Message from the President

Hello from Nashville! All of us have been through several challenges during the past 18 months. We have experienced changes in our personal and professional lives that could have been predicted only by a dystopian author. Yet, here we are (hopefully) on the verge of better times. Those of you who attended, in person or virtually, the SGS 47th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society in warm and sunny Palm Springs, California know that the first hybrid meeting of SGS was an unqualified success. As usual, the scientific content, special lectures, roundtables, post graduate courses, videos, and debates were outstanding. Among other highlights were the welcoming of 12 new members into the society and longtime SGS member Dr. Mark Walters giving the initial Mark D. Walters Endowed Lecture. Congratulations to our outgoing President Miles Murphy and the Scientific Program Chair Megan Schimpf for their hard work, foresight, and innovation in bringing together the program. I was extremely impressed by the seamless transition, throughout the meeting, between live and virtual presentations. The meeting itself was historically diverse representing another significant accomplishment. Several times, terms like equality, equity, disparity, and diversity were brought to the attention of all present, setting standards that need to be continued in the future. The only other time that I have seen this level of general enthusiasm for change was the 1960s when some of the initial glass ceilings and inclusiveness barriers were addressed. Many challenges remain, but these are exciting times to be sure.

The social activities at the 2021 meeting reminded all of us of what we have missed during the Covid 19 pandemic. The receptions and SGS Got Talent were quite simply fun.

Continuing efforts were and are being made to broaden the base of SGS to include all GYN surgeons regardless of specialty. Enthusiasm for diversity and inclusion are at a peak, and we, as a Society, need to seize the momentum to improve healthcare for women. No organization is better poised than SGS to facilitate the needed changes.

I am honored and humbled to be this year’s SGS president. Along with the 2022 Scientific Program Chair, Dr. Oz Harmanli, we are working hard to put together a program that is a credit to SGS. The SGS 48th Annual Scientific Meeting will be held March 27-30, 2022 (the normal time of year!) at the La Cantera Resort in San Antonio, Texas. Our theme will be Gynecologic Surgery Training; Lessons from the Past, Looking to the Future. The SGS Annual Course in Advanced Gynecologic Surgery and Hands-On Cadaveric Workshop will be held December 1-4, 2021 at the San Diego Marriott La Jolla and UC San Diego School of Medicine Center for the Future of Surgery, La Jolla, California. The course chair is Cara King, DO. SGS fosters several important groups engaged in ongoing research and publication. These groups include the Systematic Review Group (SRG), the Pelvic Anatomy Groups (PAG), the Fellows Pelvic Research Network (FPRN)®, and Collaborative Research in Pelvic Surgery Consortium (CoRPS). Please consider a donation to SGS to help further the efforts of these critical groups.

Anyone associated with SGS knows that our meetings, research, outreach, etc., could not be accomplished without the efforts of our Executive Director, Dr. Nancy Frankel, and Finance Director, Lennie Siegel, CPA. They are dedicated and loyal to our society. There is heartfelt gratitude to them for their relentless attention to detail that allows multiple society activities to proceed smoothly. SGS would not be what it is today without their leadership.

I am excited about the upcoming year, working with the Executive and other Committees, and the Board of Directors, as well as all SGS members to further the goals of the society. If any of you have ideas or areas of concern, please contact me.

Carl W. Zimmerman, MD
SGS President

Speakers

Marlene Corton, MD, M.Sc  Professor UT Southwestern Medical Center

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.

Female Sexual Health: Barriers to Optimal Outcomes and a Roadmap for Improved Patient–Clinician Communications

The Alliance for Advancing Women’s Health (AAWH) collaborated on a consensus paper detailing the barriers to optimal women’s sexual health and a path toward improving clinical interaction. The paper, “Female Sexual Health: Barriers to Optimal Outcomes and a Roadmap for Improved Patient-Clinician Communications,” was recently published in the Journal of Women’s Health... Read More