Career in Fertility Specialist

Fertility Specialist treat people who are unable to reproduce (men might have low sperm counts or other complications, while women might have blocked fallopian tubes or uterus problems). Treatment ranges from simple medication to operative laparoscopy (making small incisions in the abdomen and inserting a thin, fibre-optic tube with cameras - a laparoscope - to find the cause and treat it). Advanced assisted reproductive techniques include : IVF (in vitro fertilisation); ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection: a single sperm is injected into the egg using a micromanipulator. An egg fertilised by a sperm is called an embryo); PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis - testing of chromosomes of the embryo, so that only healthy, normal embryos are transferred into the uterus); surrogacy (host uterus, where the embryos are transferred into the uterus of another woman, who carries the foetus for nine months till the child is born); and embryo adoption (an the infertile couple adopts embryos from another couple and the wife gives birth to the baby).

It's a strange feeling. You meet someone who's just starting to come to life as a four-cell embryo in a petri dish, and years later, when that someone's grown into a bouncing five-year-old boy, you're invited by his par- ents to be his godfather... Fertility specialist treat people who are unable to reproduce (men might have low sperm counts and other complications, women might have uterine problems, etc). “Being an in vitro fertilisation (IVF) specialist is one of the most rewarding careers possible, because you are changing the life of a family by helping them give birth to a deeply cherished child.

After MBBS, one needs an MD degree in obstetrics/ gynaecology. Then one needs to specialise in infertility. Unfortunately, there are no training courses in India for Fertility specialist as yet, which is a shame. The tragedy is that young MD gynaecologists in India have no exposure to IVF at all and most of them are forced to learn on the job.

Fertility treatment can range from simple medication to operative laparoscopy. Advanced assisted reproductive techniques include IVF, or ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), etc. Surrogacy is also becoming popular with couples, when their embryo is carried by another woman till birth. The need for fertility specialists is very urgent in india because of the importance Indian society places on family building, and due to the social stigma that infertility still carries in our conservative society.

Infertility affects about 15 per cent of all married couples, which means it is the commonest medical problem in the reproductive age group. Given the fact that India has over 1 billion people, a conservative estimate means that there are about 20 million infertile couples in India. Family planning and welfare should not just mean limiting family size it should also mean helping infertile couples to have a baby. These are deeply desired and loved children and will make ideal citizens for the future.

Fertility Specialist Salary and Payoff

Doctors who are entrepreneurs and have their own IVF ( Fertility Specialist Clinic ) Clinics can earn more than Rs. 2 Lakh a month. A Fertility superspecialist in a government hospital can earn about Rs. 50,000 a month and someone in a private hospital can earn about Rs. 1 Lakh a month upwards.

How Do You Get Fertility Specialist

You have to take up science at the plus two level and then sit for the All india Pre Medical / Dental Entrance Exam conducted by the CBSE, or entrance exams of other colleges / universities such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences or Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College ( Aligharh Muslim University ) etc. for the MBBS Course. Then, you need a postgraduate MD Degree in obstetrics and gynaecology and then specialise in infertility treatment, Unfortunately, there are no training courses in india as yet. In the USA, there are reproductive medicine fellowhips, which take three years to complete.

Institutes for Fertility Specialist

IVF is not offered as a specialised programme in India. After an MD degree in obstetrics and gynaecology, you can do a training programme from UK (Oxford University) www.ox.ac.uk USA ( Jones Institute ) www.jonesinstitute.org Australia ( Melborune University and Monash University ) www.unimelb.edu.au, www.monash.edu.au