Infertility care and physician trainees: a survey on elective fertility preservation

Female physicians experience a higher rate of infertility than the general population, are more likely to delay childbearing in training and use assisted reproductive technologies. Little is known about how physician trainees use infertility services or perceive an employer-sponsored fertility preservation benefit. This study assessed physician trainee knowledge of and experiences with infertility and gauged interest in an employer-sponsored fertility preservation benefit.

A 44-question survey was offered from December 2021 to March 2022 to all physician trainees within a single academic hospital system. Descriptive statistics were performed to discern patterns of infertility care.

Of 2495 invited trainees, 550 (22.0%) responded, of whom 11.6% had experienced infertility, 15.1% had undergone a consultation, and 8.4% had received treatment (90.0% and 67.2% of those who had experienced infertility, respectively). Almost half (48.8%) of respondents had considered fertility preservation, of which only 6.3% had used this service (32.8% among those who had experienced infertility).

Trainees experience considerable rates of infertility, are concerned by fertility preservation costs, and support an employer-sponsored benefit.