Dr. Megan Wasson

Synopsis

A surgeon who has made endometriosis her life's work, not just her specialty

Dr. Wasson chairs the Department of Medical and Surgical Gynecology at Mayo Clinic Arizona, has published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers with a significant portion focused on advanced and extrapelvic endometriosis, and has delivered over 200 invited lectures. She trains fellows with an explicit goal of expanding access to endo care by growing the number of surgeons who actually understand the disease. That is not a small thing in a field where qualified excision surgeons remain scarce.

What sets her apart beyond credentials is the consistency of her community reputation. Patient accounts across multiple years and platforms describe the same experience: feeling believed, being thoroughly evaluated, and having complex disease found and treated in a single surgery. She is comfortable with cases that most surgeons would not attempt, including endometriosis of the diaphragm, pericardium, spleen, and thoracic cavity. Patients travel across the country to see her, and by their own accounts, they do not regret it. For patients with advanced disease, extrapelvic involvement, or a history of being dismissed, Dr. Wasson is a meaningful name to know.

Endometriosis Focus

Advanced and extrapelvic endometriosis is a primary clinical and research focus

Dr. Wasson is a fellowship-trained minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon with an ABOG focused-practice designation in MIGS. Endometriosis is listed as a primary specialty on her Mayo Clinic profile, and her clinical interests specifically name advanced endometriosis, extrapelvic endometriosis, obliterated cul-de-sac cases, and involvement of the intestines, urinary tract, diaphragm, and thoracic cavity. Healthgrades treatment frequency data shows she treats endometriosis more often than similar providers.

Her fellowship was completed at Mayo Clinic Arizona under Dr. Javier Magrina, a widely recognized figure in advanced gynecologic surgery. Nancy's Nook confirms her listing. She is currently Chair of the Department of Medical and Surgical Gynecology at Mayo Clinic Arizona and holds a professorship at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. She has publicly stated: "I cannot take care of 10% of the female population and we need to increase access by increasing the number of individuals who understand endometriosis," which reflects an orientation toward the disease as a systemic problem, not just a surgical one.

Multidisciplinary Approach

Full team for complex cases; collaborates with radiology, thoracic surgery, and colorectal

Multidisciplinary care is a named clinical interest on Dr. Wasson's Mayo Clinic profile, and patient accounts consistently reflect this in practice. One patient reported a five-hour surgery that included a thoracoscopy (a procedure to inspect the thoracic cavity) for diaphragmatic involvement, requiring coordinated care with thoracic surgery. Another reported that Dr. Wasson's team was specifically prepared in advance for potential bowel involvement. Stage 4 cases involving the colon, uterus, ovaries, tubes, and vaginal tissue have been treated in single surgeries.

Her published research reflects the same model. A 2024 paper she co-authored in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine directly addresses the need for a multidisciplinary approach to endometriosis management. She also collaborates with dedicated radiology colleagues on preoperative imaging for endo detection, presenting joint research with a Mayo Clinic radiologist at the 2025 ACOG annual meeting on imaging-surgery collaboration for endometriosis.

Diagnosis Methods

Uses advanced preoperative MRI; has publicly stated standard imaging misses most endo

Dr. Wasson has been direct in public forums about the limitations of standard diagnostic imaging for endometriosis. In a 2025 interview at the ACOG annual meeting, she stated that she was taught in residency that endometriosis looks like a powder burn lesion, "but really that's only about 25% of the time" - meaning that typical presentation taught to trainees is the minority of actual endo appearances. She has also co-presented research specifically on collaboration with radiology to improve endo detection before surgery.

Patient accounts describe MRI being ordered as part of standard pre-surgical evaluation. In one case, an outside pelvic MRI that had been called negative was reviewed by Dr. Wasson's team, who identified endometriosis, enlarged pelvic veins suggesting pelvic congestion syndrome, and suspected adenomyosis that had been missed. She is also a co-author on a published paper specifically addressing intraoperative deep pelvic ultrasound for detection of ileocecal endometriosis, a technique for identifying bowel involvement during surgery. A separate paper she co-authored addresses revising the conventional diagnostic algorithm for endometriosis.

Educational Presence

More than 70 peer-reviewed publications and 200 invited lectures; active on social media and podcasts

Dr. Wasson is among the most publicly active endometriosis educators in the United States. She maintains personal social media accounts on Instagram (@meganwassondo), TikTok (@drmeganwasson), and Facebook, producing content directly as herself rather than through a hospital or practice channel. She appeared on the EndobBattery podcast in July 2025 for a 57-minute episode titled "Endometriosis Through the Ages: From Teens to Menopause," covering endo at every life stage, the limitations of birth control as treatment, the persistence of endo through menopause, hormonal therapy after surgery, and training the next generation of surgeons.

She has been featured in multiple Contemporary OB/GYN interviews, including a May 2025 piece on advancing endometriosis care through imaging, surgical precision, and mentorship. She also appears in a Mayo Clinic patient-facing video explaining endometriosis. Multiple YouTube videos featuring her content are publicly available.

Her conference presence is substantial. At the 2025 ACOG annual meeting she delivered two presentations: one on identification and excision skill-building for endometriosis, and one on radiology collaboration for endo detection. She has served as a Stream Advisor for FIGO Cape Town 2025, is a member of the FIGO Council, chairs the Minimal Access Surgery Committee at FIGO (2022 to present), and has been on the AAGL Endometriosis Special Interest Group Committee since 2014. She has received multiple AAGL and SGS best paper awards across her career.

Selected endo-specific published research includes work on endometriosis of the spleen (2025), bowel obstruction caused by endometriosis (2025), deep infiltrating endometriosis in Morrison's Pouch (2024), concurrent rates of adenomyosis and endometriosis, intraoperative ultrasound for bowel endo detection, diaphragmatic endometriosis visualization, pericardial endometriosis resection (2016), and the LAROSE randomized controlled trial comparing surgical approaches. ResearchGate lists 122 research works with 586 citations.

Patient Feedback

Patterns Across Patient Feedback

Post-Surgical Care

Personally present at follow-up; patients seen postoperatively in hospital

Patient accounts describe Dr. Wasson visiting personally during hospital stays after surgery. One patient who required a two-day stay after a complex diaphragmatic case noted being visited by Dr. Wasson's entire team, including Dr. Wasson herself. Another patient described a post-op appointment with Dr. Wasson directly, at which surgical findings were reviewed and photographs of the endometriosis were shared.

Philosophy and Fit

Treats endo as a disease that deserves serious care at every life stage

Dr. Wasson has stated publicly: "If your period is more than an inconvenience, something is wrong." That framing reflects a practice philosophy oriented toward taking symptoms seriously from the start rather than normalizing pain or defaulting to hormonal management as a first and final answer. In the EndobBattery podcast, she addressed the full arc of endo across life stages, including adolescent diagnosis, fertility considerations, and the persistence of endometriosis through and after menopause, pushing back on the common misconception that menopause resolves the disease.

Fertility optimization and uterine preservation are explicitly named as clinical interests on her Mayo Clinic profile, and multiple patient accounts describe her treating patients who wanted to keep their ovaries or preserve their uterus. She has also treated patients who chose hysterectomy after careful discussion, suggesting a shared decision-making approach rather than a one-size approach to surgical planning. Her stated goal of training more surgeons who understand endometriosis points to an orientation toward the disease that extends beyond individual patient care.