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"Below the Belt" & Endometriosis Live Q&A

Wednesday, May 28, 2025
8:00 PM - 9:00 PM (EDT)
Join Us via Zoom (Password 12345)
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Category: Academy Events

As part of the Academy’s exclusive one-week on-demand screening of Below the Belt (available May 19–25, 2025), we invite you to join a powerful Live Q&A Webinar with the film’s producer and a multidisciplinary panel of endometriosis experts. This interactive session will explore the real-life impact of the film, highlight the clinical realities of endometriosis care, and answer your questions live.

Panel Moderator:
Heather Jeffcoat, PT, DPT – Pelvic Health Physical Therapist and former APTA Pelvic Health President

Featured Panelists:
🎬 Shannon Cohn – Producer, Below the Belt
👩‍⚕️ Iris Orbuch, MD – Endometriosis Surgeon
👩‍⚕️ Megan Wasson, DO, FACOG – Gynecologic Surgeon
➕ Additional panelist to be announced

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to engage directly with leaders in endometriosis care and advocacy.

About Our Presenters

Coming Soon.
Heather Jeffcoat, DPT | Expert Endometriosis Physical ...Dr. Heather Jeffcoat is a graduate of the Doctor of Physical Therapy program through Duke School of Medicine. She founded Fusion Wellness & Femina Physical Therapy in 2009 and now has 3 Los Angeles locations. She is also the most recent Past President of the Academy of Pelvic Health Physical Therapy and has served on the Board of Directors and Advisory Board for the International Pelvic Pain Society. Her work focuses on orthopedic, abdominal, pelvic and sexual health education for all, and she lectures internationally on Female Sexual Dysfunction and chronic pelvic pain (4 continents and counting…). She is also the author of Sex Without Pain: A Self Treatment Guide to the Sex Life You Deserve (Second Edition). She has been featured in numerous online, radio and television spots including ABC, The Washington Post, Cosmo, Vogue, US News & World Report, Buzzfeed, Glamour, Women’s Health, Livestrong, Prevention, Health Magazine, Popsugar, Bustle and is featured on TLC's upcoming show "Virgins", airing in June.
A message from Director Shannon Cohn: I learned that endometriosis is a disease that no one has really heard of, read about, or seen films made about, even though it is an extremely common condition. It’s a story that’s been flying under the radar for decades, while devastating countless lives. Yet, if you go online you will meet hundreds of people, all over the world, living the same experience. Many are isolated, without effective treatment or care, and often disbelieved.
There is this deep social justice issue at the heart of it. An entire community has been virtually
ignored by medicine. So I decided to make films. First, Endo What?, an educational film to
provide an accurate base of knowledge, followed by Below the Belt, a social justice film.
The films have been a saga from the very beginning, when it was just me, my camera and a
certainty that this story must be told. As we started shooting, and I started down the minefield
that is endometriosis, the films became about some of those burning questions that I had. How
can a menstrual taboo still be so pervasive globally in the 21st century? Why are women still
relegated to an average 10 year delay to diagnosis? Why don’t doctors believe their pain? How
does the pervasiveness of commercial-driven interests effectively write the treatment
protocols that so many patients follow? And, importantly, what can be done about it?
It’s my hope that in sharing the stories of these people that I have come to profoundly love,
that we can build a movement to transform the lives of patients with endometriosis; lift the veil
on the unjustness they experience, accelerate the search for a cure; and bring a greater level of
compassion, awareness, and empathy to millions upon millions of patients and their loved ones wrestling with endometriosis, chronic illness or invisible disabilities.
I hope that you use this film as a catalyzing tool for change in your community so that those around you may better understand this devastating disease.

Dr. Iris Kerin Orbuch, author of Beating Endo How to Reclaim Your Life From Endometriosis, is the Founder of IrisWings Sanctuary for Endometriosis Surgery & Wellness in Los Angeles. Dr. Iris Kerin Orbuchs’ practice is limited to Laparoscopic and Robotic Gynecologic Surgery.

Dr. Kerin Orbuch sees the value in addressing Endometriosis, an inflammatory and autoimmune-like disease, via eastern and western approaches. The cornerstone of endometriosis treatment is surgical excision of endometriosis, though she understands the importance of incorporating integrative medicine and combining eastern & western medicine approaches in helping her patients heal and getting them on the road to recovery.

Her training, under the guidance of Dr. C.Y. Liu and Dr. Harry Reich — both pioneers in the field of advanced laparoscopic surgery — allows Dr. Kerin Orbuch to be one of a handful of physicians across the country trained to perform advanced minimally invasive procedures. Dr. Kerin Orbuch provides both compassionate and individualized care while performing advanced laparoscopic techniques at St. Johns Hospital in Santa Monica, California as well as Marina Del Ray Hospital, in California. Dr. Kerin Orbuch is board certified in OB/GYN and fellowship trained Endometriosis excision surgeon.

Megan N. Wasson, D.O., FACOG, is an AAGL fellowship-trained Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgeon with an additional American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology focused-practice designation in Minimally Invasive Gynecology Surgery (MIGS). She attended medical school at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, PA, completed residency at Christiana Care Health System in Newark, DE, and completed MIGS fellowship training at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, AZ. She is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science.

Her clinical interests include:

  • Minimally invasive procedures for treatment of extra-pelvic and advanced endometriosis, including obliterated cul de sac, large and small intestine, urinary tract, diaphragm/thoracic cavity
  • Uterine/ovarian preservation and fertility optimization for patients with benign gynecologic conditions, including endometriosis, fibroids, and adnexal masses
  • Minimally invasive surgery for large benign ovarian cysts, pelvic masses, fibroids, and uterine anomalies
  • Laparoscopic, robotic, and vaginal surgery in patients with complex surgical history
  • Improving quality of life for patients suffering from pelvic pain and menstrual disorders through multidisciplinary care and shared-decision making with patients to determine their treatment plan

In addition to her clinical activities, Dr. Wasson is actively engaged in academic research and education. She provides career mentorship and clinical instruction to medical students, residents, and fellows. Dr. Wasson continues to publish clinically relevant, high-impact scientific manuscripts with a special interest in pelvic pain and endometriosis.

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