Our Doctors in the News

"BEST DOCTORS IN AMERICA"

Drs. William Parker, Amy Rosenman and Ingrid Rodi have all been selected for the Best Doctors in America list for the second consecutive time. We believe we are the only GYN practice on the entire West Coast to have all members of a practice included in this exclusive and honored group of physicians. We are committed to the private practice of medicine. In addition to providing the best quality of care available, we provide sensitive and unhurried care, something hard to find in medicine today.

Our Doctors
Our physicians are very active in research and teaching in their specialized areas of interest. Here are some of their recent accomplishments:

Dr. William Parker

Dr. William Parker was President of the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists (AAGL) in 2000. The AAGL is an international society of 5,000 gynecologists from 53 countries who share an interest in minimally invasive treatments for women's health care problems.

Dr. Parker is Chair, Department of obstetrics and Gynecology, Saint John's Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica. He continues as a Clinical Professor at the UCLA School of Medicine, the highest position a private practitioner can hold at the medical school.

Dr. Parker authored a book chapter on "Laparoscopic Hysterectomy and Supracervical Hysterectomy" for Clinics of Obstetrics and Gynecology of North America. He also authored "Ovarian Surgery in the 21st Century" for the Journal of the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists. He was also the invited expert for the Ob/Gyn News Master's Class article on Laparoscopic Ovarian Surgery.

Dr. Parker gave three separate Grand Rounds at UCLA School of Medicine on Laproscopic Ovarian Surgery, Laparoscopic Myomectomy and Laparoscopic Hysterectomy. He also was invited to present Grand Rounds at Brown University, Georgetown University and the University of Wisconsin on "Avoiding Complications from Laparoscopic Surgery". He recently passed his certification examination from the North American Menopause Society as a Menopause Clinician.

Dr. Amy E. Rosenman

Dr. Amy Rosenman has been reappointed vice-chair of Saint John’s Health Center’s multidisciplinary credentials committee and as Chairperson of the Santa Monica-UCLA risk management committee. These committees are designed to oversee the quality of care to patients at these hospitals. She has been appointed as the Medical Director of the Center for Healthy Aging that has a grant to screen low-income women, ages 50-65, for breast and cervical cancer. Dr. Rosenman serves as co-director of the Pacific Continence Center here in Santa Monica.

Dr. Rosenman continues to co-direct the UCLA Urogynecology Fellowship in conjunction with Harbor-UCLA, one of the few national programs in the new Pelvic floor dysfunction and surgery fellowship which combines gynecology, urology, and colorectal specialties for comprehensive care of women with incontinence and prolapse. This new three-year fellowship program is presently going through its accreditation process. Dr. Rosenman has been named the first president of the American Urogynecology Foundation, a fund raising arm of the American Urogynecologic Society. The Foundation’s mission is to raise money for research in the areas of incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. We wish her well in this challenging endeavor.

She has also been appointed ad hoc reviewer for the AAGL Journal reviewing peer scientific articles for possible publication. She continues to lecture in Southern California and the southwest on subjects of interest involving incontinence and prolapse. She recently passed her certification examination from the North American Menopause Society as a Menopause Clinician.

Our New Book on Women’s Incontinence

Dr. Parker and Dr. Rosenman, along with Dr. Parker’s wife Rachel, have a new book on women’s incontinence just published by Simon and Schuster in 2002. Incontinence affects approximately 12 million American adults, the majority of whom are women.

The numbers of women suffering from loss of bladder control make it an enormous public health issue. Consider these facts from a recent medical study:

• 20% of women ages 40-50 and 25% of women ages 50-60 have incontinence!
• 600,000 American women seek medical consultation for incontinence each year.
• By 2010 the number of women ages 50-59 will increase 33%, and women ages 60-69 will increase 40% with an associated upsurge in the impact of incontinence.

Sadly, despite the prevalence of bladder problems, most women are reluctant to discuss it. Since many physicians are poorly trained to diagnose and treat incontinence, the proper questions are often not asked during an annual exam. Research shows that many of the concepts and treatments for incontinence taught over the past 25 years were wrong. And, childbirth, especially prolonged labor, has been identified as the main event leading to the changes in pelvic muscles and nerves that eventually lead to incontinence. So, many women who opted for prolonged labors rather than a Cesarian section may now be paying the price with incontinence.

The good news is that effective ways to diagnose and treat incontinence are available – we are now able to help many more women with bladder problems. Both non-surgical and surgical treatments can help, and even women with the most persistent problems can get relief.

The incontinence book Dr. Parker and Dr. Rosenman have written will provide a clear and comprehensive look at bladder problems and state-of-the-art solutions. We want to help end the silent suffering of incontinent women.