Missed & Dismissed: The diagnostic gap starts in childhood

In the first episode of Missed & Dismissed: Closing the Diagnostic Gap in Women's Health, host Calbeth C. Alaribe, DMSc, MPH, PA-C, CPCHE, sits down with Charis Chambers, MD, a board-certified OB/GYN, educator, and speaker known as The Period Doctor (which also serves as the name of an educational platform founded by Chambers) and chief medical officer at Clue.

Alaribe opens the episode by sharing her own experience of living with undiagnosed endometriosis pain for 2 years starting at age 14, framing the conversation that follows around a central question: How does a girl who isn't taught to understand her body become the adult whose symptoms are missed or dismissed for years?

Chambers and Alaribe discuss the push to rename polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) as polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), and why removing the emphasis on ovarian cysts, which are not required for diagnosis, may help capture the condition's fuller endocrine, metabolic, and psychological impact.

The conversation turns to how the condition often presents earlier than assumed, including in adolescents, and how race, weight, and age shape whose symptoms get taken seriously, with Chambers pointing to documented disparities in how pain is believed and treated across gender, race, and age.

She also addresses how fear-based, pregnancy-focused messaging to young girls, often shaped by cultural and generational norms, can obscure other symptoms worth medical attention.

The discussion also explores Chambers' work at Clue, where she considers how menstrual tracking data can help close research and diagnostic gaps, particularly for populations historically underrepresented in women's health research, and her book, “The Period & Puberty Parenting Revolution,” which reframes conversations about puberty and menstrual health as an opportunity for parents rather than a failure.¹ The episode closes with Chambers reflecting on a moment she wishes she had listened to a patient more closely, and the question she believes every woman should ask her provider:

"And then what?"

Reference:

1. About: The Period & Puberty Parenting Revolution. The Period Doctor. Accessed September 25, 2026. https://www.theperioddoctor.com/book