Physician
Mission-driven, I realized after graduating college that I wanted to be a gynecologist and care for underserved populations of women. So I worked as a nurse’s aide supporting myself while taking pre-med courses in Boston, then in 1977 I volunteered at the International Grenfell Association in Labrador, Canada where I assisted the nurse midwives in caring for local fishermen/trappers and their families. This is where I observed my first delivery in clean but stark conditions.
During the 1990’s I worked as a gynecologist at Fenway Community Health Center, now Fenway Health in Boston. Special projects there included research and administrative work helping lesbians and single women achieve pregnancy through the Alternative Insemination Program. I held a colposcopy clinic including women with HIV/ AIDS, then later was on a multidisciplinary team to provide High Resolution Anoscopy for men at risk for anal cancer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. When my private practice included obstetrics from 1987 – 1994, I supported and worked closely with excellent teams of certified nurse midwives.
My next medical mission was in 1997 to Tipling, Nepal with Himalayan Healthcare, www.himalayanhealthcare.org. Access to this remote village took four days of trekking the most challenging terrain imaginable.
Later, I fundraised and organized GYN missions to their hospital in Ilam, Nepal in 2009 and 2010. One project involved performing PAP smears to determine the prevalence of HPV DNA with funding provided by Quest Laboratories. I was assisted by Dr. Archana Pathak. You can read about the 2009 and 2010 trips, described as OB/GYN Camps, in my blog: https://ncarrollmd.travellerspoint.com/3/
My philosophy as a physician was based on my belief that gynecologic health is integral to whole health, and that best practices require attentive listening, active dialogue, thorough evaluation, trust and collaborative care.
In my private practice in Boston, I offered state of the art consultations and management of a wide range of gynecologic conditions using evidence-based medicine paired with individualized treatment plans. There I helped patients with difficult to treat conditions: menopause, sexual health, menstrual migraine, PMS, vulvar pain disorders, PTSD, and sexual and gender minority care.
Retired from private practice in 2015, I actively author two articles in UpToDate, an international online educational site for health care providers. I am in the process of writing an history of the Alternative Insemination (helping lesbians and single women achieve pregnancy). In the history, I describe the movement focusing issues from 1970 to the present in the USA and on the contributions that important staff and supporters at Fenway Health in Boston had on the program.
During the Covid pandemic, I activated my medical license to be a vaccinator with the Medical Reserve Corps of Cape Cod.
For links to my professional profiles: www.doximity.org www.linkedin.com