Dr. Irwin Goldstein didn't set out to become a pioneer of sexual medicine. He was a biomedical engineer turned urology resident who, as he tells it, asked one stupid question during a 1976 surgery: "Could you explain the physiology of erection to me?" The surgeon shrugged. Irwin spent the next decade figuring it out. Along the way, he co-discovered that nitric oxide, the elephant of our air, is what makes erections possible. He published the first paper on it in 1991. Seven years later, he became the first author on the New England Journal of Medicine paper that introduced Viagra to the world. But that's only half the story. The other half is Sue Goldstein, Irwin's college sweetheart turned partner in life, parenting, and eventually the practice itself. Sue spent decades raising their family while quietly absorbing the science her husband brought home. She is now an AASECT-certified educator, a published researcher, and one of the most outspoken patient advocates in the field. Together, they run San Diego Sexual Medicine, a clinic where every patient gets a three-hour visit, full education, and an entire team practicing what they call true bio-psycho social care. In this first half of our two-part conversation, Dr. Jenni Skyler and Daniel Lebowitz sit with the Goldsteins and explore how a field gets built, and how it still leaves so many patients behind. They cover prostate cancer and the silent erectile crisis that follows it. The buccal grafting innovation that's helping women with severe vestibular pain finally get answers. Why women, on average, see ten or twelve doctors before they get a real diagnosis. And Sue's pet peeve, medical gaslighting and what to do when a doctor says "there's nothing that can be done." This is a conversation for anyone who has ever felt unheard by a clinician, dismissed by their own body, or convinced they were the problem. The Goldsteins want you to know — you're not. You just haven't been to the right office yet.

 

Irwin Goldstein, MD, IF (he/him/his)
Director, San Diego Sexual Medicine
5555 Reservoir Drive, Suite 300, San Diego, CA 92120
Director, Sexual Medicine, UC San Diego Health East Campus, San Diego, CA
Clinical Professor of Urology, University of California at San Diego
Voluntary Clinical Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Services
Past President, International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health
Past President, Sexual Medicine Society of North America
Editor Emeritus, Sexual Medicine Reviews, The Journal of Sexual Medicine,  International Journal of Impotence Research
phone: 619 265-8865
fax: 619 265-7696
mobile: 619 987-7432
dr.irwingoldstein@gmail.com
http://www.sandiegosexualmedicine.com
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SDSexMed
twitter.com/SDSexualMed

Dr. Irwin Goldstein didn't set out to become a pioneer of sexual medicine. He was a biomedical engineer turned urology resident who, as he tells it, asked one stupid question during a 1976 surgery: "Could you explain the physiology of erection to me?" The surgeon shrugged. Irwin spent the next decade figuring it out. Along the way, he co-discovered that nitric oxide, the elephant of our air, is what makes erections possible. He published the first paper on it in 1991. Seven years later, he became the first author on the New England Journal of Medicine paper that introduced Viagra to the world. But that's only half the story. The other half is Sue Goldstein, Irwin's college sweetheart turned partner in life, parenting, and eventually the practice itself. Sue spent decades raising their family while quietly absorbing the science her husband brought home. She is now an AASECT-certified educator, a published researcher, and one of the most outspoken patient advocates in the field. Together, they run San Diego Sexual Medicine, a clinic where every patient gets a three-hour visit, full education, and an entire team practicing what they call true bio-psycho social care. In this first half of our two-part conversation, Dr. Jenni Skyler and Daniel Lebowitz sit with the Goldsteins and explore how a field gets built, and how it still leaves so many patients behind. They cover prostate cancer and the silent erectile crisis that follows it. The buccal grafting innovation that's helping women with severe vestibular pain finally get answers. Why women, on average, see ten or twelve doctors before they get a real diagnosis. And Sue's pet peeve, medical gaslighting and what to do when a doctor says&nbsp;"there's nothing that can be done." This is a conversation for anyone who has ever felt unheard by a clinician, dismissed by their own body, or convinced they were the problem. The Goldsteins want you to know &mdash; you're not. You just haven't been to the right office yet.
&nbsp;
Irwin Goldstein, MD, IF (he/him/his) Director, San Diego Sexual Medicine 5555 Reservoir Drive, Suite 300, San&nbsp;Diego, CA 92120 Director, Sexual Medicine, UC San Diego&nbsp;Health East Campus, San Diego, CA Clinical Professor of Urology, University of&nbsp;California at San Diego Voluntary Clinical Professor of Obstetrics,&nbsp;Gynecology and Reproductive Services Past President, International Society for&nbsp;the Study of Women&rsquo;s Sexual Health Past President, Sexual Medicine Society of&nbsp;North America Editor Emeritus,&nbsp;Sexual Medicine&nbsp;Reviews,&nbsp;The Journal of Sexual Medicine,&nbsp;&nbsp;International Journal of Impotence&nbsp;Research phone: 619 265-8865 fax: 619 265-7696 mobile: 619 987-7432 dr.irwingoldstein@gmail.com <a href="http://www.sandiegosexualmedicine.com">http://www.sandiegosexualmedicine.com</a> Like us on Facebook:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/SDSexMed">https://www.facebook.com/SDSexMed</a> <a href="https://x.com/SDSexualMed">twitter.com/SDSexualMed</a>

Sex and the Psyche is hosted by clinical sex therapists, Dr. Jenni Skyler and Daniel Lebowitz. Married with two children, Jenni and Daniel, take listeners behind the scenes on how they talk shop on a deeper level as they conceptualize the intersection of relationships, sex, and psychology. With over 16 years of helping couples and individuals enhance and optimize their sexual function, pleasure, and knowledge of human sexuality, Sex and the Psyche covers the issues that affect most everyone from desire discrepancy, erectile issues, painful sex, porn obsessions, premature and delayed ejaculation, and healing from affairs among many other topics. 

As a husband-wife team and co-directors of 'The Intimacy Institute for Sex and Relationship Therapy', Jenni and Daniel share their expertise from real life scenarios, bringing a unique angle to understanding relationships while offering listeners helpful communication skills through thoughtful and intelligent conversations designed to help connect the more complicated dots for manifesting a more satisfying and sustainable sex life. 

Links: 

drjenniskyler.substack.com

The Intimacy Institute Roadmap to Intimacy online courses

 

Sex and the Psyche is hosted by clinical sex therapists, Dr. Jenni Skyler and Daniel Lebowitz. Married with two children, Jenni and Daniel, take listeners behind the scenes on how they talk shop on a deeper level as they conceptualize the intersection of relationships, sex, and psychology. With over 16 years of helping couples and individuals enhance and optimize their sexual function, pleasure, and knowledge of human sexuality, Sex and the Psyche covers the issues that affect most everyone from desire discrepancy, erectile issues, painful sex, porn obsessions, premature and delayed ejaculation, and healing from affairs among many other topics.&nbsp;
As a husband-wife team and co-directors of 'The Intimacy Institute for Sex and Relationship Therapy', Jenni and Daniel share their expertise from real life scenarios, bringing a unique angle to understanding relationships while offering listeners helpful communication skills through thoughtful and intelligent conversations designed to help connect the more complicated dots for manifesting a more satisfying and sustainable sex life.&nbsp;
Links:&nbsp;
<a href="https://drjenniskyler.substack.com/">drjenniskyler.substack.com</a>
<a href="https://www.intimacyinstitute.org/roadmap">The Intimacy Institute Roadmap to Intimacy online courses</a>
&nbsp;

Sex and the Psyche is hosted by clinical sex therapists, Dr. Jenni Skyler and Daniel Lebowitz. Married with two children, Jenni and Daniel, take listeners behind the scenes on how they talk shop on a deeper level as they conceptualize the intersection of relationships, sex, and psychology.

Sex and the Psyche

Sex and the Psyche is hosted by clinical sex therapists, Dr. Jenni Skyler and Daniel Lebowitz. Married with two children, Jenni and Daniel, take listeners behind the scenes on how they talk shop on a deeper level as they conceptualize the intersection of relationships, sex, and psychology. With over 16 years of helping couples and individuals enhance and optimize their sexual function, pleasure, and knowledge of human sexuality, Sex and the Psyche covers the issues that affect most everyone from desire discrepancy, erectile issues, painful sex, porn obsessions, premature and delayed ejaculation, and healing from affairs among many other topics. 

As a husband-wife team and co-directors of 'The Intimacy Institute for Sex and Relationship Therapy', Jenni and Daniel share their expertise from real life scenarios, bringing a unique angle to understanding relationships while offering listeners helpful communication skills through thoughtful and intelligent conversations designed to help connect the more complicated dots for manifesting a more satisfying and sustainable sex life. 

drjenniskyler.substack.com  

intimacyinstitute.org/roadmap

Sex and the Psyche is hosted by clinical sex therapists, Dr. Jenni Skyler and Daniel Lebowitz. Married with two children, Jenni and Daniel, take listeners behind the scenes on how they talk shop on a deeper level as they conceptualize the intersection of relationships, sex, and psychology. With over 16 years of helping couples and individuals enhance and optimize their sexual function, pleasure, and knowledge of human sexuality, Sex and the Psyche covers the issues that affect most everyone from desire discrepancy, erectile issues, painful sex, porn obsessions, premature and delayed ejaculation, and healing from affairs among many other topics.&nbsp;
As a husband-wife team and co-directors of 'The Intimacy Institute for Sex and Relationship Therapy', Jenni and Daniel share their expertise from real life scenarios, bringing a unique angle to understanding relationships while offering listeners helpful communication skills through thoughtful and intelligent conversations designed to help connect the more complicated dots for manifesting a more satisfying and sustainable sex life.&nbsp;
<a href="https://drjenniskyler.substack.com/">drjenniskyler.substack.com&nbsp; </a>
<a href="https://www.intimacyinstitute.org/roadmap">intimacyinstitute.org/roadmap</a>

Sex and the Psyche 

Dr. Jenni Skyler and Daniel Lebowitz sit down with the legendary couple who built the field of sexual medicine. Dr. Irwin Goldstein, first author on the original Viagra paper, founder of ISSWSH, and one of the most published voices in the field and Sue Goldstein, AASECT-certified educator and patient advocate, share how their San Diego clinic redefines bio-psycho social care, why most sexual health problems still go unaddressed, and the specific moments that changed the trajectory of the entire field.