LifeQuest Centre for Reproductive Medicine

LifeQuest Physicians at the Forefront of Providing Fertility Education for Health Care Professionals Drs Laskin, Cadesky and Belej-Rak have recently embarked on a visionary initiative to provide information and education about specific aspects of infertility and treatment to family doctors, general practitioners and related health care professionals. Lectures are tailored to the needs of the specific audience and contribute to a physician’s CME (Continuing Medical Education) credits. Topics covered include: Genetic Aspects of Infertility; Reproductive Aging: How Old is Too Old?; Conceptions and Misconceptions: What the Primary Care Provider Needs to Know about Infertility; Fertility 101: Helping Your Patients Optimize Their Fertility Potential; Fertility Preservation in Patients Facing Cancer Treatment; New Technologies in ART; and Reproductive Endocrinology 101.

LifeQuest’s physicians have given these lectures in a variety of medical settings ranging from private clinics to hospitals and conferences across Canada, the United States, and abroad. In the past year, Dr. Belej-Rak has spoken at Mt. Sinai Hospital and The University of Toronto, as well as numerous private clinics in Toronto and Thornhill; Dr. Cadesky has led grand rounds at The Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie, has spoken at Nursing Symposia in Toronto and Montreal, and was invited to be a guest panelist at the Mid-Western Fertility Society’s medical symposium in Chicago. Dr. Laskin has presented numerous research papers both nationally and internationally over the past year to a range of medical audiences. He was an invited speaker at the Fourth International Congress on Anti-Phospholipid Antibodies in Florence, Italy. In addition, he presents regularly to physicians at Grand Medical and Obstetrics & Gynecology Rounds in Toronto and throughout Ontario. “We have had extremely positive feedback from the physicians and nurses attending the lectures and conferences,” said Dr. Belej-Rak. “Ultimately, first-line physicians pass the benefits of this increased knowledge on to their patients, as an informed healthcare provider can prevent months of ongoing disappointment at not getting pregnant by beginning the infertility investigation, conducting the initial work up, and knowing exactly when to refer a patient to a fertility specialist.”

LifeQuest Team Presents Research, Lectures at 2007 Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society Conference From Sept 26-29, 2007, Halifax, N.S. hosted the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society’s annual conference. Each year, the CFAS event is attended by infertility specialists from clinics across Canada, including physicians, embryologists, nurses, counsellors and others working in the field. This year, the LifeQuest team made a significant contribution to the conference through a series of presentations, including original research in the field of infertility. Director and Managing Partner Dr. Carl Laskin presented a research poster entitled Pre-pregnancy Factors Associated with Preterm Delivery in Women with Recurrent Pregnancy Loss. Nicole Condon, Director, Special Programs, presented a talk for Lab Directors across Canada called The Logistics of Setting up a PGD Program. LifeQuest was the first clinic in Canada to have an PGD program. LifeQuest’s fertility counsellor, Sherry Dale, and 2007 counselling intern, Reina Zatylny, who was nominated for a special student LIFEQUEST: LEADERS IN PROVIDING INFORMATION AND EDUCATION, continued award at the conference, presented three research posters: How EMDR Therapy Successfully Treats Needle Phobia in the Assisted Reproductive Technology Setting; Differences in Sperm Donor Selection Strategies Among Heterosexual Couples, Single Heterosexual Women, and Lesbians; and Surviving Infertility: Determining Characteristics of Successful and Unsuccessful Relationships. Sherry Dale also presented a talk with LifeQuest’s ethicist, Shawn Winsor, entitled Who Are We When We’re Doing What We’re Doing? Creation of a Model for Identifying Core Values at an ART Clinic. The CFAS conference provides an unprecedented opportunity for infertility specialists to hear about new research, attend lectures, review new treatment options, and discuss the latest trends in the field of infertility.