A Message from the 49th President of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons
I hope you are enjoying summer and taking time to relax and rejuvenate with family and friends.
As SGS president, I am privileged to inform members and colleagues about all that this society is doing to advocate for gynecologic surgery training. Since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling on June 24, 2022, the SGS Collaborative Research in Pelvic Surgery Consortium (CoRPS) has been busy fulfilling the mission of the society: to promote excellence in gynecologic surgery through acquisition of knowledge and improvement of skills, advancement of basic and clinical research, and professional and public education.
Within one week of the Dobbs ruling, the SGS CoRPS group, with direction from the Executive Board, completed two IRB-approved protocols. The first is a qualitative research study to evaluate the fears and concerns held by leaders from more than a dozen of the major ObGyn societies on the impact that limited access to abortion care will have on current and future graduate medical education, training, and competencies.
The second study is a mixed methods quantitative and qualitative questionnaire on the impact of this ruling on resident and fellow trainees. We anticipate that final publication of the findings from these research studies will occur in the upcoming weeks. I am so proud of Board member Dr. Kate Meriwether; SGS Research Chair, Dr. Cara Grimes; our participatory research moderator, Dr. Gabriela Halder and all the CoRPS collaborators including the new relationships we have made with representatives from the Society of Family Planning.
On a separate note, Dr. Amy Park and the Scientific Program Committee are working hard on the 49th Annual Scientific Meeting to be held March 19-22, 2023, in Tucson, Arizona. Members have until August 8 to propose postgraduate courses and roundtables. Abstract and video submissions are due September 12, 2022.
We appreciate all members who completed the Annual Scientific Meeting evaluation and member surveys. All comments will be reviewed at our strategic planning meeting in September. The meeting management transition from Dr. Nancy Frankel and Lennie Siegel over to Status Plus is going well. Please be on the lookout for some website updates including committee listings and an enhanced social media presence.
Finally, the winter postgraduate course will be on pause for 2022 and getting refreshed while still maintaining the expert faculty and hands-on skills labs. Stay tuned for announcement of the 2023 course dates and location!
For any ideas or comments, please reach out to [email protected]. We love to hear from you.
Truly yours,
SGS President
Cheryl B. Iglesia MD FACOG
Professor, ObGyn and Urology
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Director, FPMRS, MedStar Health
Washington, DC
SGS Statement on Roe v Wade ruling
The SCOTUS ruling on June 24, 2022, in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, now ends the nearly 50-year-old constitutional protection for abortion, returning the rights to state legislatures and severely restricting access to reproductive health care for millions of US women. As members of the executive board of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons, we continue to support full access to essential women’s reproductive health care and the preservation of the patient-physician relationship.
Pregnancy termination, regardless of indication and including elective, is proven scientifically to be a safe and effective procedure when performed medically or surgically by a trained provider. Training in pregnancy termination is essential for healthcare providers in women’s surgery. Denial of access to pregnancy termination by trained providers not only harms women seeking pregnancy management due to limited access to safe medical care but will deny access for appropriate training of present and future gynecologic surgeons, further restricting access to safe gynecologic procedures for pregnancy.
We firmly support the necessary training and availability of comprehensive health care for women and stand with ACOG reiterating the message that abortion is essential health care: https://www.acog.org/advocacy/abortion-is-essential
SGS Board Supports ACOG Efforts to Protect a Woman's Right to Healthcare and Preservation of the Physician-Patient Relationship
We on the SGS Board of Directors support ACOG and its efforts to protect a woman's right to healthcare and preservation of the physician-patient relationship. For more information regarding advocacy efforts at ACOG please see: https://www.acog.org/news/news-articles/2022/05/a-message-to-the-acog-community-regarding-the-future-of-abortion-care-and-acogs-role
SGS Releases SGS Tradition of Mentoring Vol 2 at SGS 2022
Speakers
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Marlene Corton, MD, M.Sc
Professor
UT Southwestern Medical Center
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Paul A. Moran, FRCOG, MFFP,
Consultant Urogynecologist
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals, NHS Trust |
Joint Statement on Re-introduction of Hospital and Office-based Procedures in the COVID-19 Climate for the Practicing Gynecologist
View the new joint statement HERE
A guide for urogynecologic patient care utilizing telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic: review of existing evidence
Thanks to the hard work from the SGS' Systematic Review Group (SRG) and the Collaborative Research in Pelvic Surgery Consortium (CoRPS) the above titled manuscript is now published in the International Urogynecology Journal. Click HERE to read the manuscript.
