shieva’s plans for 2022

june 11, 2021   

Hello to YOU—my beautiful patient:                                                                         

It’s hard for me to write this after so many years of being an OBGYN (22 to be exact) without getting choked up:(

By now, many of you MAY have heard rumors (MANY of which are wrong—that I am “retiring”, that I’m “leaving the practice”, that I’m “pregnant” (haha ok that last one is a joke and impossible since I have no uterus;)) BUT I want to clarify WHAT will be transpiring in our world here at Coastal.

You may know that the combination of the INTENSITY with which I work in the office and really delve into every patient’s issues while ALSO delivering babies on call  at night has become a more challenging task. While I do NOT regret at ALL the WAY I have practiced all of these years, I am now making a conscious decision to change HOW I will be spending my hours going forward, especially as it the 5 year anniversary of my ovarian cancer diagnosis

SO, it is with EXCITEMENT but also of course mixed EMOTION that as of January 1st, 2022, while I will STILL BE AT COASTAL OBGYN, I will ONLY be delivering babies and therefore ONLY seeing pregnant patients. This will give me time to work on my other projects that are synergistic with what I’ve been doing all these years and MAYBE even have time and energy to get in shape myself!!

While most OBGYN’s switch to GYN only, and drop the OB with its exhausting call schedule, our practice has managed to create a model that works better for us and our patients. This has helped us to have fewer office visit cancellations for our patients AND greater patient continuity at the hospital. While this means an intense call week, it also leaves the remainder of the month with a more flexible schedule since I will now ONLY be seeing pregnant patients one day a week during my office weeks.  The after hours follow up of mammograms, pap smears, ultrasounds and fielding questions/phone calls AFTER seeing 28-30 patients in the office has left me feeling that I would no longer be able to TRULY give my 100% to ALL of my patients as well as myself AND my family—and I feel we ALL deserve that full attention—thus the choice to stop practicing GYN in the office but continue to EDUCATE  on Women’s health issues through my other outlets. Rather than choose to practice in a LESS engaged way, or practice by NOT taking insurance and thereby see fewer patients, this new model will help me feel aligned with my values AND stay with my Coastal family.

It is VERY important to me that YOU know that this has ZERO reflection on how much I LOVE AND VALUE the importance of GYNECOLOGY over OBSTETRICS, in fact I often say “we spend MORE OF OUR time as a GYN patient in our lives than as an OB patient”, and CERTAINLY I am a VOCAL champion of the notion that women should not be defined by whether or not they CAN OR CHOOSE to birth.  The choice to STAY with OB over GYN in my situation is a VERY pragmatic one.

With my “free” time I am excited to pursue OTHER endeavors that are aligned with what I know and love. Many of you know I've started my online platform called “Tribe Called V” and I am really excited to work on it further as it involves doing what I love, ENGAGING with women and helping them learn about themselves and their health, thereby decreasing their anxieties about these matters. Our pregnancy program is already well underway where we have a community of women from around the country and we are actively creating our gynecology content to educate women of all ages about issues that affect all of us. 

In addition,  as of May 1, 2021 I am consulting for Aspira Women’s Health, a diagnostics company who has developed testing for earlier ovarian cancer detection and are HOPING to develop actual SCREENING tests for ovarian cancer AND endometriosis (BOTH of which I had!)

I have learned through my online community and consulting work that I can have a WIDER impact on the GYNECOLOGY teaching, to which I feel DEEPLY connected. By addressing women’s knowledge and understanding of issues like HPV/herpes/perimenopause/menopause/contraception/irregular bleeding/vaginal atrophy (the list goes on!!) through group and online discussion, I can reach MORE women while still honoring what I feel called to do AND at the same time try to take care of myself.

I hope that YOU as my patient community knows how much I’ve valued and cherished EVERY single interaction I’ve had with each of you. I have truly learned FROM you and FELT the love and energy and JUJU that you have given ME throughout our years together.  When I’VE needed it most from YOU through my own miscarriages, babies and ultimately my own ovarian cancer you have EACH shown me kindness and an exchange of spirit that has made EVERY SECOND of this exhausting endeavor worth it and I feel DEEPLY HONORED to have been through this journey with you! If it were feasible —I would have liked to reach out to EVERY single one of you individually (especially as many of you have known me for 18 years in private practice or up to 22 years if you’ve followed me from my residency clinic days!) but alas, as you well can guess, that would be impossible.

Please remember a few of my “isms” that I may have sprinkled out there during our visits together: “’NERVES’ are normal, don’t be “SCARED’”…  and please continue to be “PROACTIVE not PARANOID” about your health…Also, should you ever have a physical ailment, remember, “it’s LIKELY nothing, BUT let’s check it out”—that way if it IS something, you’re catching it EARLY, because we know that I’ve always like the things that I can “find and fix”!

Thank you for sharing your health, your emotions, your concerns, your sisters, your friends, your mothers and your daughters with me.

And of course KNOW that my partners and nurse practitioners will be here to take care of your gynecology needs in my absence to that end.

From the DEEPEST recesses of my heart and mind and soul—THANK YOU… 

Shieva Ghofrany, (aka big love fierce juju)

(PLEASE continue to keep in touch: my email is shieva@tribecalledv.com AND if you are not on my email list you can join at  tribecalledv.com or visit me on IG @biglovefiercejuju where I’ll be BUSY teaching the masses (and you if YOU still want to ENGAGE!!) about ALL the things we need to know about our female bodies!!)