Should I trust this doctor?

My husband & I are trying to decide if we should stay with our current fertility clinic or switch to our only other choice in the area. We've had two failed IUIs even though my hormone levels all looked good. I've been diagnosed with unexplained infertility.

My current reproductive endocinologist is listed as an MD, FACOG.  He is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology with subspecialty Fellowship Training in Infertility and Reproductive Endocrinology. That fellowship training means he is not board certifited in the Sub-Specialty of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility.

From what I can find according to ASRM, SART, SREI and other groups they all recommend that you choose a clinic who has a Board Certified RE.  The other concern I have is that his clinic has only been listed in the CDC SART reports three out of the past nine years. Their lab is not accredited and always lists their lab's status as Pending.  What does this mean to me as a patient?

My RE has now suggested a laparascopy to check for endometriosis. We don't have any complaints so far with our treatment plans and dealings with the physician or staff.

My question is how important are all of these certifications, accredidations, and memberships?  I'm hesitant to have this surgery if all of this means that he isn't qualified or competent enough. I'm not sure if it's worth switching and starting all over though.

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
If you have access to a clinic with a board-certified RE and an accredited lab, you should consider the switch.  For something like this you want top notch care.

If you like your doctor, there is absolutely no reason not to have the laparoscopy however, as any board certified FACOG could do a simple laparoscopy.  It will be pretty important to know if you have endometriosis.

I can;t think of a good valid reason not to be certified, unless your doctor is very young and is still pusuing it--ask!'

Good luck!
Dr B

[Idor]

He finished his residency in the late 1980s. His fertility clinic has been around for 11 years. He finished his RE fellowship in 1993! That seems like plenty of time to get the RE specialist certification.  Is it possible that he's not able to meet the criteria?

I asked one of his clinicians about some of my concerns. She admitted that they don't report their statistics to SART because they're not big enough & don't have the staff to handle it. Really!? They're in the Chicago area with seven offices to choose from. She was also not familiar with the lab accredidation issue.

My other concern is that most of my dealings have been with other staff and not the actual doctor. Is this the normal procedure for fertility clinics? We've only seen the RE twice. Once to have him recommend IUI and last week for him to recommend the laparasopy since IUIs failed.
  
All of the testing, bloodwork, semen analysis, vaginal ultrasounds, IUIs have been done by other staff. I believe they are RMAs. Does RMA stand for Registered Medical Assistant?

I wish that I would have known about all of this before I chose this doctor.