Andrea O’Donnell
Marci Messerle Forbes
Registered Nurses
Center for Women’s Health
OHSU
My relationship with the medical establishment is tense at best:
Clearly insurance is a hoax, right? And most of the pills and
procedures they push make me feel like I’m starring in A Clockwork
Orange. Still, I like to get fingered at least once a year by the
pros, ‘cuz while a woman’s a lot more than the box ya come/cum in, the
box is pretty darn important. I’d heard that un(der)insured people like
myself occasionally resort to being guinea pigs to get basic health
maintenance, and sometimes even get paid and receive free
contraception. So when Heidi Printz of Oregon Health and Science
University’s Women’s Health Research Unit boasted that she had five
study coordinators who were “incredibly photogenic, passionate, and
remarkably good at what they do,” I decided to finally make the trip up
to Pill Hill, where I met the lovely Marci and Andrea. While I did
suffer minor fits of anxiety, their calm demeanors and warm
professionalism put me (mostly) at ease.
How did you get into health research?
MARCI: We met working at Planned Parenthood. I’m a family nurse
practitioner, but I’ve always been interested in women’s health; then I
became interested in the research side of things.
ANDREA: One thing I like about working in research is that we get to
see our study patients for six to eight visits over the course of a
year, so we get to establish more of a relationship with them than we
do our private patients who we might see once a year.
What kind of studies do you have going on right now?
MARCI: There’s an IUD study. We’ll soon be enrolling for a
menopausal study for a new treatment for hot flashes. Also, a study
comparing the vaginal ring versus the pill.
Do particular studies get more of a response than others?
MARCI: When we were recruiting for the women’s low-libido study, we
were bombarded with phone calls. A lot of women suffer from low
libido, and unfortunately what we’re seeing is that women don’t talk
with their providers about it, so it’s under-treated and
under-diagnosed. I hope that our research can provide the information
we need to successfully treat some of the sufferers.
Do you have a favorite birth control that you use or
recommend?
BOTH: IUD. It’s extremely effective, very low maintenance, and easy
for patients.
Maybe I should enroll in the IUD study. I’ve heard
the rhythm and pull-out methods aren’t as reliable as I’d like to
believe.
ANDREA: If you’re interested we’d be happy to give you more
information. Or you could check out our website: ohsuwomenshealth.com/research/index.html or call our recruitment line: 494-3666.