ACTIVITY NUMBER: MD120

ACTIVITY TITLE: Principles of Fertility Preservation for Reproductive Health Providers

ACCREDITATION STATEMENT

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Oncofertility Consortium. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

CREDIT DESIGNATION STATEMENT

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine designates this enduring material for a maximum of 6.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.   Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Release Date:  June 15, 2017

Reviewed: June 15, 2024
Expiration Date: June 15, 2026

Estimated Time to Complete Activity: 6 hours

NEEDS ASSESSMENT and IDENTIFICATION OF PRACTICE GAP

The Oncofertility Consortium and ASRM have partnered to establish this online certificate course covering principles of fertility preservation for reproductive health professionals. This course will provide an organized, easily accessible, and evidenced-based review of established and experimental therapies for fertility preservation, patient selection, pre- and post-treatment counseling, as well as ethical considerations in this emerging field.

A recent cross-sectional survey of fellows in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and Gynecologic Oncology identified significant variability in perceived competence in fertility preservation techniques and counselling, with as well as a strong desire for standardized training in this field. In response to these findings, an expert roundtable was convened at the 2014 Oncofertility Consortium Meeting to further elucidate the learning needs of fellows in this topic. Results of the discussion confirmed a practice gap in the competence of graduating fellows to independently counsel and care for fertility preservation patients as well as a dearth of educational resources to assist in this process.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

At the conclusion of this educational activity, participants should be able to:

1.      Identify patient populations who may benefit from fertility preservation services and summarize currently available established and experimental therapies.

2.      Formulate an individualized treatment plan for a given patient who is interested in undergoing fertility preservation.

3.      Provide recommendations for the long-term care of the fertility preservation patient.

COURSE OUTLINE

PRE-TREATMENT COUNSELING

1. Overview of initial fertility preservation consultation
2. Toxicity of chemotherapy and radiation
3. Treatment considerations for common conditions

TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR FERTILITY PRESERVATION

4. Controlled ovarian stimulation in fertility preservation
5. Mature oocyte cryopreservation
6. Conservative treatment for gynecologic malignancies
7. Use of GnRH agonists for fertility preservation

POST-TREATMENT COUNSELING

8. Survivorship

MALE FERTILITY PRESERVATION

9. Fertility preservation in male patients
10. Sperm cryopreservation methodology

ETHICS OF FERTILITY PRESERVATION

11. Fertility Preservation and Reproduction in Patients Facing Gonadotoxic Therapies: An Ethics Committee Opinion
12. Posthumous Collection and Use of Reproductive Tissue

TARGET AUDIENCE

This activity is designed to meet the educational needs of physicians and allied health professionals involved in treatment of patients for fertility preservation.

ACGME COMPETENCIES

Medical Knowledge

Patient Care

Professionalism

SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS

Successful completion of this educational activity requires the learner to:

·        View a course overview page, containing all CME and disclosure information, including acknowledgement of commercial support and disclosure of unlabeled use, prior to the start of the module.

·        Complete a pre-exam prior to each module. Learners should note any pre-exam questions answered incorrectly for clarification during module study.  

·        Be given the option of downloading a printed syllabus containing the presentation and narrative.

·        Participate in the interactive activity with the PowerPoint presentation; this can be stopped, reversed, or advanced as desired.

·        After completion of the course, take a 71-question post-exam, with a minimum score of 70 percent correct in two attempts.

·         Complete the evaluation survey.

·        Print certificate of completion.

DISCLOSURES FOR PLANNERS AND FACULTY

Planners

Divya Kelath Shah, MD                Nothing to Disclose

Wendy Vitek, MD                          Nothing to Disclose

Susan A. Gitlin, PhD                     Nothing to Disclose

Andrew R. La Barbera, PhD         Nothing to Disclose

Richard H. Reindollar, MD         Nothing to Disclose

Nancy Bowers, BSN, RN, MPH     Nothing to Disclose

Content Developers and Reviewers

Paula Amato, MD                          Nothing to Disclose

Leslie Appiah, MD                         Nothing to Disclose

Sara Barton, MD                            Nothing to Disclose                       

Jean Benward, MS, MSW              Nothing to Disclose

Robert Brannigan, MD                  AbbVie: Grant/Research

Lynae Brayboy, MD                        Nothing to Disclose        

Paul Brezina, MD, MBA                 AdvaGenix: Stock ownership

Robert Brzyski, MD, PhD               Nothing to Disclose

William Catherino, MD, PhD       Consultant: Andrews & Thornton, LLC, Abbvie; Atlee Hall, LLC; Grant/Research: Allergan; Employee (Spouse) EMD Serono

Grace Centola, PhD                        Consultant: New England Cryogenic Center, Cryos International, Advanced Cell Technologies, Androvia, Reprovantage

Mindy Christianson, MD               Nothing to Disclose

Judith Daar, JD                                 Nothing to Disclose

Owen Davis, MD                              Nothing to Disclose

Daniel Dumesic, MD                       Nothing to Disclose

Amanda Ellis, RN, BSN                    Nothing to Disclose

Senait Fisseha, MD, JD                   Nothing to Disclose

Leslie Francis, PhD, JD                   Nothing to Disclose

Elena Gates, MD                              Nothing to Disclose

Elizabeth Ginsburg, MD                 Serono: Grant/Research

Jeffrey Goldberg, MD                      Nothing to Disclose

Clarisa Gracia, MD, MSCE             Nothing to Disclose

Ashley Haggerty, MD                      Nothing to Disclose

Edward Illions, MD                         Nothing to Disclose

Daniel Kaser, MD                            Nothing to Disclose

Laxmi Kondapalli, MD, MS            Nothing to Disclose

Mark Licht, MD                                Nothing to Disclose

Roger Lobo, MD                               Nothing to Disclose

Laurence McCullough, PhD           Consultant; GlaxoSmithKline

Jennifer Mersereau, MD                Nothing to Disclose

Molly Moravek, MD, MPH             Nothing to Disclose

John Mulhall, MD                           Grant/Research: Pfizer, AMS, Vivus; Consultant: AMS, Nexmed, Auxilium

Ceana Nezhat, MD                          Consultant: SurgiQuest, Plasma Surgical, Karl Storz Endoscopy

Randall Odem, MD                         Nothing to Disclose

Lauri Pasch, PhD                             Nothing to Disclose

Mary Ellen Pavone, MD, MSc       Nothing to Disclose

Samantha Pfeifer, MD                   Consultant: Best Doctors, Inc.

Margareta Pisarska, MD              Consultant: Babycenter.com; Grant/Research: NIH, ASRM

Steven Ralston, MD                        Board Member: Planned Parenthood; Chair, ACOG Committee on Ethics

John Robertson, JD                         Nothing to Disclose

Mitchell Rosen, MD                       Ferring: Other

Brooke Rossi, MD                           Nothing to Disclose

Jay Sandlow, MD                             Nothing to Disclose

Mark Sauer, MD                              Nothing to Disclose

Irene Souter, MD                             Nothing to Disclose

Julie Rios Sroga, MD                      Nothing to Disclose

Kristin Smith, BS                             Nothing to Disclose

Monique Spillman, MD                 Nothing to Disclose

Andrea Stein, MD                           Nothing to Disclose

Bonnie Steinbock, PhD                  Nothing to Disclose

Judy Stern, PhD                               Nothing to Disclose

Irene Su, MD                                    Nothing to Disclose

Cigdem Tanrikut, MD                     Nothing to Disclose

Michael Thomas, MD                     Grant/Research: Medicine 360; Grant/Research: EvoFem

Kim Thornton, MD                          Nothing to Disclose

Michael Vernon, PhD                     Nothing to Disclose
Eric Widra, MD                                Consultant: Natera, Counsyl

Bruce Wilder, MD, MPH, JD           Nothing to Disclose

It is the policy of the ASRM to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all its educational activities. All faculty/authors participating in this activity were required to disclose any relationships they may have with commercial entities whose products or services are used to treat patients so that participants may evaluate the objectivity of the presentations. The content and views presented in this activity are those of the faculty/authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the ASRM.  Any discussion of off-label, experimental, or investigational use of drugs or devices will also be disclosed. The disclosure statements were reviewed by the Subcommittee for Standards of Commercial Support of the CME Committee of ASRM and any perceived conflicts of interest were resolved in accordance with the policies of the ACCME.

STATEMENT OF SUPPORT

No commercial support has been provided for this activity.