She asked for help. Her doctor dismissed her concerns
episodePreviously titled “Why women say doctors aren't listening” — renamed by the publisher on Sep 21, 2026
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Why do many women feel their doctors aren’t listening to their concerns?
Women across the US face barriers to getting the health care they need. Finding affordable coverage, getting appointments with doctors who listen and respond to their concerns, and having a space to discuss their health without stigma can be difficult. This is USA Today's The Excerpt and your host, Dana Taylor. USA Today national correspondent Ken Altucker joins me to discuss new findings on the challenges women face when seeking care. So good to have you here, Ken.
Thanks for having me.
You share the story of a pregnant woman living in Little Rock, Arkansas, and it paints a clear picture of what some women are facing while seeking care. What happened there?
This was a a young mother who had two young daughters and was pregnant with a third, her first son. And she noticed as she got to the later stage of her pregnancy that she started feeling Severe depression. Now, she's not sure whether it was brought on by the deaths of two family members recently or there was something else going on. So she brought it up to her doctor who was part of a woman's clinic that was kind of overseeing her pregnancy and maternal care. And during that time when she brought it up, she felt like she was just dismissed by the doctor who described it as seasonal depression and something that you'll get over, that your symptoms will go away. And so it's really nothing to worry about.
Well, the symptoms continued after the birth of her son. And it was to the point where she gave up her two young daughters and asked her mother, who lived in Florida, to temporarily take custody of these two young girls while she cared for her newborn son.
What happened to the pregnant mother in Little Rock and how did her doctor’s response affect her?
And she still felt the symptoms. It got to the point where she was breastfeeding her son and she could no longer produce milk and she had to, you know, get formula and didn't really feel that connection as a result. So She took away from this experience of not really feeling heard by the healthcare system, by her doctor in particular. And she kind of just turned away and didn't really seek help. Instead, she sought support from family members and from her children's father. And that's how she coped with it. And that birth was in late twenty twenty. And to this day, it's sort of a broken trust for her with that doctor and the health care system at large.
You mentioned other problems women have confronted, including misdiagnosis. What did you uncover?
It dovetailed with a survey that Gallup in a group called Pivotal, founded by philanthropist uh Melinda Fretch Gates, and they conducted a survey of more than five thousand men and women. And what they found was just over half of women had some trouble accessing the healthcare system over the past five years. And when they did access the healthcare system, there were some specific problems that they noticed as well. Things like uh doctors minimizing their symptoms, whether it be chronic pain or other symptoms. Also things like misdiagnosis or delay in diagnosis. not getting answers or clear direction about what they should do, uh, next steps following the appointment.
What did the Gallup‑Pivotal survey reveal about women’s access to health care?
And as well as more likely than men, uh the survey found that women were more likely than men to uh have these types of experiences.
Can can you break down the cascading effect of not getting clearer direction about next steps?
Well, sure. When I think one of the big things that the survey pointed out was that there were delays in diagnosis or or misdiagnosis. And it was pretty startling what it found. Women again more likely than men. were going to experience um either a misdiagnosis or a delay in diagnosis. In some cases, they they waited years for a diagnosis, five years or longer. Now the survey authors noted there are different symptoms that um men and women have described. So that could be one explanation. And there certainly are different health conditions that men and women experience. But even in the cases where the health conditions were the same, women tended to have a longer path toward diagnosis than men.
What are some of the hurdles that have led to a lack of access to care?
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Why do many women feel their doctors aren’t listening to their concerns?
0:04–1:41
2
What happened to the pregnant mother in Little Rock and how did her doctor’s response affect her?
1:41–3:10
3
What did the Gallup‑Pivotal survey reveal about women’s access to health care?
3:10–4:39
4
How do misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis create a cascading impact for women patients?
4:39–6:31
5
What systemic barriers—like insurance cuts and provider shortages—limit women’s ability to get care?
6:31–8:28
6
How do doctors’ notes differ from what women actually experience, according to the book “Seen but Not Heard”?
8:28–9:59
7
What actions can health systems and patients take to improve communication and trust?
9:59–11:20
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The Excerpt
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