Clinical Team & Standards
WHI is a Portugal-based (EU-wide) women’s health clinic focused on perimenopause, menopause, hormone therapy, vaginal and sexual symptoms, and midlife metabolic change. Care is assessment-first, individualised, and supported by structured follow-up and onward referral when required.
Meet the Team Behind WHI
We’re a focused team of medical and counselling professionals dedicated to helping women thrive through hormonal transitions. From HRT to metabolic reset and intimacy counselling, we combine science, empathy, and experience to give you personal, doctor-led care - not generic advice.
Every protocol we use is designed by doctors, refined with patient input, and supported by deep listening.
Empowering Women's Health
Dr Rui Graça - Founder & Medical Director
MBBCh • FRCS (Edinburgh) • FCS Urology (SA)
Special Interest - Obesity Medicine
• Board-Certified Specialist Urologist – Health Professions Council of South Africa MP 0366390
• Licensed Medical Doctor – Ordem dos Médicos Portugal (Practice No. OM 37288)
• 30+ years international experience
(UK, South Africa, Portugal, EU)
Specialist urology title recognised in South Africa
All clinical services in Portugal and the EU are delivered under Portuguese General Medical licence
In line with ERS regulations
All services across the EU are delivered under the Portuguese medical licence, as registered with the Ordem dos Médicos - OM 37288.
WHI is built around careful, doctor-led assessment for adult women with perimenopausal, menopausal, sexual, and midlife metabolic concerns.
With over 30 years of clinical experience, Dr Rui works alongside Cecilia and Dr Trischka to provide structured, individualised care focused on diagnosis, treatment suitability, follow-up, and long-term safety.
Key Qualifications
27/11/1990
MBBCh (Wits)
Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University
of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
15/11/1996
FRCS (Edinburgh)
Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
23/04/1998
FCS (Urology)
Fellow of the College of Surgeons of South Africa in Urology
Meet Cecilia Engelbrecht
Practice Manager • Metabolic & Intimacy Counsellor
Why it matters:
Behaviour change is often the difference between a good plan and a plan that actually works.
Cecilia supports the practical and counselling side of WHI care. She helps women stay engaged with the process, understand what is expected, and turn medical guidance into more consistent day-to-day habits.
Her approach is calm, non-judgemental, and structured, with support focused on clarity, adherence, mindset, and sustainable follow-through.
Within WHI, Cecilia provides structured support around:
-
relationship and intimacy concerns
-
body-image and confidence challenges
-
emotional strain linked to midlife change
-
cravings, habits, and adherence within the metabolic reset program care
She also helps lead clinic and patient operations, including communication, onboarding, and follow-up support across the WHI pathway.
Her role is supportive and clearly bounded within a doctor-led medical service.
Cecilia provides counselling support, not medical diagnosis, prescribing, or psychiatric care. Where concerns fall outside the scope, onward referral may be recommended.
BA Hons Psychology (Counselling) - University of South Africa
B.Ed (Senior Phase & FET) - University of South Africa
Sexual Health & Intimacy Training – The Buehler Institute (PLISSIT-R Model)
Accredited Member of ACCPH (Association for Counsellors, Coaches, Psychotherapists and Hypnotherapists) – Registration No. 00003796
Meet Dr Triscka Potgieter
WHI Medical Panel • Women’s Health Expert • Protocol Advisor
Why it matters:
At WHI, clinical excellence is rooted in collaborative expertise.
Dr Trischka brings years of hands-on medical experience to the Women’s Health Institute - helping shape safe, effective, and evidence-based care pathways tailored to the unique hormonal, metabolic, and emotional needs of modern women.
Whilst Dr Potgieter does not consult directly with patients in Portugal / EU, her guidance is an essential part of the WHI care model, ensuring every protocol we offer has been developed with multidisciplinary input and medical insight.
Her background:
Dr Potgieter is a South African–trained medical doctor, registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), and currently registered and practicing in Canada
Her clinical work has focused on complex hormonal, autoimmune, and metabolic cases across private and hospital settings, and she has a growing interest in integrative and lifestyle medicine for women.
At WHI, she contributes to:
-
Protocol Design & Clinical Oversight
• Contributes to the design, review, and clinical accuracy of WHI’s medical and lifestyle protocols.
• Supports innovation in hormone optimisation, autoimmune approaches, and therapeutic nutrition.
• Regularly reviews WHI SOPs to ensure alignment with global best practices.
-
Women’s Hormonal Health Panel
• Plays an advisory role in shaping our hormonal assessment and support pathways, including perimenopause, PCOS, low libido, and fatigue-related syndromes.
• Collaborates with Dr Rui Graça and the clinical team to ensure quality and consistency across all WHI programs.
Licensed Medical Doctor
Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) MP 0723045
EU-wide women’s health care:
-
Counselling Sessions are online with Cecilia
-
Medical Consultations are online with Dr Rui
Our Clinical Approach
-
full assessment first
-
detailed symptoms + appropriate labs
-
careful diagnosis before treatment
-
integrate the overlap of sleep, weight, stress, sexual health, and hormones
-
referral onward when needed
Governance
WHI is a Portugal-based, EU-wide, doctor-led online clinic for women with hormone, sexual, and metabolic concerns. All consultations are online.
Care is guided by diagnosis before treatment, clinically appropriate prescribing, follow-up, and onward referral where needed.
WHI is designed to offer structured specialist review, not broad general medical care or emergency treatment.
Scope
WHI provides doctor-led online care for adult women with perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms, hormone-therapy questions, vaginal and sexual symptoms, low libido, and midlife metabolic change.
Care is provided from Portugal to women across the EU, and is structured around specialist assessment, diagnostic clarification, treatment where appropriate, follow-up, monitoring, and onward referral when needed.
What WHI Does
WHI assesses and manages menopause, hormone, vaginal and sexual, and midlife metabolic concerns in adult women.
Care may include diagnostic clarification, treatment where appropriate, follow-up, monitoring, and onward referral depending on the clinical picture.
What Online Care Can Do
Online consultations allow a structured review of symptoms, cycle or menopause status, medical history, current medications, prior treatment, and available test results.
They are designed to support diagnosis, treatment suitability, follow-up, monitoring, and medically appropriate prescribing where suitable.
What WHI Does Not Do
WHI is not an emergency service and is not suitable for urgent or hospital-level problems.
Women with severe unexplained bleeding, acute chest pain, severe shortness of breath, stroke-like symptoms, severe infection, acute pelvic pain, major psychiatric crisis, or suspected cancer pathways should seek urgent local in-person or hospital-led care.
Cross-Border Care
WHI provides care from Portugal to women throughout the EU. Where treatment is prescribed, fulfilment and dispensing remain subject to clinical suitability and applicable prescribing, pharmacy, and logistical rules in the patient’s location.