Encouraging residents to work in reproductive health focus of ASRM annual meeting

Key takeaways:

• The ASRM Scientific Congress & Expo will take place Oct. 14 to 18 in New Orleans.
• The theme of the meeting is The Past, The Present and The Pipeline.

The ASRM Scientific Congress & Expo will focus on encouraging medical residents to pursue a career in reproductive health, medicine and scientific professions.

This year’s meeting will take place from Saturday to Wednesday in New Orleans. The theme of the meeting is The Past, The Present and The Pipeline, which is influenced by current ASRM President Michael A. Thomas, MD, who has held a focus on encouraging people to enter the reproductive medicine field through volunteer work.

The meeting will deepen engagement in reproductive medicine through emphasizing interactivity in programing, promoting networking through events in the Network Lounge, Advocacy is Everywhere, ePoster Café and the Society Social Hour and through building the pipeline to the next generation of reproductive experts, according to Chevis N. Shannon, DrPH, MBA, MPH, MERC, chief education and science officer at ASRM.

Attendees can experience live recordings of experts and articles that discuss associations between ovarian reserve markers and embryo aneuploidy on-site at Journal Club Live or attend poster presentation sessions during the meeting to hear presenting authors discuss their findings. All attendees will also have the chance to interact with posters at their leisure in the ePoster Café and in the ASRM meeting app.

This year’s meeting will also introduce a dynamic program for residents called KEEPR: Knowledge through Engagement & Education Program for Residents. This program will emphasize engaging with complex topics that are relevant to OB/GYN residents who are preparing for a career in reproductive health and medicine. The program is open to any resident attending the meeting and includes interactive workshops, networking events, skill-building activities, advanced independent study and hot topic discussions.

ASRM 2023 will be hosting students from New Orleans schools to take part in the Career Pathways Program, which facilitates awareness on reproductive health, medicine and science professions while creating a mentor network to support those interested in a reproductive health career.

On Sunday, on the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans campus, there will be a hands-on session for undergraduate students majoring in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). On Monday, ASRM will host medical students and pair them with mentors. Students will then have a chance to attend events and sessions, engage with reproductive health content, network and socialize with other trainees, according to Shannon.

In addition, ASRM 2023 will have hands-on courses to improve practical skills, such as 3D/4D imaging in reproductive medicine, and will have discussions around the new EDGE tool, an interactive online embryo atlas for users to improve embryo classification understanding to choose the best embryos for transfer.