Mistreatment of Women in Medicine Part 2 — with Pam Waugh

In Part 2 of this powerful conversation, Heather Evans continues exploring the mistreatment of women in medicine—this time with a very personal perspective. Heather sits down with her mother, Pam Waugh, to talk about her journey of being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Together, they open up about the challenges Pam faced in getting doctors to listen, the delays in care, and the emotional toll of being dismissed in the medical system.

This episode sheds light on how systemic bias in healthcare impacts women across generations, while also honoring Pam’s resilience and story.

In this episode of The Boxes Podcast, Heather Evans takes us inside one of the deepest, most damaging systems we live under: the mistreatment and dismissal of women in medicine.

From the medieval roots of “hysteria” to the exclusion of women in research until 1993, we uncover how medical science has too often been built on patriarchal assumptions rather than truth. We look at endometriosis as a powerful case study of neglect—a disease affecting 1 in 10 women worldwide, yet still taking an average of 7–9 years to diagnose—and explore how biases continue today in pain management, menopause research, and even medical coding.

You’ll learn:

• Why women still make up only ~37% of clinical trial participants

• How labels like “WW” (Whining Woman) still haunt patient charts

• Why women are 50% less likely than men to be prescribed pain medication for the same symptoms

• The broader consequences of systemic bias, from medication side effects to surgical outcomes

This episode isn’t just history—it’s a call to action. Together, we can demand better research, better care, and a medical system that sees women as fully human.

If you’ve ever been dismissed, minimized, or mislabeled, this episode is for you.

In this episode of the Boxes Podcast, I break down my song Out of My Head—a song born from the feeling of sitting in the backseat of my own life instead of holding the wheel. I talk about how the patriarchy tries to shove us into square molds that were never made for us—and how I’ve realized I’m not square at all…I’m star-shaped. 🌟

Together, we’ll explore what it means to reclaim our agency, question the boxes we’ve been placed in, and find freedom in embracing the shapes we were always meant to be.

✨ I also share an exciting announcement: I’m co-hosting [Un]boxed: A Night of Voice & Community on Friday, November 7th at 6:30pm at Wild Goose Creative in Columbus, Ohio. It’s going to be a powerful evening of music, poetry, and conversation that uplifts women’s voices.

🎟️ Grab your ticket here: Eventbrite Link