ASRM: MHPG

Over twenty years ago, several mental health providers and a few physicians recognized the burgeoning need to address the psychosocial concerns of patients with fertility issues. In the aftermath of this decision, the Psychological Special Interest Group, (now The Mental Health Professional Group of ASRM) was born. Today, our organization continues to play an instrumental role in ASRM. As our membership continues to increase, our accomplishments increase as well. Listed below are just a few of our most recent activities and achievements:

The MHPG is focused on, and committed to, new members. In addition to our annual mentoring program at the ASRM meeting, in 2006 we also created a successful ongoing mentoring program. This program seeks to welcome, train and mentor new mental health professionals in the field on a continuous basis.
Members of MHPG are involved in many different task forces, committees, research projects and affiliated organizations. In addition to the internal MHPG committees and task forces, we are proud to have MHPG members serving in key positions such as:

Liaison to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART)
Representative to the Women’s Council
Members-at-large on ASRM standing committees including the Membership, Patient Education, and Ethics Committees.

MHPG members have also worked extensively on the development of FertiQol, an international Quality of Life measure for people with fertility problems that will become the gold standard of clinical and research applications worldwide. FertiQol is scheduled to be launched in Barcelona at ESHRE in 2008.
In 2007, The MHPG Children's Bibliography and Parent’s Bibliography sections were updated and annotated in an effort to make them more user-friendly.
In 2007, the revised MHPG policies and procedures were approved under the auspices of the Bylaws, Policies and Procedures Committee. The Gestational Carrier Guidelines and the Psychological Screening of Oocyte Donors and Recipients Guidelines were also revised and are currently being reviewed by the ASRM Practice Committee.
Building upon past successful workshops with the Association of Reproductive Managers and the Genetics Counseling Special Interest Group, the MHPG hopes to collaborate with the Fertility Preservation Special Interest Group and the Nurses Professional Group in the near future.

MHPG members will continue to be available to the greater ASRM community. We are ready and willing to collaborate and consult with other health care professionals in order to improve patient care and further incorporate mental health practitioners into ART programs. With such a remarkable past and innumerable prospects for the future, I am confident that the year ahead will be a great one.

Please feel free to contact me via e-mail with any comments, questions, or suggestions that you may have. My current e-mail address is: eag2001@med.cornell.edu.

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