Name: So You Want to Be a REPRODUCTIVE ENDOCRINOLOGY & INFERTILITY DOCTOR [Ep. 36]
Uploaded: 2022-06-14T17:46:57.000Z
Duration: 10 min 51 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

So you want to be a reproductive endocrinologist.

You love babies and want to help make your patients’ dreams of parenthood come true.

Let’s debunk the public perception myths of what it means to be a reproductive endocrinologist

This is the reality of reproductive endocrinology.

Welcome to our next installment in So You Want to Be.

In this series, we highlight a specific specialty within medicine, such as reproductive endocrinology,

and help you decide if it’s a good fit for you.

You can find other specialties on our So You Want to Be playlist.

If you have a specific specialty you want to be covered on our next So You Want to Be,

make sure you’re subscribed to vote in upcoming polls.

Also, consider becoming a YouTube channel member to receive additional perks and priority

in helping us decide on future specialties.

Click the JOIN button underneath this video for more information.

If you’d like to see what being a reproductive endocrinologist looks like, be sure to check

out my Day in the Life of a Reproductive Endocrinologist video with Dr. Carrie Bedient on my second

channel, Kevin Jubbal, M.D., and subscribe for more Day in the Life videos covering other

Reproductive endocrinology and infertility, or REI for short, is the field of medicine

concerned with helping people get pregnant who are unable to do so on their own.

REI physicians are experts in all things related to conception and reproduction and are adept

at managing any issues that may be preventing patients from becoming pregnant.

REI doctors are often best known for fertility treatments such as intrauterine insemination,

or IUI, and in vitro fertilization, or IVF; however, their actual scope is much broader.

REI physicians handle the full spectrum of issues that cause infertility from hormone

imbalances to polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS, to even some forms of cancer.

In addition, REI physicians also help patients preserve their ability to have children in

the future through procedures such as egg and sperm cryopreservation.

There are a few ways to categorize reproductive endocrinology.

Let’s start with infertility versus reproductive endocrinology.

In general, infertility comprises the bulk of what an REI physician does day-to-day.

It encompasses all of the evaluations and treatments for patients who want to become

pregnant but have difficulty doing so on their own.

The bread and butter of infertility is focused on the evaluation of the uterus, fallopian

tubes, ovaries, and sperm, as well as the patient’s general health and genetics, to

determine why the patient or couple is having difficulty conceiving.

The infertility aspect of REI also includes various procedures to help patients become

pregnant, most notable of which are ovulation induction and intrauterine insemination, sometimes

called artificial insemination, and in vitro fertilization.

With ovulation induction and IUI, patients are given a series of medications followed

by a trigger shot to help their bodies release an egg.

Once the egg has been released, sperm is introduced into the uterus in an attempt to fertilize

In contrast, in vitro fertilization requires the extraction of eggs from the patient after

which they are combined with sperm in a laboratory.

The embryo will then be allowed to grow within the lab for a few weeks after which it will

be transferred into the uterus to, hopefully, result in pregnancy.

In contrast, the reproductive endocrinology aspect of REI is similar to medical endocrinology;

however, it focuses solely on the hormones related to reproduction – namely estrogen,

The bread and butter of reproductive endocrinology involves working with conditions such as menopause,

premature ovarian insufficiency, and PCOS.

Another method of differentiating an REI practice is academic vs private.

REI physicians working in the academic setting will split their time between clinic, teaching,

Depending on the arrangement, academic REI doctors may spend as much as 80% of their

time teaching and researching and as little as 20% of their time in clinic seeing patients.

It should be noted, however, that this varies significantly depending on the specific arrangement.

The majority of REIs work in private practice.

This means that they are either running their own clinic or working for a private group.

In private practice, the focus tends to be on clinical medicine and less on research

or teaching as evaluating and treating patients is often what drives revenue.

That being said, hybrid practices splitting one’s time between clinic, research, and

In terms of compensation, physicians working for private practices will generally make

That being said, there is a great deal of variation in terms of compensation within

Let’s clear up some of the misconceptions about REI.

To start, many people believe that fertility treatment is only available for male and female

There are many single women, LGBTQ+ couples, and even the occasional single male who seek

REI physicians see the full spectrum of patients with regard to race, sexual orientation, and

Another misconception is that REI physicians can help you get pregnant regardless of the

People see celebrities in their 50s getting pregnant and believe that it’s possible

The reality is that REI doctors can help enhance your ability to get pregnant, but only if

Female patients who have children later in life generally either froze their eggs when

If there are no eggs left in the ovaries or no sperm being created in the testicles, REI

Lastly, many people incorrectly believe that it is an easy specialty.

REIs have to be incredibly detail-oriented as seemingly small mistakes can be the difference

between your patient becoming pregnant or not.

In addition, miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and negative pregnancy tests are common occurrences

and those conversations are never easy – even for the most seasoned physicians.

To become an REI physician, you must first complete four years of OB/GYN residency followed

Occasionally there are urology residents who will cross over to REI; however, the vast

This makes sense as REI physicians still use many of their OB/GYN skills in their daily

For instance, when patients become pregnant, the reproductive endocrinologist will typically