How to Advocate for Yourself in Medical Settings

Research consistently shows that women’s pain and symptoms are more likely to be dismissed or minimised in medical settings. For South Asian women, race compounds this. Advocacy isn’t optional — it’s a skill worth building deliberately.

Keep your own records

Don’t rely solely on your healthcare team to maintain your story. Keep a personal health journal that includes:

• Symptom onset, duration, and triggers
• Medications and their effects
• Questions you’ve asked and answers you’ve received
• Names and dates of every appointment

Prepare for appointments

Use the SBAR structure (Situation, Background, Assessment, Request) to frame your concerns clearly. Doctors respond better to organised, specific presentations. Practice what you want to say beforehand.

Don’t accept “it’s probably anxiety”

Rare disease symptoms — fatigue, pain, neurological changes — are routinely attributed to anxiety in women. If a serious organic cause hasn’t been ruled out, you have every right to ask for further investigation.

Build your care team deliberately

Seek clinicians who listen. Bedside manner matters, especially when your condition is complex and long-term. A doctor who dismisses you is not the right doctor.

Find your people

Other patients are often the best source of specialist recommendations, treatment insights, and just plain solidarity. Patient forums, Facebook groups, and podcasts like ours exist because that network has real value.