Basic course

General International Training Course in Reproductive Medicine and Embryology

Topics: diagnostics, diagnosis, patient selection, therapy proposal, therapy planning, treatment supervision, monitoring low and high dose stimulation, hyperstimulation, early pregnancy, intrauterine insemination, embryo transfer and oocyte retrieval, including procedures, techniques, historical, legal and ethical views, diagnostics, patient selection, chances, risks, complications, alternatives and costs, establishment / equipment IVF centre, management IVF personnel, / supplies, management public / private IVF centre.

Techniques: controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, ultrasound and endocrine monitoring, luteal phase monitoring, thawing cycle monitoring, early pregnancy monitoring, timed intercourse, artificial insemination husband and donor, oocyte and sperm selection, oocyte and sperm preparation, zygote / embryo scoring, IVF, ICSI, IVM, TESE, MESA, IMSI, hatching, cryopreservation, vitrification, PGS, PGD, polar body biopsy, FISH, CGH, chip technology.

Hands-on: with animal and human gametes.

Part I: First in Kiel the participants learn basics like stimulations and interventions in a stepwise approach and perform exercises in stimulation of real cases.

Part II: In the private center in Göttingen clinical details and practical issues like founding of an IVF center are discussed. In small groups they perform practical exercises like oocyte retrieval, embryo transfer and embryology including ICSI and vitrification in special teaching laboratories.

The aim: Each participant shall leave after this eight-day training course with good basic knowledge of ART (artificial reproductive technologies) and ART equipment, a manual containing guidelines on stimulation, monitoring and laboratory techniques and brochures on equipment. From controversial discussions within multiple experts and within the participants one should get a differentiated view of approaches, procedures, chances, risks, alternatives and costs of ART.

MCT and Diploma: After a multiple choice examination the “Diploma in Reproductive Medicine and Embryology” will be awarded. Successful completion of the test is a prerequisite for obtaining the Diploma certificate. If the test is not passed, we offer an online re-examination at a later date.

Next basic course date:
currently only as part of the
comprehensive course bundle

Register here

Advanced Course

Advanced International Training Course in Reproductive Medicine and Embryology

Our advanced course - which is open to you even without prior completion of the basic course - will build on the foundation of basic training in reproductive medicine. The curriculum includes the themes of the basic & intermediate course, but goes far beyond their scope. You will be taught strategies to handle advanced problems and become autonomous in your application of reproductive medical procedures. Different approaches to problems will be weighed against each other, and open discussions at our school allow our students to go deep on their most intriguing enquiries.

Topics and techniques: As the standards are taught at the basic course, the focus of the advanced course is the practical handling of advanced problems. All the themes of the basic course are on the agenda. But in this advanced course different options will be discussed one vs. the other.

Differences of basic course and advanced course are: The focus of the basic course is the teaching of the basic standards for beginners. Due to the limited time and for better understanding, practicability, memory and safety, standard treatments of standard problems are taught in a standardized way, for immediate daily application by beginners. The focus of the advanced course is an analysis of what is common knowledge, applied to difficult cases. As there are different possible approaches, what is agreed on and what is contested, the teaching will be split:

• First again, in a textbook like systematic manner, the different options will be reflected and discussed, this time in the light of the literature on evidence based medicine in our field.

• Then the class will again practice, one by one, in the well known and popular exercises with real clinical difficult cases.

• Some of the issues are: long vs. short protocol, agonist or antagonist, FSH or HMG, pretreatments like scratching or OC, or not, IVF or ICSI, time lapse or not, PGS or not, transfer day 2 / 3 or 5 / 6, and all pitfalls in everday treatment.

Göttingen: In Göttingen different options will be taught with analysis of what is evidence based medicine vs. what is experimental. As there are always different possible approaches: what is agreed on and what is contested, and why? This knowledge will be practically applied in exercises in stimulation and treatment of difficult real cases, including individualized therapies.

The aim: Each participant shall leave after this six-day training course with good advanced knowledge of differentiated ART (artificial reproductive technologies) techniques and a manual with advanced guidelines. The participant then should be able to judge all procedures on the market for what is evidence based medicine and what else might help, even if contested.

MCT and Diploma: After a multiple choice examination the “Diploma in Advanced Reproductive Medicine and Embryology” will be awarded. Successful completion of the test is a prerequisite for obtaining the Diploma certificate. If the test is not passed, we offer an online re-examination at a later date.

Next advanced course date:
currently only as part of the
comprehensive course bundle

Register here