When I started my practice, I had…and still have BIG dreams! My primary goal has been to help as many patients as possible get the care they deserve. But there are so many of you out there and not enough doctors in this specialty!!!
One of those dreams is to bring in fellows to train under me as sexual medicine specialists. It’s common practice in medicine to do fellowship training - that’s when a doctor shadows a specialist to train in a medical specialty. I studied under Dr. Irwin Goldstein in San Diego, and I am one of very few fellowship trained sexual medicine specialists in the country. We need more of us!
I am so excited to introduce my first (and definitely not my last) sexual medicine fellow, Dr. Christine Vaccaro, D.O. When I was invited by Dr. Vaccaro to be the guest surgeon and speaker at her regional cadaver lab last year, which focused on clitoral anatomy and vulvar surgery, I jumped at the opportunity! Together we shared our techniques of vulvar vestibulectomy with the regional urogynecology fellows, and also dissected the ENTIRE clitoris to highlight its intricate location within the vulva and surrounding structures!
Like me, Dr. Vaccaro firmly believes that sexual health is health, and sexual health matters!
Dr. Vaccaro was introduced to female sexuality and female sexual dysfunction during her Urogynecology fellowship at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, but this was only a small focus of her training. Despite excellent medical training in Ob/Gyn residency and Urogynecology fellowship, she did NOT receive comprehensive training in female sexual health, thus her motivation to pursue a sexual medicine fellowship with me!
Dr. Vaccaro’s special interests include clinical and surgical management of pelvic floor disorders (e.g. urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse), female sexual dysfunction (e.g. low libido, arousal disorder, anorgasmia) and female sexual pain disorders (e.g. vulvodynia, bladder pain syndrome, high tone pelvic floor, vaginal dryness). She authored the textbook chapter entitled, “Female Sexual Dysfunction” in the core textbook for her subspecialty: Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery. She has published extensively on clitoral anatomy in relation to sexual function. She also regularly participates in the podcast “Sex Care is Self Care” which focuses on women’s sexual health issues and I got to join her on an episode about Menopause and Hormone Therapy.
Dr. Vaccaro is the Fellowship Director, Urogynecology (aka Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS) at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD and Associate Professor of Gynecologic Surgery & Obstetrics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD.
Dr. Vaccaro is passionate about women’s pelvic health and sexuality, as it is integral in the clinical and surgical management of vaginal support treatments and overall quality of life. Education is the cornerstone of her approach, to ensure each patient is well-informed about their medical decisions. She values taking time to establish a trusting and lasting doctor-patient relationship AND she deeply values her patients’ personal health goals to develop a uniquely customized plan of care.
In her free time, you can find Dr. Vaccaro cheering on her 2 middle-school children at their sporting events, walking her labradoodle or sweating in hot yoga. She plans to travel extensively this summer with her children, as she transitions away from the military and into civilian medicine.
If you’re seeing me or Dr. Klos over the next few months, there’s a good chance that Dr. Vaccaro will be in your appointment as she shadows and learns from us...AND learns from YOU!
