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Publicly available information about fertility benefits for trainees at medical schools in the US

  • Assisted Reproduction Technologies
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Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Infertility affects one in four female physicians, yet current availability of fertility benefits within Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited residency programs in the United States (US) is unknown. Our objective was to examine publicly available fertility benefits information for residents and fellows.

Methods

The top 50 medical schools in the US for research were identified using US News & World Report 2022. In April 2022, we reviewed fertility benefits available to residents and fellows at these medical schools. Websites of their associated graduate medical education (GME) websites were queried for details surrounding fertility benefits. Two investigators collected data from GME and publicly available institutional websites. The primary outcome was fertility coverage and rates are reported as percentages.

Results

Within the top 50 medical schools, 66% of institutional websites included publicly available medical benefits, 40% included any mention of fertility benefits, and 32% had no explicit information on fertility or medical benefits. Fertility benefit coverage included infertility diagnostic workup (40%), intrauterine insemination (32%), prescription coverage (12%), and in vitro fertilization (IVF, 30%). No information on coverage for third party reproduction or LGBT family building was available on public websites. Most programs with fertility benefits were in the South (40%) or Midwest (30%).

Conclusion

To support the reproductive autonomy of physicians in training, it is critical to ensure access to information on fertility care coverage. Given the prevalence of infertility among physicians and the impact of medical training on family planning goals, more programs should offer and publicize coverage for fertility care.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, Las Vegas, NV, USA

    Melody A. Rasouli

  2. NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, USA

    Francesca Barrett

  3. University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

    Morgan S. Levy

  4. Reproductive Endocrinology, and Infertility, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Ashley S. Kim

  5. Loyola University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Maya Roytman

  6. Hackensack Meridian Health Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, NJ, USA

    Nicole Cumbo

  7. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

    Hina Talib

  8. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

    Erica C. Kaye

Authors
  1. Melody A. Rasouli
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  2. Francesca Barrett
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  3. Morgan S. Levy
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  4. Ashley S. Kim
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  5. Maya Roytman
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  6. Nicole Cumbo
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  7. Hina Talib
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  8. Erica C. Kaye
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by the entire group. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Melody Rasouli and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Melody A. Rasouli.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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This research was presented as a poster at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine 2022 Scientific Conference.

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Rasouli, M.A., Barrett, F., Levy, M.S. et al. Publicly available information about fertility benefits for trainees at medical schools in the US. J Assist Reprod Genet 40, 1313–1316 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-023-02849-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-023-02849-1

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