Training clinicians in culturally relevant care: a curriculum to improve knowledge and comfort with the transgender and gender diverse population.

PURPOSE: To design a replicable simulation curriculum collaboratively with the transgender and gender diverse community to improve clinician knowledge and comfort with providing reproductive care to this population. METHODS: This is a prospective, single arm pre-post analysis of obstetrics and gynecology residents at a single academic institution after completion of a novel simulation curriculum. The primary outcome was the change in resident comfort and knowledge in providing transgender and gender diverse patient care. A thematic analysis of learner and standardized patient free text responses was analyzed for insights on perceived learner experiences. RESULTS: This curriculum was created with iterative feedback from the transgender community and involved only transgender and gender diverse-identified standardized patients. Thirty residents participated, with 22 responding to both the pre-and post-curriculum surveys, and 11 responding to a 6-month post-curriculum survey. There were significant improvements in learner comfort and knowledge after participation that were found to persist at 6 months. Qualitative analysis demonstrated that this was a positive and powerful learning experience for both residents and standardized patients. CONCLUSIONS: This simulation curriculum may be an effective and impactful tool to increase trainee comfort and knowledge of transgender and gender diverse patient care, which is important given the lack of physician training in the care for these individuals. By building the foundation with resident learners, the ultimate goal is to enhance the pool of clinicians confident and capable of caring for transgender and gender diverse patients, to increase access to care, and to improve health outcomes in this vulnerable population.

Prospective analysis of progesterone exposure in programmed single thawed euploid embryo transfer cycles and outcomes.

PURPOSE: In the era of personalized medicine and the increased use of frozen embryo transfer (FET), assay of the endometrium's receptivity prior to transfer has gained popularity, especially among patients. However, the optimal timing for single thawed euploid embryo transfers (STEET) in a programmed FET has yet to be determined Mackens et al. (Hum Reprod. 32(11):2234-42, 2017). We sought to examine the outcomes of euploid FETs by length of progesterone (P4) exposure. METHODS: Prospective cohort study of programmed FETs of single euploid embryos between June 1, 2018, and December, 18, 2018, at our center. Subjects reported the exact start time for initiating progesterone. The transfer time was noted to calculate the primary independent variable, duration of progesterone exposure. Statistical analysis included ANOVA and Spearman's rho correlation, with p < 0.05 considered significant. RESULTS: Inclusion criteria were met for 253 programmed STEET cycles in the analysis. There was no significant difference in P4 duration when comparing outcome groups (112.8 ± 3.1 ongoing pregnancy (OP), 112.4 ± 4.4 spontaneous abortion (SAB), 111.6 ± 1.7 biochemical pregnancy (BP), 113.9 ± 5.7 no pregnancy (NP), F 1.76, df 3, p = 0.16). An ROC curve assessing the ability of P4 duration to predict ongoing pregnancy (OP) had an area under the curve of 0.467 (p = 0.38). CONCLUSION: Duration of P4 was not associated with outcome. Of the cycles, 65.6% resulted in ongoing pregnancy with our center's instructions resulting in an average progesterone exposure of 112.8 h, with a range of 98.3-123.7 h. With growing popularity for individualized testing, these results provide evidence for patient counseling of the high likelihood of ongoing pregnancy without personalized testing.

Optimizing embryo selection with day 5 transfer.

OBJECTIVE: To compare rates of implantation, pregnancy, miscarriage, multiple gestation, and selective reduction between patients undergoing day 5 (d5) and day 3 (d3) ETs. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: University-based IVF center. PATIENT(S): The first d5 ET cycle of patients 42 years of age from 2003 to 2006 was compared with a historical control of first cycle d3 ET patients 42 years of age from 1996 to 1999 who would have met current d5 ET criteria. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Rates of implantation, clinical pregnancy, miscarriage, live birth, high order multiple pregnancy (HOMP), and selective reduction. RESULT(S): D5 ET patients had higher implantation rates (39% vs. 30%), with no difference in the no-transfer rate. D5 ET patients had lower rates of HOMP (2.5% vs. 11%) and HOMP delivery (0.7% vs. 3.5%), multiple pregnancy (27% vs. 33%), multiple delivery (19% vs. 26%), and twin delivery (18% vs. 23%). There were fewer selective reductions of HOMP with d5 ET (1.7% vs. 3.8%). CONCLUSION(S): Extended culture improves embryo selection through increased implantation, facilitating fewer embryos per transfer, which lowers multiple gestation rates and the need for HOMP reduction.