Outside of her Bachelors from MIT, her medical degree from UCSF, her MPH from UC Berkeley, and her current occupation as an Associate Clinical Professor at Stanford Medical School, Dr. Sophia Yen started Pandia Health because she wants to be able to inform young women about their bodies, and about birth control. Now, I know I just threw a lot of accreditations, degrees, and facts at you. However, I think it’s paramount that we understand that Dr. Yen definitely knows what she’s talking about, and what lead her to found the only women’s founded and doctor lead birth control delivery company that’s academically driven.
How much do you recall learning about birth control?
What do you remember about the importance of practicing safe sex in general while you were growing up?
Personally, I think our education system’s curriculum regarding sex is a bit flawed and Dr. Yen would agree. I recall first learning sex ed in the fifth grade and it was probably a 20-minute lesson from my P.E teacher. So needless to say, it wasn’t memorable. Since I just left high school a couple of years ago I would say that sex education on the high school level wasn’t all that great either. While the execution of this information varies, what doesn’t vary is that 60% of U.S. high school seniors have had sex, so it’s unrealistic to presume that young folks aren’t having sex, whether they feel properly informed about it or not. As a specialist in adolescent medicine, Dr. Yen thinks it’s extremely important to inform young people about the importance of safe sex to prevent unplanned pregnancies.
Dr. Yen has been interested in teaching people about birth control since her pre-med days at MIT and that same passion has carried forward with her throughout her career. Upon asking her one of the reasons she founded Pandia Health, she said, “I like science and I like people.” I think what makes Pandia Health stand out is its intent to empower women. Dr. Yen always likes to say, “Pandia Health is by women, for women,” and that’s why she named Pandia Health after Pandia, the Greek goddess of light, healing, and the full moon.
“Some companies have done what I call ‘Women-washed.’ Their CEO is a woman now, but it just happened recently. However, it takes a while to clean out everything that has been built from the foundation versus being built from the begining for women, by women.”
-Dr. Sophia Yen
Dr. Yen thinks it’s partially fate. “Pan” means “every” and “dia” means “day”, and Pandia Health wants to be there for you every day. Dr. Yen expresses, “we want to be your friend from your first period until you die.” I have my own play on fate, but I am all for empowering young women, and I think a big part of empowerment is knowledge, and that’s what Pandia seeks to give to everyone with uteri, and I think that’s extremely important to know at a young age. So, how exactly does Pandia Health stand out from any other birth control delivery company anyway? And why should we as Gen Z women care? Well, Dr. Yen says, “as I’ve seen other companies around me, the difference between a doctor-lead company, and a mission-driven company, and one that’s driven — no offense, just for money — I see things that are not up to the standard of care, and if I were a doctor I wouldn’t want my name written on that situation.”
If you’d ask Dr. Yen what the best option for women’s birth control is, she would say an IUD with hormones, even though she doesn’t provide it on Pandia’s site. Dr. Yen founded Pandia as a start-up, even though it takes her money and her time because she is dedicated to informing women about their options.
“Some companies have done what I call ‘Women-washed.’ Their CEO is a woman now, but it just happened recently. However, it takes a while to clean out everything that has been built from the foundation versus being built from the beginning for women, by women.” I never knew about #periodsoptional until I became a women’s wellness ambassador for Pandia, and I’ve gained so much insight regarding my body. I think we should care about Pandia because they care about us, and I’m not sure a lot of other companies could say the same.
If you are curious about wanting to treat your acne with birth control, would like to get your birth control delivered, or would like to learn about #periodsoptional because your periods are insanely heavy and painful, or if anything in this article struck any interest at all, check out Pandia’s website and socials. I encourage you to watch Dr. Yen’s TEDx talk and to use this link if you would like to learn more about getting a prescription.