Birth of hope

Shobha Gupta

It is 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 ICMR Bulletin. This indicates that the country needs the infertility experts to curb the growing problem of infertility. In fact, the demand for IVF centres and the experts gone up by 70 per cent in the past 10 years. 

In vitro fertilization or IVF has helped countless couples overcome infertility for the past 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.

Now almost every hospital in India has a separate IVF unit, there are thousands of IVF centres across India. Specialisation in this field requires a deep understanding of the anatomy, biochemistry and endocrinology besides having good surgical skills. Not only this, the practitioner should also 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.

The cost of IVF in India is roughly around Rs 80,000 to Rs 3 lakh depending on 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 yrs). 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, 2 yrs). To get into this course, one has to qualify an All-India common entrance exam and again an exit exam at the end of 2 yrs 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.

After an MD degree in obstetrics and gynaecology, you can do a training programme from: 

• UK (Oxford University) www.ox.ac.uk 
• USA (Jones Institute ) www.jonesinstitute.org 
• Justus Liebig University, Germany www.uni-giessen.de/cms/jluindex
• Australia (Melbourne University and Monash University ) www.unimelb.edu.au , www.monash.edu.au

In India 

AIIMS and Lady Hardinge Medical College, Maulana Azad Medical College are also providing these specialisations after completing diploma in obstetrics and gynaecology.

Work profile

A day in the clinic of an IVF expert consists of OPD consultations, psychological counselling, ultra sounds, intrauterine insemination (IUI), operative procedures like oocyte pickup, embryo transfer and surgical sperm retrieval. In addition, laparoscopic and hysteroscopic fertility enhancing surgeries are performed by an infertility and IVF expert.

Remuneration 

The remuneration varies widely from a Rs 50,000 to Rs 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.

The writer is Medical Director, IVF Expert at Mother's Lap IVF Centre and Consultant at Jaipur Golden Hospital