Wendy Martinez, MD, FACOG, NCMP

A Lifetime Devoted to Women’s Health

Dr. Wendy Martinez was 15 years old when her father suddenly passed away with a massive heart attack at the age of 46. Seeing what her mother, then 42, went through as a single mom raising 5 kids set Martinez on a path to success .

Wendy Martinez, MD, FACOG, NCMP
Founder, Advocare The Women’s Group FOR OB/GYN

“My mother had only a few college courses under her belt when my father died,” says Martinez. “She had to go back to school, where she became the valedictorian and went on to become a successful accountant. Meanwhile she wouldn’t let any of us work while in high school as she wanted us to concentrate on our studies.

“Nobody was there to hand us any money so, during the summers, I worked pumping gas, at Burger King and as a lifeguard to save some money for college. My mother always wanted us to study hard in the hopes of getting a scholarship to help defer some of the college costs.”

Martinez received a full ride for academics and sports to the State University of New York at Albany, where she played 3 varsity sports and excelled in academics in her pursuit of becoming a doctor.

“Watching my mother pick up the pieces and seeing how she balanced school, work and raising us made me what I am today,” says Martinez.

“A lot of women are more comfortable discussing reproductive issues with a female doctor. A male doctor may be just as good, but he doesn’t have the same personal understanding. He doesn’t have the firsthand experience.”

It was during medical school that she figured out exactly what she truly loved about practicing medicine. “While doing rotations, I discovered that I loved surgery, but also wanted to be involved with the continuity of care,” she says. “The idea of delivering babies and caring for generations of women – mothers, daughters and grandmothers – that is what I wanted to pursue.”

After graduating with honors from Temple University School of Medicine and completing her residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, where she served as Chief Resident, Martinez joined an all male OB/GYN practice in southern New Jersey in 1987. She quickly realized that many patients being treated by her male partners would book a separate appointment 1 week later to discuss issues that they were too embarrassed to talk to her male colleagues about.

“A lot of women are more comfortable discussing their reproductive and sexual issues with a female doctor, who has firsthand and personal information about it,” she says.

She also discovered that few doctors – male or female – knew much about menopause despite the fact that all women will eventually go through it.

These observations led her to leave that practice and to start the first all female Obstetrics and Gynecology practice in the area in 1991, and to concentrate deeply on womens’ health issues and education.

An ardent menopause educator, Martinez has been a member of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) almost since its inception in 1989. She is a NAMS “certified” menopause practitioner and has also lectured extensively for decades on osteoporosis, exercise, nutrition, herbal supplements, hormone replacement, sex education, HPV and sexual issues after breast cancer. She lectures in high schools about STDs and pregnancy and actually will bring in a placenta – from a baby she delivered the night prior – to show the teens.

“Women need the right information to make informed choices concerning their health,” Martinez says. “This has been my lifelong passion.”

Wendy Martinez, MD, works with women through every stage of life: from their first period through the birth of their children and well past menopause. While she is thrilled to assist all women with routine pregnancies, she also specializes in High Risk Obstetrics. She performs cancer surgery, outpatient endometrial thermal ablations for heavy periods and Laparoscopic Vaginal Hysterectomies to name a few.

Among her accomplishments, she has been named The 2019 March of Dimes Citizen of the Year in Healthcare, and has received several other distinguished honors, including Congressional and State commendations for educating the women of Camden County.

But what she is most proud of? Martinez is the oldest physician still delivering babies full time at Virtua Voorhees Hospital.

“Every birth is different,” she says, “and seeing the look on parents’ faces when they see their child for the first time is the most gratifying feeling in the world.” The toughest part is being on call because of the long, unpredictable hours,” she adds. “But when people ask if I will ever give it up, I say ‘probably never.’ Why would I want to retire from doing something I truly love.”

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