JOHOR BAHRU, Nov 15 – Dr. Surita Mogan, a PhD graduate of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), has turned her personal battle with endometriosis into more than two decades of advocacy, academic research and international contributions to women’s healthcare. Her journey, marked by perseverance and a commitment to improving the lives of women, has brought her from years of struggling to have her pain recognised to contributing to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) work on developing global guidelines for endometriosis care.

At 51, as she celebrates her achievement at UTM’s 70th Convocation, Dr. Surita’s story reflects how personal adversity can become a catalyst for meaningful change through education, research and determination. What began as a search for answers to her own health challenges has evolved into a lifelong mission to raise awareness, strengthen patient advocacy and improve understanding of endometriosis within the healthcare system. “A health condition may become part of your story, but it does not have to become the limit of your story,” said Dr. Surita Mogan.

Born in Batu Pahat, Johor, and currently based in Kuala Lumpur, Dr. Surita’s academic journey began with a degree in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), followed by a Master’s degree in Education Administration from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Before pursuing her doctorate, she spent 20 years as a senior lecturer at a private university in Selangor. Alongside her professional career, she is also a mother of two and the Founder and President of the Endometriosis Association of Malaysia (MyEndosis). However, the motivation behind her eventual transition into health communication research began much earlier, through her own experience as an endometriosis patient.

Diagnosed in 2001, nine years after the onset of her symptoms, Surita recalled years of being told that her menstrual pain was normal, that she was exaggerating and that she simply had to learn to live with it. The diagnosis brought relief, as it finally gave a name to the condition behind her prolonged suffering. Nevertheless, repeated surgeries and fertility-related challenges made her increasingly aware of the physical and emotional difficulties experienced by women living with endometriosis. Her experience also revealed a wider problem: many women struggle not only with the condition itself but also with communicating their pain and having their symptoms properly understood by healthcare professionals.

In 2013, Surita became Malaysia’s country captain for the global endometriosis awareness movement organised by World Endomarch Inc. Through this involvement, she connected with patients and caregivers whose experiences reflected many of the difficulties she had faced herself.

Recognising the need for a dedicated platform in Malaysia, she worked with fellow patients and caregivers to establish the Endometriosis Association of Malaysia (MyEndosis), which was formally registered as a non-governmental organisation in 2014. Since then, the association has worked to raise public awareness, provide support and strengthen collaboration with hospitals, healthcare professionals, universities, other NGOs and government-related agencies, including the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.

For Surita, one of the most meaningful achievements of this work has been seeing women recognise that debilitating menstrual pain should not simply be accepted as normal. Through MyEndosis, she has helped bring patient experiences into wider conversations about awareness, diagnosis and healthcare support.

As her advocacy work expanded, Surita realised that raising awareness alone was not enough. She wanted to understand more systematically why communication between patients and healthcare professionals could break down, particularly when women described severe endometriosis-related pain.

This question eventually led her to UTM. In October 2020, she enrolled as a PhD candidate under the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Language Academy, specialising in health communication. Her research focused on the communication challenges surrounding endometriosis pain, examining how patients describe their symptoms, how healthcare professionals interpret those descriptions and what strategies could improve pain assessment during clinical interactions.

The research was particularly significant because pain is highly personal. Patients may describe similar symptoms in different ways, while language, culture, previous experiences and individual perceptions can influence how pain is communicated. When these differences are not adequately understood, patients may feel dismissed or misunderstood, while healthcare professionals may find it difficult to assess the severity and significance of the symptoms reported.

Pursuing a doctorate while maintaining her professional responsibilities as a senior lecturer, leading MyEndosis and managing family commitments was far from straightforward. She experienced periods of exhaustion, uncertainty and self-doubt, particularly when moving between the emotionally demanding world of patient advocacy and the critical, evidence-driven requirements of academic research.

Nevertheless, she remained committed to her purpose. Her children were an important source of motivation, as she wanted them to understand that age, health challenges and difficult life experiences need not prevent someone from continuing to learn and pursue meaningful ambitions.

She also credits her supervisor, Associate Professor Dr. Aireen Ibrahim, for consistently challenging her to strengthen her arguments, question assumptions and approach her research with greater academic discipline. Her co-supervisor, Dr. Nur Ain Balqis Haladin, and other members of the UTM academic community also contributed to her development throughout the journey.

Despite the challenges, Surita’s time at UTM was marked by several meaningful academic achievements. In 2021, she received a Silver Medal in the Graduate Research Exhibition (GrEx) for her e-poster titled “Patient and Healthcare Providers’ Views on the Communication Challenges of Offering Healthcare to Endometriosis Patients”, presented on 16 June 2021.

Her most significant research contribution, however, was the development of a communication guideline for endometriosis pain assessment. The outcome reflects her intention to translate research findings into practical strategies that can support more effective interactions between patients and healthcare professionals.

Her academic development also coincided with an expanding international role in endometriosis advocacy. In 2024, she was selected to serve on the Steering Committee of the World Endometriosis Organisation (WEO), connecting her work in Malaysia with the wider international endometriosis community. In 2026, another significant opportunity followed when she was selected as an Expert Contributor to the WHO’s work towards developing global guidelines for endometriosis care. Since July 2026, she has been involved in this process, with an upcoming visit to Geneva, Switzerland, from 1 to 3 December 2026, to participate in the Guideline Development Group meeting.

For Surita, this opportunity carries profound personal meaning. Having once struggled to have her own pain recognised, she now has the opportunity to contribute to international discussions on improving endometriosis care and bringing patient perspectives into the development of global guidance. She hopes to ensure that experiences from Malaysia and the wider Asian region are represented in these conversations. She sees her involvement not simply as personal recognition, but as a responsibility to contribute perspectives grounded in lived experience, years of advocacy and the research capabilities she developed at UTM.

Looking ahead, Surita hopes to strengthen the connection between research, patient advocacy and healthcare practice. She intends to promote the use of her research findings in communication training for doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, particularly in Malaysia. Ultimately, she hopes that better communication will help patients feel heard, enable healthcare providers to obtain clearer clinical information and contribute to more patient-centred approaches to endometriosis management.

Reflecting on her postgraduate experience, she describes UTM as an institution that transformed the way she approaches knowledge and advocacy. While she entered the university with years of professional and advocacy experience, she left with stronger research skills, greater intellectual confidence and a deeper appreciation of the importance of evidence, critical thinking and academic rigour.

She expressed her gratitude to UTM for providing the academic environment that enabled her to transform personal passion into meaningful research. She also acknowledged her supervisor, Associate Professor Dr. Aireen Ibrahim, and co-supervisor, Dr. Nur Ain Balqis Haladin, for their guidance and encouragement, as well as Dr. Wan Nur Asyura Wan Adnan for her continuous motivation and support. Her appreciation also extended to her family, particularly her children Harishni and Haymesh, her cousin Shuba Silvadass, close friend Kiran Kaur, the healthcare professionals who contributed to her research and everyone who supported her advocacy journey.

As she prepares to receive her PhD at UTM’s 70th Convocation, Surita views the milestone not as the conclusion of her journey, but as a bridge towards a broader purpose. Her graduation comes at a particularly meaningful time, coinciding with her involvement in the WHO’s global work on endometriosis care and her upcoming participation in the meeting in Geneva.

Offering a message to women facing health challenges while pursuing their ambitions, she said: “You do not have to wait for life to become perfect before pursuing something you want. Give yourself permission to move at your own pace. Resilience is not about being strong every day. It is about allowing yourself to continue, one step at a time.”

From a patient who once struggled to have her pain understood to a researcher contributing to international healthcare discussions, Surita’s journey reflects the power of turning personal challenges into collective purpose. Through her work at MyEndosis, her research at UTM and her involvement with the global health community, she continues to champion a simple but essential message: women’s pain deserves to be heard, understood and taken seriously.