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Congratulations to the 2009 Distinguished Reproductive Urology Award winner: Arnold M. Belker, MD
The Society for the Study of Male Reproduction is pleased to provide you with webcasts of selected presentations from our 2011 SSMR Annual Meeting. We hope you enjoy these educational presentations.
Click here to view the Webcast! |
OUR PURPOSE
The Society for the Study of Male Reproduction’s (SSMR)
purpose is to encourage the study, to elevate the practice,
and to improve the quality of care of the subfertile
male.
OUR GOALS
The goals of the SSMR are to identify existing and
emerging issues in the field and to provide accurate and
credible information to the profession through the development
of:
- Standards
- Guidelines
- Publications
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- Conference Reports
- Proposed Policies
- Continuing Medical Education Conferences
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What we do as a society:
- Promote the roles of urology in the evaluation and
treatment of the infertile male
- Develop standards and guidelines for male reproduction
research and practices
- Provide opportunities for continuing medical education
on current and controversial issues of a scientific
and ethical nature
- Produce educational programs related to clinical
practice and government and reimbursement issues
- Monitor reimbursement and coding issues for surgical
procedures and related treatment
- Offer opportunities for networking through meetings
and the membership directory
- Provide twice-yearly newsletters with scientific,
clinical, and society-related information
- Seek aids and grants for education and sponsorship
- Provide a venue for your opinions and concerns
- Provide an opportunity for your leaderships for accountability.
President's Message:
 During this difficult period of economic decline, global transitions, political gridlock and uncertainty for the future of health care, one often finds solace and purpose in one’s chosen professional effort. The aim of our society, the SSMR, is highlighted during such periods where our obligation to provide camaraderie, educational reinforcement and inspiration to our membership becomes paramount. In addition, our mission to afford added value to our patients and colleagues in other sectors of medicine is reinvigorated. It is a privilege to help support these directives and a responsibility that I pray is fulfilled with credit.
I would like to express my deep appreciation to Ajay Nangia, MBBS, for his sincere dedication and manifold accomplishments over the last year as president of SSMR. His tireless promotion of our society at the CDC and ongoing interaction with numerous organizations committed to men’s health issues has yielded significant achievements that will continue to yield fruit for years to come. I am encouraged by his ongoing commitment to our cause, and we all directly benefit from his efforts. I would also like to thank my compatriots on the SSMR Executive Board who continue to provide insight and creative opportunities to enable the society to move forward. Our society is extremely fortunate to be managed effectively by WJ Weiser & Associates. Likewise, we are grateful to Debbie Roller for her devotion.
The recent AUA annual meeting showcased our society in an extremely favorable perspective. I would like to thank Sheldon Marks, MD, for putting together a thought-provoking and engaging industry (Sharpoint) sponsored lunch symposium that focused on vasectomy reversal tricks of the trade. The three speakers—Larry Lipshultz, MD, Marc Goldstein, MD and Sherman Silber, MD—honored us with an historical perspective and diversity that was extremely well attended. We are grateful to
Dr. Kirk Lo
for coordinating the subsequent SSMR symposium which highlighted priority issues for our society including the WHO 2010 reference values for human semen characteristics, genetic abnormalities associated with male infertility, the urgent need for male infertility databases, an update of the CDC’s men’s reproductive health efforts and a review of the current male reproductive health infertility insurance coverage landscape. The session concluded with a heated debate centered on robotic assisted microsurgery for male infertility, mini-incision vasectomy reversal and standard microsurgical vasectomy reversal. We are fortunate that all of these sessions were recorded and can be retrieved on our website by our membership. In addition, numerous AUA plenary sessions focused on male infertility, including the CDC’s upcoming position paper on male reproductive health and the challenges of treating hypogonadism in men desiring to preserve their fertility.
Our productive working relationship with SMSNA has continued with this past year’s successful Men's Health Traveling Fellowship and has become a most rewarding mainstay of the AUA annual meeting for our society. Currently, ongoing discussions are taking place between our society, represented by Craig Niederberger, MD, Ed Sabanegh, Jr., MD and Bob Brannigan, MD, with the SMSNA leadership on a formal joint fellowship application process for urology residents. I am optimistic that this year we will formalize such a protocol.
At the recent AUA we were fortunate to inaugurate the Arnold Belker Traveling Fellowship to Michael Eisenberg, MD. A grant by a dedicated anonymous donor will enable us to award this annually to an outstanding male infertility fellow for years to come.
Regarding our website, and the utilization of the funding secured to optimize it, we have finalized our arrangement with an experienced web designer and anticipate that the site will be completed by the first quarter of 2012. The highlights of the web refurbishing include a more robust educational platform for our membership as well as implementing the goal of being the preeminent source for patients seeking male factor infertility medical knowledge and physician access. We anticipate that member physicians will be able to provide links as well as photo/video introductions on our website to better introduce themselves to prospective patients. In order to provide value to our membership and a return on their investment by joining our society, we hope to hear by the next AUA that our members are experiencing new patient visits coming directly from the SSMR website.
Our society has the unique opportunity to spearhead an emerging field of male factor infertility currently referred to as men’s oncofertility preservation. The emerging science (spermatagonial stem cell isolation, transplantation and subsequent differentiation) is nothing short of astonishing in its current achievements and future potential. We, at the SSMR, are truly committed to exploring funding opportunities and collaborations to promote this niche area and to helping educate our medical counterparts on our unique expertise in this arena.
We, on the executive board of the SSMR, look to you, our membership, for guidance and continued support. We welcome direct input and encourage feedback and are open-minded to embracing your advice; so please provide it to us. I have outlined some of our aspirations for this coming year and wish us the fortitude to achieve them to fruition. We truly serve a noble cause in our efforts to treat couples with male factor infertility, and during these difficult times, I hope our society and its mission serve you as a source of personal strength and inspiration.
Natan C. Bar-Chama, MD
President, the Society for the Study of Male Reproduction
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