Survey: Many fellows report no changes in training after Dobbs
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Key takeaways:
- Most respondents reported that the Dobbs decision did not affect their fellowship training.
- 46% of respondents reported that they would not consider working in a U.S. state with restrictive abortion laws.
NEW ORLEANS — In a new survey, most reproductive endocrinology and infertility fellows reported that the Dobbs decision did not affect patient counseling, use of genetic testing, embryo handling or medical legal documentation.
“There has been little research about the impact of [the Dobbs decision] on [reproductive endocrinology and infertility] fellowship training. So [we evaluated] the impact of the Roe v. Wade reversal on ... fellowship training and the potential impacts for the future of the physician workforce,” Katherine E. Kostroun, MD, second-year fellow at the University of Texas Health San Antonio, said during a presentation at the ASRM Scientific Congress & Expo.
Kostroun and colleagues sent a 12-question electronic survey focusing on the impact of the Dobbs decision to current U.S. reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) fellows. The survey asked how the Dobbs decision affected patient counseling training and if this decision will impact their future decisions on career location.
Overall, 54 fellows responded to the survey. Of those, 81% were women and 87% were aged 30 to 35 years. Geographically in the U.S., 46% of respondents were from the Northeast, 24% from the Midwest, 17% from the West, 7% from the Southwest and 6% from the Southeast.
Forty-four percent of respondents disagreed that the Dobbs decision affected patient counseling. Regarding use of preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy, 59% of respondents disagreed that the Dobbs decision increased use in their practice. Respondents from the Southeast were more likely to agree that the Dobbs decision did not increase use of preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy compared with respondents from the Northeast (67% vs. 80%; P = .03).
In addition, 69% of respondents reported that the Dobbs decision did not affect embryo freezing, storage and discard practice and 52% reported no changes in their medical legal documentation after Dobbs.
Seventy-four percent of respondents agreed that the Dobbs decision will impact their final decision after graduation regarding practice location; 46% reported that they would not consider working in a state with restrictive abortion laws. This response did not vary by geographic region (P = .9), gender (P = .47) or age (P = .82).
“In an era where the demand for fertility treatment exceeds the amount of REI fellowship trained graduates, the overturn of Roe v. Wade may influence fellows to preferentially practice in locations where reproductive rights are protected,” Kostroun said. “This will further widen disparities in fertility treatment access, particularly [geographic disparities]. And thus, the impact of the Dobbs decision transcends abortion care and will continue to shape the future of reproductive health care for years to come.”