Dr. Beth McLean ’04 wanted her hands on the controls. She had been working in hospital administration for a few years and was observing a surgery using the Da Vinci Robot so she could write a certificate of need for Prisma Health in Greenville, S.C. That’s the moment she knew she wanted to become a physician.
She enrolled in medical school in 2009.
Now McLean and her husband, Dr. Pankaj Singhal, lead two New York medical practices and are developing a comprehensive Center for Endometriosis that will integrate diagnostics, pain management, surgery, psychotherapy and pelvic physical therapy. The center will be the first of its kind.
“Women often come to us broken,” says McLean. “They feel that no one believes them. We’re helping women be heard and restoring their health in ways once thought impossible.” She explains that endometriosis can cause debilitating pain, bladder issues, chronic fatigue and infertility.
“It’s not normal to suffer, so we are big, big, big committed to results,” says Singhal. “The most common statement we get after treatment is ‘I got my life back.’”
Together, McLean and Singhal perform almost 1,000 surgeries each year, most robotic, treating some of the most complex endometrial cases in the country, but sometimes that’s not enough.
“Endometriosis doesn’t show on an ultrasound or MRI, so it can be hard to diagnose. When it is diagnosed, care is fragmented,” says Singhal. “Complete care requires follow-up because it can come back. Endometriosis requires a systematic, comprehensive approach, so we’re putting everything together under one umbrella.”
According to McLean, the average woman suffers with endometriosis for 7 to 11 years before being properly diagnosed. That was certainly the case for Instagram influencer Sam Graviano, who gave endometriosis awareness a boost when she shared her story on social media.
“She posted something on us, and we’ve had people come out of the woodwork. People began flying to New York from all over the world,” says McLean. “In some ways, we didn’t find endometriosis care, endometriosis care found us.”
McLean firmly believes that every experience and decision has led her to where she is today. Growing up in a family of businesspeople, raising funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and learning about pediatric oncology as a senior project in high school, and majoring in biology and business economics at Wofford all began her path toward medicine. She had just decided to begin a master’s degree in health administration at the University of South Carolina when her brother was diagnosed with cancer, also changing the way she thought about her life’s purpose.
“God has bigger plans for us than we can imagine for ourselves,” says McLean, who shakes her head as she describes her initial reaction to being matched from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston to a hospital in Buffalo, N.Y., for residency. “I remember crying at the cold and telling my mom I could see Canada.”
McLean stuck it out, and as a second-year resident met Singhal, a gynecologic oncologist surgeon. Eventually, the relationship became more, and they married and merged their careers, establishing New York Gynecology Endometriosis.
“I love waking up in the morning knowing I get to go to work with my best friend,” says McLean. She and Singhal also bring their little dog, George, to the office. “Patients seem to find it unique. It’s reassuring and humanizing to see us together as a family.”