Q&A: How to Better Advocate for Your Health, with Nikki Sapiro Vinckier

Nikki Sapiro Vinckier, PA-C, is an ob-gyn physician assistant, women’s health advocate, author of We Deserve More, and founder of Take Back Trust, a nonprofit reproductive health literacy organization. Through her writing, speaking, and digital platforms, she helps women better understand their bodies, navigate the healthcare system, and advocate for the care they deserve. You can find her online @nikkivinck.

Q: You talk a lot about how women can advocate for themselves within the healthcare system. Where does women’s health intersect with their careers?

"Women’s health and our ability to work and lead are completely intertwined. But we often talk about them as if they exist in two totally separate worlds.

"A woman going through infertility may need multiple appointments in a single month, scheduled according to her body and the clinician’s availability — not her work calendar. Prenatal care requires frequent visits. New parents return to work while they are still recovering, breastfeeding, barely sleeping, and trying to figure out childcare. Women in perimenopause and menopause may be managing brain fog, anxiety, hot flashes, heavy bleeding, and disrupted sleep, often without appropriate medical care or workplace support. Some reduce their hours, pass up leadership opportunities, or leave the workforce entirely as a result.

"We cannot have a serious conversation about helping women succeed at work if we are not also talking about whether they can access the healthcare they need to stay there."

Q: What parallels do you see between how women are treated in the workplace and how they are treated within the medical system?

"There are so many parallels. Women are questioned, second-guessed, and occasionally belittled. We are expected to remain pleasant while it happens. And when we are firm about what we know or what we need, we risk being labeled difficult."

Q: You shed light on the many systemic forces working against women when it comes to their health. Those systems must be corrected. But how can women, as individuals or in community with each other, more successfully navigate those systems and advocate for themselves?

"We cannot self-advocate our way out of every systemic failure. The system itself has to change. But there are tools we can use to help us navigate it more successfully in the meantime.

"Start by tracking your symptoms well. Write down when they happen, how long they last, how severe they are, what makes them better or worse, and how they are affecting your actual life. Prepare your most important questions before the appointment. Bring someone you trust if you need support. Ask direct questions like “What else could this be?” and “What is the next step if this doesn’t get better?”

"And talk to other women. Share experiences, scripts, resources, and provider recommendations. So much power comes from realizing that what happened to you was not an isolated experience or a personal failure. Self-advocacy matters, but community is where that power multiplies."

Q: What are the most important health-related benefits that women should push for in their workplaces or look for when vetting a potential job?

"Do not just ask whether a workplace offers health insurance. Ask whether the benefits actually make it possible for you to get care.

"That includes affordable, comprehensive insurance; paid sick time; paid family and medical leave; mental and reproductive healthcare; fertility coverage; pregnancy-loss and bereavement leave; menopause support; and enough flexibility to attend medical appointments without sacrificing your income or opportunities for advancement.

"A benefit is only a benefit if employees can actually use it without being punished for it."

Q: Is there anything else you want Lean In’s audience to know?

"Asking questions, requesting plain language, seeking a second opinion, setting a boundary or saying, “That doesn’t feel right,” are all signs that you are paying attention. They do not make you a bad patient or a difficult employee.

"Self-advocacy is a muscle. Every time you use your voice in a smaller moment, you make it easier to use when your health, career, or future is on the line. You deserve more time, more clarity, more trust, and more care. And you should not have to apologize for expecting it."