Endometriosis: The Hidden Pain

This session will enhance participant ability to recognise the symptoms of endometriosis, appreciate its broad impact on quality of life and understand the importance of early diagnosis. It will also explore a range of evidence-based management options to support and educate patients. Presented by Western Health in collaboration with NWMPHN.

Endometriosis is a complex and often misunderstood condition affecting many people assigned female at birth. This session will build clinical confidence and capacity in identifying, diagnosing, and supporting patients living with the condition. Participants will enhance their awareness and recognition by understanding its typical symptoms and presentation patterns.

The session – delivered by Western Health in collaboration with NWMPHN -- will explore the importance of timely diagnosis and strategies to avoid unnecessary delays, including an overview of diagnostic pathways and referral options. We will also examine the significant physical, emotional, and social impact of endometriosis, including its association with other chronic conditions, to support a more empathetic, whole-person approach to care.

Participants will be introduced to a range of management options—conservative, medical, surgical, and multidisciplinary—and how to apply this knowledge to empower patients in shared decision-making. Whether you're a GP, nurse, or allied health professional, this session provides practical tools and evidence-based strategies to improve health outcomes and quality of life for those affected by endometriosis.

By its end, participants will be better equipped to support early intervention, patient education, and collaborative care planning for their patients.

Speaker:

Dr. Samina Ahmed is a highly skilled obstetrician, gynaecologist and fertility doctor with over 20 years’ experience in women’s health. 

She has specialty appointments as a specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Northpark Private Hospital and St Vincent’s Private Hospital.

She also held a fertility sub-specialist appointment at the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital . In this role, she assisted couples to produce offspring through assisted reproductive techniques (ART/IVF). As an active member of Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand, Australasian Gynaecological Endoscopy and Surgery Society, and the Australian Society For Colposcopy And Cervical Pathology, she indulges herself in ongoing activities to provide evidence-based advanced care to her patients.  

In addition, Samina holds senior academic appointments at Deakin University and the University of Melbourne. She is also a training supervisor at Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologist .

She can speak English, Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi. She is a registered practitioner with Translating and Interpreting Services Australia, providing free services to ethnically diverse patients. 

She provides a broad range of gynaecological services in a friendly and comprehensively informative manner. She is experienced in managing a wide range of women's health issues with special focus on infertility, ovulation induction, assisted reproductive techniques, menstrual abnormalities, endometriosis and pelvic pain, fibroids, ovarian cysts, pelvic organ prolapse with urinary incontinence, abnormal cervical cancer screening results, and colposcopy. 

Samina has expertise in a wide range of surgical procedures, including hysterectomy, hysteroscopy, Mirena, contraception (IUD/sterilisation), suction dilation and curettage, endometrial ablation, colposcopy, laparoscopy, and treatment of endometriosis. 

As a medical professional Samina’s philosophy and motive is to give the best possible care with competence and passion.

Learning outcomes:

• Identify endometriosis by defining the typical symptoms
• Describe the importance of early diagnosis and intervention by outlining the typical diagnostic process
• Demonstrate the association between endometriosis and increased risk of other conditions, and provide accurate and up-to-date information to individuals with endometriosis and their support networks
• Identify and explain conservative, medical, surgical, and multidisciplinary management options for endometriosis, and apply this knowledge to support patient education and empowerment during consultations.