Know Your Neighbor Dr. Alyssa Dweck, OB/GYN, Chappaqua
Chappaqua resident Alyssa Dweck is candid about a subject many women are often afraid to discuss: their vaginas.
Dweck, an obstetrician/gynecologist at the Mount Kisco Medical Group, has seen thousands of them over the span of her almost two-decade career. But in her recently published book, “V is for Vagina: Your A-to-Z Guide to Periods, Piercings, Pleasures and So Much More,” Dweck attempts to put a humorous yet informative spin on what is taboo for many American women.
Dweck, affiliated with Northern Westchester Hospital, said she was inspired to co-write the book with Robin Westen, an Emmy Award–winning writer, as a result of fielding questions from patients.
While “the V” has been the subject of sitcoms and plays and has been represented in everything from canvas to ancient walls, Dweck said women’s sexual problems are still considered off limits. She felt compelled to open a dialogue that would answer burning questions and demystify a topic that, according to a survey from Summer’s Eve, a women’s hygiene product, 60 percent of women have unresolved feelings about.
The book, which took her almost two years to complete, is divided into chapters labeled A to Z. Written in an easy-to-read, conversational style, each chapter covers a variety of concerns geared to women of all ages.
For college-age women, questions about sexually transmitted diseases and birth control are common worries. The child-bearing years can bring fertility concerns and menstrual problems, especially if getting pregnant is difficult, explained Dweck. In the mid- to late 40s, premenopausal worries are common, and in a chapter titled “Hormones, Hot Flashes, and Jalapeńo Peppers,” Dweck dishes out the details on menopause, its symptoms, how women can be sure they’re experiencing it, and hormone replacement therapy.
Dweck acknowledges there’s material in her book that might be offensive to some, but all of it is based on medical information and the experiences her patients have shared with her over the years.
“Nothing, and I mean nothing, surprises me anymore,” said Dweck in the book’s introduction. “I’ve heard it all.”
It’s been a curious journey for the 48-year-old Dweck. Born in Scarsdale to a stay-at-home mother who later became a school teacher in Harlem and a father who was an attorney, Dweck’s transition to published author may have a lot to do with her ambitious nature and the influence of her parents.
Her father, she explained, was the “prototypical workaholic,” while Dweck inherited her mother’s compassionate side, which has allowed her to understand the needs of her patients.
Dweck got her first taste of the medical field after she took a job as a clerk in the Westchester County Medical Center’s Labor & Delivery ward. Only 16 at the time, it was an experience that shaped her future. The hospital setting was one in which she thrived.
“I coveted the action and loved to be where an emergency was unfolding,” she said.
After graduating from Scarsdale High School, Dweck attended Barnard College, where she earned a bachelor’s in psychology. She went on to study medicine at Hahnemann University (now Drexel University College of Medicine). After completing her residency at Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, Pa., Dweck found herself in a practice in northern New Jersey, where she met her husband, Evan Krakovitz, a colon and rectal surgeon who works out of Greenwich Hospital.
Anxious to return to the New York area, Dweck, the mother of two boys, one attending Colgate University and the other at Horace Greeley High School, joined a small boutique practice in Mount Kisco. In 1999 she went to the Mount Kisco Medical Group, a growing medical services provider of about 270 physicians in 40 different specialties.
As an OB/GYN, Dweck, who loves to run, bike, swim, work out at the gym and has competed in a few triathlons, has looked after the reproductive health of her patients and spent much of that career delivering babies, something she’s particularly proud of. Dweck, one of eight Westchester women chosen for the pilot “The Working Wives of Westchester,” a yet-to-air reality show, is happy to pass on her professional expertise through her book. That advice, she said, also extends to men who are interested in better understanding their wives or girlfriends.
“I love medicine, and I also love finding challenges and solving problems, but with the publication of this book, it’s important that people know I’m not trying to force my opinion or pass judgment on anyone,” she said.
Her book is available at www.amazon.com and at www.barnesandnoble.com. For more information on Dweck, visit www.drdweck.com. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the Fistula Foundation.
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