Message from the President

Dear colleagues,

I am more than honored to have the privilege to serve as the President of the Society for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (SREI). Our organization, although relatively small, powerfully represents the more than 1000 board-certified subspecialists that provide fertility and reproductive health care to patients wishing to complete their dreams of family and those facing myriad other challenges. In order to become board-certified, physicians must complete medical school, a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology, a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, and pass two written and two oral examinations. With such an ever-changing field, practitioners must embrace life-long continuing education and recent evidence confirms that most contribute to new knowledge in the field.

Among the most important SREI missions is that of training the next generation of reproductive medicine specialists. As the organization that represents our specialty to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), we advocate for our trainees and provide our insights to those who oversee and regulate fellowship training. Our Fellowship Education committee and Resident Education committee create educational content and curricula and the former plans and runs the annual Fellows’ Symposium (previously known as ‘the retreat’) at Park City, Utah which serves as a forum for fellows and faculty come together in a relaxed setting to provide intense professional guidance. SREI additionally sponsors fellows to attend the Oncofertility Consortium as well as collaborating with the Society for Reproductive Surgeons (SRS) to run the annual Surgical Bootcamp.

Prior to board certification, practitioners are welcome to participate as Associate Members. By having a voice, Associate members provide key insights at this important time early in their careers.

SREI supports its practitioners with educational, administrative, and business materials and activities. The SREI Members’ Retreat, usually held in conjunction with the annual meeting, is geared to improving the practice of REI and the quality of life of REI physicians. The Discussion Forum is a very active platform to promote an exchange of ideas for particularly challenging issues. In the future, it is our goal to host an app so that members will be able to easily exchange information on their mobile devices.

As physicians, it is also important that we advocate on behalf of our patients to elected representative bodies, to insurance entities, and to the society at large. The annual Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill, in conjunction with Resolve, allows for interaction between SREI members and congresspeople or their staff to push for legislative actions that would improve our patients’ access to care.

As members, you can help us out by participating. We would be thrilled to have more members to serve on committees. If you know of REIs who are board-certified but not members, recruit them! It is critical that our physician membership reflects our patients and it is critical that we foster a diverse SREI.

Thank you for your interest. Let us work together to improve our field on behalf of our patients and our learners.

Ruben Alvero, MD