Med school skipped menopause. This program wants to fix that
Industry Buzz
Comprehensive evidence-based menopause care is critical to help women lead their best and healthiest lives.
—Susan Scanlon, MD, MSCP, FACOG
For decades, menopause wasn't really included in medical training. Many physicians learned more about managing labor than hot flashes—and patients felt the fallout. Now, that’s starting to change.
A new initiative called NextGen Now, launched by The Menopause Society in collaboration with leading academic institutions, aims to formally weave menopause education into medical and advanced practice training programs. []
The goal: Ensure that the next generation of clinicians can recognize, counsel, and treat women navigating one of the most universal—and most neglected—stages of life.
Related: 2 major misconceptions about menopause—from the experts, for the expertsWhat’s the gap?
It’s no secret among clinicians: Menopause care often lies in the curricular blind spot. A 2023 needs-assessment survey of US OB/GYN residency programs found that only about 31.3% offered any structured menopause curriculum. []
"Traditionally, menopause has not been a primary topic in medical school and residency training," said Susan Scanlon, MD, MSCP, FACOG, Menopause Society-certified practitioner. "This is most likely due to the misconception that the menopausal transition is just a normal part of aging, and therefore, the benefit of education about the growing medical risks to women during this transition has been overlooked." []
Among those that did, training was mostly through lectures, assigned reading, or occasional rotations—and only 29% reported that residents had dedicated time in a menopause clinic setting. []
Many program directors recognize the shortfall. In the same survey, 92.9% strongly agreed that residents across the country should have access to a standardized menopause curriculum. []
And yet, inertia remains: Competing curricular priorities, lack of faculty expertise, and discomfort around hormone therapy have all been cited as barriers. []
The stakes are rising. Nearly a third of a woman's life takes place after menopause; the symptom burden (hot flashes, sleep disruption, genitourinary symptoms, mood changes) and the associated long-term risks (osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, cognition, metabolic syndrome) demand that front-line clinicians be prepared. []
What NextGen Now is offering
NextGen Now is not just a lecture series. Its components include []:
Self-paced modules and educational content—designed to fit into busy clinical schedules
Scholarships and funding support
A competency framework, parsing what clinicians should “know, show, and do” in menopause care
Support for integrating the curriculum into existing training programs and institutions
Consensus and evidence-based guidelines to align practice across specialties
In short: It’s an attempt to standardize menopause education, reduce redundancy, and raise baseline competence.
Related: 5 must-read books about menopause—for every doctor who treats womenWhy this matters—beyond symptom control
In medicine, we often treat the symptoms of menopause retroactively. But the menopause transition is also a window of opportunity: for better bone health, vascular health, metabolic risk, cognition, and long-term wellness.
Educated clinicians can more readily initiate timely assessment (bone density, lipid/metabolic panels, cardiovascular risk screening) and offer tailored preventive strategies.
Consider the woman in her early 50s who is losing bone density, gaining visceral fat, has menopausal symptoms, and borderline metabolic syndrome. It’s not only about alleviating hot flashes—it’s about disease modification and risk mitigation.
The more clinicians see menopause not as “just natural aging” but as an inflection point, the more proactive and patient-centered the care can become.