This summer I am spending time at Brigham Young University as a nontraditional student.
I am not here as an eighteen-year-old freshman trying to decide what to become. I am here after a lifetime of clinical work, research, listening, and responsibility. Some questions require us to become students again.
For many years, my work has centered on women with Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI). During my time in the NIH/NICHD Intramural Research Program, I saw women who needed more than a diagnosis. They needed clarity. They needed physiologic treatment. They needed protection of bone health, honest fertility counseling, and careful attention to emotional health.
What I learned then continues to shape my interest in social connection and women’s health today.
Why Social Connection Matters in Women’s Health
Women with chronic health conditions often need more than medical expertise. They need relationships, trust, continuity, and support.
Women with Primary Ovarian Insufficiency frequently describe feeling isolated during the diagnostic process. Symptoms may be dismissed. Questions may go unanswered. Appointments may focus on laboratory values while overlooking the emotional impact of the condition.
Healthcare providers work hard to meet these needs, yet healthcare systems often create barriers that make meaningful connection difficult.
A woman’s health is not shaped only by prescriptions, laboratory values, protocols, or test results. Her health is also shaped by whether she feels heard, whether she trusts her care team, and whether the healthcare system remains present throughout her journey.
Learning From Research on Social Connection and Health
One reason I am studying at BYU this summer is the opportunity to learn from researchers examining social connection and health.
In a recent study, Professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad and colleagues explored healthcare providers’ perceptions of social connection and the challenges of addressing it in clinical settings.
Their findings highlight an important reality. Many healthcare providers recognize the importance of social connection, yet practical barriers often stand in the way. Limited time, insufficient resources, lack of training, and uncertainty about how to address social needs can prevent healthcare teams from incorporating social connection into routine care.
This gap matters deeply in women’s health.
Women with Primary Ovarian Insufficiency often navigate a fragmented healthcare experience. The condition may be viewed primarily through the lens of fertility, even though POI affects bone health, cardiovascular health, emotional well-being, and long-term quality of life.
As a result, women are often left to connect the pieces themselves.
The Need for a More Connected Care Pathway
The challenge is not simply a lack of information.
The challenge is creating a care pathway that holds the pieces together.
Women deserve healthcare systems that recognize the whole person rather than treating each symptom as a separate problem. They deserve clinicians who understand that trust, belonging, communication, and continuity are not secondary concerns. They are essential parts of effective healthcare.
This perspective aligns closely with the work of My28Days®.
My28Days® is not only about menstrual cycle education. It is about restoring clarity, confidence, and continuity in women’s health. It helps women understand that their bodies communicate important information and that their concerns deserve thoughtful attention.
Most importantly, it recognizes that healthcare should be organized around the person rather than forcing the person to navigate a fragmented system alone.
What I Am Studying This Summer
This summer I am reading, listening, walking, noticing, and learning.
I am exploring questions related to:
- Health psychology
- Trauma-informed care
- Social connection
- Belonging
- Clinical communication
- Women’s health systems research
These topics may appear separate, but they are connected by a common question.
How can women’s healthcare become more coherent, trustworthy, and humane?
The answer will require better science, better communication, stronger communities, and healthcare systems that recognize the importance of human connection.
I do not yet have the full answer.
That is why I am here.
Returning to the classroom is not about starting over. It is about continuing the search for better ways to support women through every stage of life.
The more I learn about social connection and women’s health, the more convinced I become that effective healthcare requires both scientific excellence and meaningful human relationships.
That is a lesson worth becoming a student again to learn.
Take care and be well,
Dr. Lawrence M. Nelson, MD, MBA
Director, My 28 Days® Initiative
President, Mary Elizabeth Conover Foundation, Inc.
