Reproductive Medicine Clinics Key Terms

Brush up on key terms used when referring patients of reproductive health clinics

Whether you run a family practice or gynecology office, there will be times when you'll have to refer patients to reproductive medicine clinics for testing and procedures. Reproductive medicine services are usually performed by a reproductive endocrinologist, a doctor who is well-versed in the problems that arise when couples are faced with fertility issues.

Communication is a priority in the field of medicine. If a woman comes to you and tells you she's having trouble getting pregnant and you need to refer her to a reproductive health care specialist, you'll need to use the proper terminology when communicating with both the patient and the specialist.

1. Understand the tests fertility treatment clinics often run to diagnose problems. In addition, you might look into natural family planning methods.

2. Research possible treatment options. Fertility centers stay on the forefront of technology, and you must be able to keep up with new procedural terminology.

3. Find out what terms laypeople are using. Women coming in for reproductive health services may use lingo they picked up on the Internet.

 

Get a jump on terms used for diagnosis at reproductive medical clinics

The medical community has specific terms and abbreviations used for different testing procedures. One example is "HSG," which stands for hysterosalpingogram. It's also a good idea to familiarize yourself with basal body temperature (BBT) charting, something that can drastically improve the chances of conception due to timing intercourse properly. Charting is useful for clinical staff, as well, since they may be able to look at a patient's charts and pinpoint potential problems.
Try: Check out the glossary of diagnostic terms from the Reproductive Science Center, which also touches briefly on BBT charting. Fertility Plus has a great explanation of basal body temperature and includes a sample chart.

Know reproductive medicine clinics' key terms for ART procedures

Due to the fact that artificial reproductive technology (ART) procedures often have long names, many of those working in the medical field use abbreviations for these terms. For example, intracytoplasmic sperm injection is better known as ICSI. You should familiarize yourself with acronyms like GIFT (gamete intrafallopian transfer) and FET (frozen embryo transfer), but you also need to be able to explain what they mean to your patients.
Try: The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology has a glossary you can use, as does the American Pregnancy Association.

Learn about layperson's lingo used in reference to reproductive health care

There are multiple online communities dedicated to helping women get through the pain of infertility, all of which use common terms to abbreviate symptoms, treatments and diagnoses. For example, "endo" commonly refers to endometriosis, and "lap" refers to laparoscopic surgery. If your patient brings up these terms, you'll need to know what they mean. Also, be prepared to clarify any misguidance these women may get on these discussion forums.
Try: Browse through the message boards at Fertile Thoughts to get a glimpse into the life of infertile women. You can find a great index of abbreviations and acronyms commonly used on message boards, like 2WW, at IntegraMed.

 

• OBGYN clinics are integral in the fertility treatment process. If you're an OB-GYN who has referred a patient to a reproductive endocrinologist, make sure you get any treatment notes from the receiving physician, since his or her treatments may have a direct impact on procedures done at your gynecology office. Obviously, you would not want your patient coming in for her annual pelvic exam right after an IVF transfer.

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