Contemporary OB/GYN®: A look back to 2020

Even so, life for ob/gyns continued unabated – with continued deliveries, delayed elective cases, and a transition to virtual visits. The required changes to provide safety for both our patients and providers have been evaluated as opportunities – in some cases virtual visits are easier for both patients and providers. As much as we can try to look for opportunities in the new normal, we all recognize it is difficult and taking a toll on our and our patients mental health.

Despite the pandemic upheaval, Contemporary OB/GYN has had a very busy year – covering the pandemic and social movements including the implications for our practices, patients, and providers. We have stayed true to our roots, providing peer-reviewed, evidence-based articles in areas of importance to our readers (Figure 1). We welcomed new editorial board members and the entire editorial team has identified new opportunities – including an increased focus on timely information via videos and podcasts.

Figure 1

We are excited to announce the launch of a new feature in 2021 called “Curbside Consults,” the brainchild of Editorial Board member Christine Isaacs, MD. The series will discuss topics related to ob/gyns obtaining insight from non-ob/gyn physician-authors. Examples include how to prevent keloids in ob/gyn surgery; what to know about dental care in pregnancy; and diagnosis and management of carpal tunnel syndrome. We will develop these with non-ob/gyn experts for added value and insight from other specialties.

We are also working to provide easy-to-use infographics, tables, charts, and summaries within each peer-reviewed article so busy practitioners can access the key information at any time.

We will continue to develop our internet presence – through articles, podcasts, and videos. We are regularly tracking activity to ensure the information we are providing is useful, up-to-date, and clear. Understanding what our audience is interested in is critical for our publication.

The most viewed articles include many that have stood the test of time; We will focus on refreshing them in 2021.

Top articles for 2020 included:

The relationship between placental location and fetal gender, June 14, 2011

Hormone levels and PCOS, Nov. 8, 2011

Alcohol and breastfeeding: What are the risks? Dec. 7, 2018

First menstruation: Average age/physical signs, Nov. 18, 2011

Hemorrhagic ovarian cyst sonographic perspective, Oct. 9, 2011

Perimenopausal bleeding: What’s normal?, June 21, 2011

COVID-19 pregnancy data in the United States: July 31 Update, July 31, 2020

A Patient’s Guide: Management of hair loss in PCOS, Oct. 11, 2011

Understanding Gestational Diabetes: Glucose monitoring, July 21, 2011

Endometrial polyps, June 21, 2011

Our podcast, Pap Talk,is in excess of 1,000 listens for 2020.

We have striven for topical and timely episodes, which has parlayed into the top episodes:

Racial justice and health equity in ob/gyn (Washington Hill, MD)

The fellow on the frontlines of COVID-19 (Aleha Aziz, MD)

Providing quality care for transgender and nonbinary patients (Haley Crissman, MD, MPH, Daphna Stroumsa, MD, MPH, MSC)

Our videos have been very popular this year. Videos are useful to explain techniques and complex topics.

Our top videos in 2020 included:

Forceps delivery technique

Essure reversal technique

Does alcohol impact the ability to conceive?

Laparoscopic excision of endometriosis nodule of the rectum

Laparoscopic excision of multifocal bowel

As we have done in years past, we solicited your insight on trends in the industry with our State of the Industry survey, and we report our findings in this issue. As you will read in this issue, nearly 80% of respondents said that if they had to do it over again, they would choose to specialize in ob/gyn. In addition, nearly 66% said that the reason they chose this specialty was to have the ability to care for women throughout their lives. We repeated certain questions in order to trend data, and asked new, pertinent questions related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on your practice. I hope these data are both useful and interesting.

We continue – and we celebrate – our partnerships with the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) and the American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS). We have successfully promoted the professional guidance on cystoscopy at the time of prolapse repair, cesarean scar pregnancies, activity restriction in obstetric management, thromboembolism prophylaxis for cesarean delivery, mesh complications, vaginal energy-based devices, and heavy menstrual bleeding in adolescents.

Contemporary OB/GYN is your source for topical, timely information on obstetrics and gynecology. If you have suggestions for topics, features, or ideas, we welcome them. As we close out 2020, thank you for your insight, readership, and incredible work ethic to care for our patients.

All my best,

Cathy

__

Dr. Spong, Editor in Chief, is Professor and Vice-Chair in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Chief of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. She holds the Gillette Professorship of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Email her at cspong@mjhlifesciences.com