Infertility “In Practice”: When the Path to Pregnancy Comes with Personal and Professional Challenges

In this episode of EM LIFERS, YPS Chair Puneet Gupta, MD, FACEP, hosts three young emergency physicians as they discuss their personal experiences with fertility treatments.

Scroll down to learn more about Drs. Jessica Best, Kathleen Bryant and Natasha Demehri Kathuria. They've included their contact info for anyone who may want to talk about fertility treatments or navigating the IVF process.

When the road to pregnancy doesn't come easily, what do you do? How do you manage the logistics and finances? How do you get through it emotionally? How do you help others handle the roller coaster? It's a lot to unpack. If you're interested in a specific question, here are the time stamps to help you navigate there quickly.

17:45 - What was the fertility process like for you? What are the basic parts for most women who go through it?

23:28 - How did you manage the logistics of your appointments, and did you keep it a secret at work?

29:45 - What kind of emotions did you go through during the process, and did any of those feelings catch you off guard?

38:05 - Did your experience as “the patient” in a very vulnerable situation change your perspective on caring for your own patients?

43:45 - What was this process like for your significant other? How did it affect your relationship?

49:25 - If we know someone going through fertility treatments, what are some tangible ways we can support them?

 

Get to know this EM LIFERS panel:

Host: Puneet Gupta, MD, FACEP, YPS Chair

Panelists:

• Jessica Best, MD, FACEP
• Kathleen Bryant, MD, FACEP
• Natasha Demehri Kathuria, MD

Jessica Best, MD, FACEP,is an Emergency Medicine physician in Austin, TX who serves as the emergency medicine medical director at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital San Marcos.. She completed her emergency medicine residency training at UT-Austin. She is originally from Colorado, but after spending time in Austin, she could never leave. She loves outdoor activities such as running, tennis, pickleball, and when she visits home, she loves to ski! Traveling is another big hobby for her, she loves meeting new people and experiencing new cultures. She is involved at a state and national level with Emergency Medicine organizations such as the Texas College of Emergency Physicians and the American College of Emergency Physicians. Within these organizations she her focus is education and improving emergency care for patients.

Kathleen Bryant, MD, FACEP, originally from Florida, finished medical school at University of South Florida before training in emergency medicine at East Carolina University. She completed her pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, and has since rejoined ECU faculty. Since returning she has focused on improving pediatric emergency care to eastern NC as the Children's ED medical director as well as growing the PEM division in hopes to start a PEM fellowship in the near future. She is also passionate about medical education and is one of the APDs for the ECU EM residency. Outside of medicine Kathleen loves spending time with her husband and two children and has a passion for any craft, especially if it's shiny. 

Natasha Demehri Kathuria, MD, works as an emergency medicine physician and a director of observation medicine in Austin, Texas. She trained as a global health specialist, completing her fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical Center and her Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology at Columbia University. Natasha has had extensive humanitarian experience in Ghana, Uganda, Mozambique, Nepal, India, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. Dr. Kathuria also works as a freelance medical journalist, beginning her career in 2014 at ABC news in New York City. She continues to serve as a public health advocate through her journalism, being on the forefront of COVID-19 through her on-air journalism for BBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox News, as well as print journalism via Vox Media, Business Insider, and Time Magazine.