Grant Amount: $50,000
Significance:
Although women are more likely than men to pursue a career in academic medicine, they also tend to leave academic medicine, reduce their work hours, or reroute their careers during their childbearing years. In addition, many female physicians delay childbearing, and studies have documented higher rates of infertility, obstetric complications, and childlessness in female physicians relative to the general population. Female physicians report high levels of interest in fertility preservation and assisted reproduction technology (ART) options. Two primary factors that may prevent women in academic medicine from undergoing oocyte vitrification at younger ages (≤ 35 years old) include a lack of awareness regarding the importance of age on the efficiency and success of fertility preservation and the high costs of fertility preservation without adequate insurance coverage. The purpose of this project was to investigate and characterize the unique fertility concerns of women in academic medicine and examine female physicians’ understanding of the role of age in determining the efficiency and success of fertility preservation options.
“The ASRM research institute grant was instrumental in beginning my work to explore the challenges faced by women in medicine with regard to fertility and family building concerns. The literature has shown a large degree of gender disparity in academic promotion and rank and the theme of fertility and family building and how that has been a contributing factor has previously not been explored. This grant allowed me to do some foundational research upon which I hope to build and really helped to get this project off the ground. I am tremendously appreciative of the support from ASRM in this work”.
Dr. Eve Feinberg
Associate Professor of OB/GYN, specializing in REI at Northwestern University