It’s estimated that globally between 60-80 million couples suffer from infertility every year, of which probably between 15- 20 million are in India alone, says an ICMR bulletin. This indicates that the country needs infertility experts to curb this growing problem. With a rise in IVF centres and experts this profession is booming, says Dr Shobha Gupta
Infertility or reproductive medicine is a very fine and sophisticated branch of study. IVF as a technique has helped countless couples overcome infertility for the last two decades and more. Though initially IVF was developed to treat tubal factor infertility, today this technique is used to treat unexplained female and male infertility as well as immunological problems and several others.
Fertility treatment can range from simple medication to operative laparoscopy. Advanced assisted reproductive techniques include in vitro fertilisation or IVF, a basic procedure, where the sperm fertilises the egg ‘in vitro’ or outside the body. The embryo which is created is then transferred to the uterus, or ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), etc. Surrogacy is also getting to be popular.
Almost every hospital in India has a separate IVF unit. There are 1000’s of IVF centres across India. This clearly signifies that choosing to become an IVF expert is quiet a big game changer. 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 who have agreed for this procedure. One can work in any private or Government hospital or can opt for self-employment like starting their own clinic.
An infertility expert has to be an extremely compassionate individual ready to listen to a patient’s medical and emotional problems. People in India are still not very comfortable talking about such issues, and not being able to conceive can be extremely traumatic for a couple.
The cost of IVF in India is roughly around Rs80,000 to three 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 a half years), followed by a post graduate degree in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (3 years). After that is a super specialisation in the field of Reproductive Medicine. In India, the highest degree in this branch is called FNB (Fellow of National Board in Reproductive Medicine). To get into this course, one has to qualify an All India Common Entrance Exam and again an exit exam at the end of two years of training. There are only 11 seats for this all over India. One has to be dedicated in this field since it’s not only physical treatment but a lot of psychological counselling as well.
The remuneration varies widely from a Rs50,000 to Rs1, 00,000 to start with and might go up to any value with passing years.
After an MD degree in obstetrics and gynaecology, you can do a training programme from
In India, AIIMS and lady Hardinge Medical College, Maulana Azad Medical College are also providing these specialisations after completing diploma in obstetrics and gynaecology.
It’s a highly gratifying profession since the joy of parenthood can’t be compared to anything else. But at the same time this profession also has its own set of challenges. It requires a very long training period of at least 11 years. There is a lot of psychological counselling 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 is more than 50 per cent in spite of all the hard work.
(The writer is medical director, IVF Expert at Mother's lap IVF Centre).