Publicly available information about fertility benefits for trainees at medical schools in the US

Infertility affects one in four female physicians, yet current availability of fertility benefits within Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited residency programs in the United States (US) is unknown. Our objective was to examine publicly available fertility benefits information for residents and fellows.

The top 50 medical schools in the US for research were identified using US News & World Report 2022. In April 2022, we reviewed fertility benefits available to residents and fellows at these medical schools. Websites of their associated graduate medical education (GME) websites were queried for details surrounding fertility benefits. Two investigators collected data from GME and publicly available institutional websites. The primary outcome was fertility coverage and rates are reported as percentages.

Within the top 50 medical schools, 66% of institutional websites included publicly available medical benefits, 40% included any mention of fertility benefits, and 32% had no explicit information on fertility or medical benefits. Fertility benefit coverage included infertility diagnostic workup (40%), intrauterine insemination (32%), prescription coverage (12%), and in vitro fertilization (IVF, 30%). No information on coverage for third party reproduction or LGBT family building was available on public websites. Most programs with fertility benefits were in the South (40%) or Midwest (30%).

To support the reproductive autonomy of physicians in training, it is critical to ensure access to information on fertility care coverage. Given the prevalence of infertility among physicians and the impact of medical training on family planning goals, more programs should offer and publicize coverage for fertility care.