The Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility Fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital is a three year, ACGME accredited fellowship. The program consists of 18 months of clinical and 18 months of laboratory/research training for up to two fellows per year. The program trains tomorrow's leaders in reproductive medicine by providing the highest quality reproductive endocrinology and infertility fellowship training program.
The fellow, with faculty guidance and consultation, has responsibilities for the initial evaluation and follow up care of patients with reproductive endocrine and infertility problems. Fellows see patients in association with the attending physicians in the Center for Infertility and Reproductive Surgery (CIRS) Practice. Approximately 10,000 patient visits are evaluated annually within the CIRS. The full gamut of patient problems are cared for within the CIRS including infertility problems and endocrine diagnoses such as hyper-prolactinemia, amenorrhea, and hirsutism. Infertility patients are evaluated as couples. Male partners may be seen in consultation by a reproductive urologist.
Beginning in the second half of their first year, fellows have their own continuity clinic two sessions per month in which new reproductive endocrine and infertility patients are seen, and followed, with treatment plans coordinated with a faculty mentor.
Faculty clinics consist of general reproductive endocrinology, infertility, endometriosis (Drs. Hornstein and Laufer), hyperandrogenism (Dr. Barbieri), fertility preservation (Dr. Ginsburg, Ashby, and Srouji), infertility and assisted reproduction (Drs. Ashby, Fox, Ginsburg, Hornstein, Srouji, and Yanushpolsky), and robotic surgery (Dr. Srouji). There are also separate rotations in adult endocrinology (Dr. Ole-Petter Hamnvik), and pediatric endocrinology (Dr. Ari Wassner) pediatric gynecology (Dr. Marc Laufer), urology (Dr. Martin Kathrins) genetics, and ultrasound, and, IVF and andrology laboratory.
Surgical experience includes operative laparoscopy, operative hysteroscopy, all major infertility and reconstructive procedures, including robotic and microsurgery. The hospital has state-of-the-art operative laparoscopy and hysteroscopy equipment which is heavily utilized. Fellows average 100-150 operative cases per year. Fellows begin their robotic training in the surgical training center (STRATUS) and are expected to be robot qualified by graduation.
The department has an active in vitro fertilization (IVF) program with approximately 1,800 cycles per year. Fellows are assigned to the IVF program on a rotating basis monthly for training and experience in patient screening, treatment planning including donor egg, gestational carrier, PGD, PGS, fertility preservation, ovulation induction, transvaginal ultrasound follicle monitoring, oocyte retrieval, and embryo transfer.
Fellows are expected to understand the techniques and quality control measures of the embryology laboratory, and have a rotation precepted by Catherine Racowsky, PhD, the IVF Laboratory Director. Fellows gain a better understanding of embryo cryopreservation, micromanipulation (Intra-cytoplasmic Sperm Injection, Assisted Hatching and Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis).
Fellows are given an appointment at Harvard Medical School as a Clinical Fellow and are actively involved in teaching medical students and residents and are active staff physicians at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, requiring the acquisition of an unrestricted license to practice medicine in Massachusetts. The attending physician has ultimate responsibility for providing supervision and teaching of residents and Harvard Medical students assigned to the clinic. On call assignments (home call) for the CIRS practice are on a rotational basis divided equally among the fellows.
The reproductive endocrine program has formal teaching rounds once each week which are attended by all faculty and fellows, as well as weekly research and clinical seminars. In addition, there are weekly ob-gyn grand rounds, interhospital endocrine rounds involving all endocrine disciplines and weekly medical and pediatric endocrine rounds.
Two university graduate level courses should be taken for credit which might include one in Statistics and Epidemiology given at the Harvard School of Public Health, a Reproductive Biology course offered at either the School of Medicine or Public Health as well as other choices such as Computing Principles and Methods, Clinical Research, and Grant Writing. This is not required by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, but is required by our fellowship program.
During the training period, the fellows will have adequate time for reading and laboratory experience. Each fellow is expected to become knowledgeable about hormone assay technique and quality analysis and assurance. Each fellow is expected to carry out basic laboratory and/or clinical research projects under the guidance of a faculty member. Major laboratory facilities are affiliated with the program.
Resources are available for all modern morphological, biochemical, molecular and, physiological research technologies. The embryology laboratory for our ART program is under the direction of Dr. Catherine Racowsky who also directs an active basic program for in vitro ovum maturation and cryopreservation.
Dr. Cynthia Morton directs the Cytogenetics Laboratory and provides chromosome testing for a variety of clinical programs: prenatal (e.g., amniotic fluids, chorionic villi and percutaneous umbilical bloods), perinatal (e.g., products of conception and peripheral bloods) and oncology (e.g., solid tumors and occasionally, bone marrow). In addition to classical cytogenetic banding methods, the laboratory offers molecular cytogenetic testing by fluorescence in situ hybridization for the rapid detection of trisomy in uncultured amniocytes and for microdeletions.
There are opportunities during the fellowship for rotations in the laboratory and to develop a thorough understanding of karyotyping. Some areas of interest of the research faculty are included below.
Dr. Cynthia Morton also has a research program studying the genetics of uterine leiomyomata. Dr. Bradley Quade, an Associate Professor of Pathology, has research interests in gynecologic pathology, pathobiology of uterine smooth muscle tumors, perinatal and obstetrical pathology.
There are multiple clinical research projects available for fellow participation. Our clinical unit hosts several clinical studies that are available to fellows focused on infertility and ART. The position for Director of Research for the fellowship, heads the Division’s epidemiology research program, and assists with study design and data analysis.
The Boston Center for Endometriosis—a collaborative effort between our Department and Boston Children's Hospital, with Director, Dr. Marc Laufer -focuses on endometriosis research advancement in teen and adult women, including a biorepository for both intervention and observational studies.
Beyond the clinical research opportunities within our own Division, the Ob/Gyn Epidemiology Division directed by Dr. Daniel Cramer within our Department, also has several clinical studies available to our fellows including the epidemiology of ovarian cancer. Clinical research opportunities are also available to our fellows through their rotations on the Pediatric Endocrinology and Medical Endocrine clinic services. In addition, research opportunities are also available at the National Center for Infertility Research at Massachusetts General Hospital under the direction of Dr. William Crowley. Fellows have also lead research projects in conjunction with our oncology colleagues at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and MIT.
Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Clinical Faculty
Rachel Ashby, MD
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology & Director of Ovum Donation
Interests: Ovum Donation, ART, Infertility, Pelviscopy
Robert Barbieri, MD
Kate Macy Ladd Distinguished Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology; Chair Emeritus
Interests: Endometriosis, Hyper-Androgenism, Endocrinology
Janis Fox, MD
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Interests: ART, Infertility, Pelviscopy
Elizabeth Ginsburg, MD
Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology; Medical Director of the Assisted Reproductive Technologies Program & Fellowship Program Director
Interests: ART, Infertility, Fertility Preservation
Mark Hornstein, MD
Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology & Division Director
Interests: Endometriosis, ART, Infertility, Pelviscopy, Clinical Trials
Andrea Lanes, MSc, PhD
Instructor in Obstetrics & Gynecology
Research Area: Reproductive epidemiology
Marc Laufer, MD
Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology & Chief of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology
Interests: Pediatric and Adolescent gynecology, Endometriosis, Endocrinology, Pelviscopy
Jay Patel, MS, TS (ABB)
Technical Supervisor of Embryology
Research Area: Embryology
Serene Srouji, MD
Instructor in Obstetrics & Gynecology & Associate Director – In Vitro Fertilization Program
Interests: ART, Infertility, Robotic Surgery, Fertility Preservation
Elena Yanushpolsky, MD
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology & Director of Reproductive Surgery
Interests: All medical and surgical aspects of reproductive endocrinology and infertility, ART, Minimally invasive laparoscopic management gynecology disorders
Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Research Faculty
Daniel Cramer, ScD, MD
Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Research Area: Ob/Gyn Epidemiology
Cynthia Morton, PhD
Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Research Area: Cyto- and Molecular Genetics
Bradley Quade, PhD, MD
Associate Professor of Pathology
Research Area: Andrology, Endometrial pathology
Catherine Racowsky, PhD
Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Director of Embryology Laboratory
Research Area: Embryology
Rebecca Holmes, PhD
Instructor & Technical Director of Embryology Laboratory
Research Area: Embryology
Other Non-Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Faculty Involved in Fellowship Training
Carol Benson, MD
Professor of Radiology
Interests: Reproductive and gynecologic ultrasound
Ole-Petter Hamnvik, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Interests: All areas of medical endocrinology
Martin Kathrins, MD
Instructor of Medicine
Interests: All areas of male infertility
Louise Wilkins-Haug, MD, PhD
Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology; Division Director of Maternal Fetal Medicine
Interests: Reproductive genetics
The fellows are evaluated following each rotation and semi-annually during by the Clinical Competency Committee (CCC). All evaluations are reviewed with fellows by the Director during the bi-annual meeting. Fellows anonymously evaluate each faculty member yearly.
Salary for incoming Fellows is $88,700 for the academic year 2023-2024. Salary is expected to be similar next year. Fringe benefits include health insurance, a fund which can be used for travel, books and other academic expenses, four weeks vacation, and two weeks of conference time. Vacation and conference requests must be approved in advance.
Eligibility
Applicants must complete a four-year ACGME approved residency program in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and be eligible to obtain a license to practice medicine the State of Massachusetts.
Foreign medical school graduates must meet the following requirements: a) Obtain a standard J1 or H1B visa; or b) Pass National Board of Medical Examinations Part I and II, or the Visa Qualifying examination in addition to the English language requirements.
Application
If you are interested in applying to the Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility Fellowship Training Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, please complete your application via ERAS. The ERAS program number to apply to our program is 2352422001. The deadline for all application materials will be May 1, 2024.
If you have questions please contact:
Denise Galotti
dgalotti@bwh.harvard.edu
(617) 732-4648
Fellows are required to have a good working knowledge of the following board topics at the completion of their Reproductive Endocrine Fellowship:
Areas of Competency Required for Fellowship Completion
Clinical:
Research:
Didactic:
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