Choose your career; Be a IVF Expert

By Dr. Shobha Gupta 

According to ICMR (Indian council of medical research) bulletin 60 to 80 million people globally suffers from infertility problem each year. Infertility means unable to have children. This indicates that the country needs the infertility experts to curb this growing problem of infertility. This baby making business is booming at a very fast pace hence the demand for IVF centres and the experts gone up by 70% in last 10 years.  

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Infertility/ Reproductive Medicine is a very fine and sophisticated branch. If you are passionate about providing the best possible care to the highest clinical standards then one of the revolutionary treatments of chronic infertility is through in vitro fertilization or IVF.  IVF as a technique has helped countless couples overcome infertility for the last two decades and more. Today this technique is used to treat unexplained female and male infertility as well as immunological problems and several others. 

Almost every hospital in India has a separate IVF unit, there are more than 1000’s of IVF centres across India. This clearly signifies that choosing the IVF Expert as a career opportunity is a no loss deal. This profession requires a deep understanding of the anatomy, biochemistry and endocrinology of the male and the female. 

An IVF expert has to be very good at surgical skills as well. Not only this, he /she should be able to take care of the psychological needs of the patients. One can work in any private or government hospital or

can opt for self-employment – start a clinic. Infertility is a fact and it has no cure that will allow the woman to bear a child. The gamble of IVF is worth taking and it doesn't matter how late you leave starting a family.

The cost of IVF in India is roughly around 80,000 to 3 Lakhs depending upon the seriousness of the case. To become an IVF Expert one has to go through at least 11 years of rigorous training. It starts from an admission in a medical college for MBBS (5 and half years), followed by a post graduate degree in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (3 yrs). After that is a super specialisation in the field of Reproductive Medicine. 

The remuneration varies widely from a Rs. 50,000 to 1, 00,000 to start with and might go up to any value with passing years. But once you are trained enough to start your own centre then there is no limit. 

One has to be really dedicated in this field since it’s not only physical treatment but a lot of psychological counselling as well. After an MD degree in obstetrics and gynecology, you can do a training programme from:

• UK (Oxford University) 
• USA (Jones Institute ) 
• Germany (Justus Liebig University) 
• Australia (Melbourne University and Monash University )  
• In India:  AIIMS and Lady Hardinge Medical College, Maulana Azad Medical College are also providing these specializations after completing diploma in obstetrics and and gynaecology. 

It’s a highly gratifying profession but this profession also has its own challenges. It requires a very long training period of at least 11 yrs. There is a lot of psychological counseling required especially if an IVF cycle fails. It requires high skills since it’s a very finely balanced treatment and finally, the highest success rate world over are not more than 50% in spite of all the hard work. An IVF Expert plays a very pivotal role in the life of infertile couple. I personally have developed a passion for making the infertile patients conceive. As it is a very noble profession and this is the best gift in this world.

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