ONE NSU MAGAZINE Girlfriend Doctor PRIORITIZES WOMEN’S HEALTH When ANNA CABECA was a teenager, she watched helplessly as her mother slowly succumbed to the ravages of diabetes and heart disease. Her mother’s passing, which occurred while Cabeca was doing her OB-GYN residency training, compelled her to become an advocate for women’s health, launch a popular podcast called Couch Talk, and earn the moniker the Girlfriend Doctor. Throughout her life, Anna M. Cabeca, D.O., FACOG, has endured more than her share of heartbreak. But, with each successive setback, she emerged stronger, with an increased resolve to make life better for herself and her patients. As a child growing up in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Cabeca suffered from frequent ear infections and underwent yearly myringotomy surgeries from the ages of 6 to 13 to correct the problem. Then, when she was a teenager, her mother developed diabetes and early-stage heart disease. “Witnessing my mom’s journey as she navigated her health concerns ignited my interest and curiosity,” said Cabeca, a 1995 NSU Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine (KPCOM) graduate. “As I watched my mom’s health decline, even as young as I was then, some- thing struck me.” According to Cabeca, “Most of the medicine and procedures the physicians were basing her care on were based on research that had been done on men, not women. Something never felt quite right to me about that,” she recalled. “I became passionate about women’s health before even going to medical school. It was a calling.” After graduating from the KPCOM, Cabeca attended Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, to do her OB-GYN residency. However, while in the midst of her residency training, her mother endured a second heart surgery, which she didn’t survive. Devastated by the loss of her mother, Cabeba vowed to make life better for all women. “It didn’t make sense, and her passing stirred something in me,” said Cabeca, who is tripleboard certified and a fellow of obstetrics and gynecology, integrative medicine, and antiaging/ regenerative medicine. “As I held my mom’s 39
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