root, or that close to 10,280 nerve endings were counted in one clitoris. By taking an interdisciplinary approach to sexual health, Rachel reveals how pleasure is impacted by menopause, vulvodynia, and pelvic pain. She calls attention to the whole-person approach of gender-affirming care doctors, and the importance of addressing a person’s overall experience of their bodies and pleasure. There is much to explore about pleasure and sexual health in this episode.

Links: 

• Check out Rachel Gross’s website 

• Connect with Rachel Gross on LinkedIn,  X, and Instagram 

• Scientific American Glowing Clitoris Video 

• Sophia Wallace Artwork 

• S3 E13: Centering Pleasure, Problems, and Pride in Sexual Healthcare with Jenn Rogers & Bryce Furness 

• S4 E8: Intimacy Starts with I: Women, Self-Love, and HIV with Michelle Lopez 

• Taking a Sexual Health History 

• Sexual Health Educator Training Program 

Bio: 

Rachel Gross has been a science reporter for over 10 years, determined to share educational resources and information with the public. Rachel’s work has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC Future, National Geographic, and more. Rachel is also the author of Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage, a novel dedicated to re-mapping the female body based on meticulous research and exploration. Rachel is a committed sexual health educator, having lectured at various organizations and top universities in the nation. 

Read the transcript of the episode here. 

Have any questions, concerns, or love letters? Send us a message on Instagram @comingtogetherpod or email us at captc@ucsf.edu. 

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CDC’s 2023 STI Report is in, and for the first time in years, there’s good news. Tune in to our latest episode with Dr. Ina Park, a nationally recognized expert on STIs, to learn why she is cautiously optimistic about the new data trends in chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Dr. Park expertly navigates the report with our host, Tammy Kremer, explaining how the previous surge in STIs has begun to slow, while prevalence continues to be high in certain “STI microclimates.” Dr. Park stresses the importance of maintaining momentum through increased testing, focused prevention efforts for disproportionately impacted communities, and reducing stigma around STIs. Listen in to discover how disease intervention specialists are battling syphilis on Native American reservations with plenty of penicillin, a trusty car, and heroic determination. Overall, Dr. Park envisions a world where discussing infections is as routine and stigma-free as talking about the common cold.  

Resources: 

• Connect with Dr. Ina Park on her website, LinkedIn, and Instagram 

• CDC 2023 Sexually Transmitted Infections Report 

• Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs 

• CAPTC Disease Intervention Trainings 

• CAPTC STI Clinical Training 

Previous Episodes with Dr. Ina Park:

• S4 E7 Dan Savage on the Magic Question “What are you into?” & Dr. Ina Park on How Providers Can Help 

• S3 E7: Breaking Down STI Stigma with Dr. Ina Park & Courtney Brame  

• S3 E3: Monkeypox, What’s The Hype? with Dr. Ina Park 

• S1 E6: Fighting STIgma With Humor & Honesty with Dr. Ina Park 

Brief Bio:

• Ina Park MD, MS, is the author of Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs. She is the Principal Investigator at the California Prevention Training Center. Ina is a Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and a Medical Consultant in the Division of STD Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is a co-author of the 2021 CDC STD Treatment Guidelines, the country’s premier resource for diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.   

Check out the transcript of the episode.

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