Maribel Dixon, Tampa Bay APRN Calls for Better Provider Training and Patient Education on Testosterone use for menopause

Tampa Hormone Specialist Maribel Dixon Urges Women to Scrutinize Prescriber Training Ahead of Pivotal FDA Menopause Workshop

TAMPA, FL, UNITED STATES, September 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration prepares to convene a national public workshop examining testosterone use in menopausal women, Tampa Bay Family Nurse Practitioner Maribel Dixon, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, is urging women considering hormone therapy to ask more questions about the specialized training and clinical background of the healthcare professionals treating them.

On September 17, the FDA Office of Women’s Health and the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research will bring clinicians, researchers, and the public together for a hybrid workshop examining the growing off-label use of testosterone in menopausal women. The agency says important knowledge gaps remain involving sexual function, cognition, mood, musculoskeletal health, testosterone measurement and interpretation, and long-term cardiovascular and breast cancer safety. The meeting will be held at FDA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, with nationwide virtual access.

Currently, FDA-approved testosterone products are approved for use in men, not women, making testosterone treatment for menopausal women an off-label use that requires careful clinical judgment and informed discussion between patient and provider.

“The FDA bringing clinicians and researchers together to examine these questions shows how quickly this area of medicine is evolving,” Maribel Dixon said. “Women deserve providers who understand where the evidence is strong, where important questions remain, and how testosterone fits into a complete menopause evaluation rather than treating it as an isolated prescription.”

Advanced Hormone Training Built on a Primary Care Foundation

Maribel Dixon is the founder and clinical director of South Beach Wellness Center in Lutz, Florida, where she provides menopause and perimenopause care, hormone replacement therapy, and primary care.

A board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner, Dixon has worked with patients throughout Tampa Bay since 2012. Before founding South Beach Wellness Center, she spent five years working alongside an internal medicine physician managing patients with chronic health conditions. She has also taught registered nursing students and precepted nurse practitioner students.

Maribel Dixon earned her Master of Science in Nursing with a Family Nurse Practitioner specialty and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from South University, and was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.

She later pursued advanced hormone-specific education through WorldLink Medical and earned her Advanced Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy certification.

WorldLink Medical describes the credential as completing advanced clinical education in hormone therapy, followed by a competency-based examination. Its legacy Advanced BHRT pathway requires completion of a four-part training series before certification. WorldLink specifically distinguishes the credential from physician specialty board certification.

Maribel Dixon says understanding that distinction is important for patients evaluating hormone providers.

“Licensure and specialized hormone training are not the same thing,” Maribel Dixon said. “A patient should feel comfortable asking where a provider received hormone-specific education, what that education included, how treatment decisions are made and what will be monitored after therapy begins.”

Menopause Care Is Moving Into a New Era

The September workshop follows other significant federal developments in menopause medicine.

In February 2026, the FDA approved labeling changes to six menopausal hormone therapy products, removing statements about cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and probable dementia from their boxed warnings after reviewing the scientific evidence.

Dixon says the changing landscape makes clinical nuance more important, not less.

“Increased attention to menopause medicine is a positive development, but better care does not mean assuming every symptom requires hormone therapy,” Dixon said. “Fatigue, disrupted sleep, changes in mood, weight or cognition can occur during the menopause transition, but they can also have other causes. The diagnosis still has to come before the treatment.”

At South Beach Wellness Center, Dixon evaluates hormone concerns within the larger context of a patient’s medical history, symptoms, medications, appropriate laboratory findings, and overall health rather than relying on a single hormone level or standardized treatment protocol.

She says patients considering testosterone or other hormone therapy should understand not only what is being prescribed, but why.

“Patients should be able to ask: Why are you recommending this treatment for me? What alternatives did you consider? What are we monitoring? What would cause you to change the dose or stop treatment?” Dixon said. “A qualified provider should welcome those questions.”

A Patient-Centered Model for Tampa Bay Women

Maribel Dixon operates South Beach Wellness Center as a bilingual practice serving English- and Spanish-speaking patients throughout Lutz, Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes, New Tampa and surrounding Tampa Bay communities.

Having immigrated to the United States from Cuba at age nine, Maribel Dixon says communication and patient education have remained central to the practice she built.

“Advancing menopause care is not about putting more women on hormones,” Maribel Dixon said. “It is about making better, safer decisions for the individual woman in front of you through education, thoughtful evaluation, and appropriate monitoring.”

About Maribel Dixon, MSN, APRN, FNP-C

Maribel Dixon, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, is the founder and clinical director of South Beach Wellness Center in Lutz, Florida. She is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner with Advanced BHRT certification through WorldLink Medical and additional hormone therapy training. Dixon has served patients throughout Tampa Bay since 2012, with a clinical background spanning internal medicine, chronic disease management, primary care, menopause care, and hormone therapy.

About South Beach Wellness Center

South Beach Wellness Center is a locally owned medical practice in Lutz, Florida, serving patients throughout Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes, New Tampa, and surrounding Tampa Bay communities. The practice provides menopause and perimenopause care, hormone replacement therapy, testosterone management, Direct Primary Care, and related metabolic health services.

Maribel Dixon
South Beach Wellness Center
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