The future of the Journal of Fertility and Sterility

Dr. Braun: "Welcome to Philadelphia, to the ACOG meeting for 1999. I'm Dr. Daniel Braun, and with me is Dr. Alan DeCherney, who is the Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UCLA. Dr. DeCherney is also Editor of the Journal of Fertility and Sterility, and we'd like to ask - where do you see the Journal of Fertility and Sterility going in the next several years?"

Dr. DeCherney: "It's an interesting question, certainly it continues to be and will continue to be an excellent scientific journal representing the best work in reproductive endocrinology and reproductive biology throughout the entire world. But it's also probably the leading journal as far as gynecology is concerned, short of Gynecologic Oncology. So there will be more emphasis on clinical papers and papers that one would be able to apply directly to practice. We also have a number of new features planned. One is images in reproductive medicine that will be color pictures along with the case history. We have a series in genetics coming up that will make up a monograph and also a section on grand rounds or a journal club where an institution will provide us with a tape of their grand rounds or journal club, and then we'll clean it up and publish that as well. Those are some of the features that, I think, will be more attractive to the practicing clinician but we will also maintain our high standards as far as scientific excellence is concerned as well."

Dr. Braun: "Since we're on the Internet here, do you see any move for the journal to have something on the Internet?"

Dr. DeCherney: "The journal will be entirely electronically available to people in September of 1999. There'll be a small tax added on to the subscription price to pay for this privilege. People will have a password so they can get the entire journal online. We would hope to have many links, and you would be a great candidate for one of those links, and also the table of contents, perhaps the one line summary of maybe an editorial would also be online - free to people as well."

Dr. Braun: "On a slightly different venue, as Chairman, how do you see Obstetrics and Gynecology, in general, changing over the next several years?"

Dr. DeCherney: "I think that there's a renaissance in science and research. I think that the field was in the doldrums for a while because of managed care and people worrying about money and worrying about access. So I think that we'll see more in the way of creative research. Certainly all this technology is readily available to physicians, physician scientists, and Ph.D.'s - so I think that that's going to make a big difference. But I also think that the business aspect, meaning access to medical care - efficient medical care - I think those things you'll see more. I think people will be more pleased with the care they get, not that the care isn't excellent now, but it's aggravating to get that care. So I think that you'll see better access to care for patients and more patient satisfaction."

Dr. Braun: "In terms of resident training, some of the recent Medicare regulations and such have had a big impact on funding for resident training, funding for faculty, reimbursement, and such. Do you see some problems with that in the future?"

Dr. DeCherney: "I think that that's a very serious problem if resident education funding dries up because this is a large amount of money. It does pay for the residents, the residents do provide a lot of service in the hospital along with their teaching, and this is something that I think we have to really fight. We've fought some battles that are important and some battles that aren't important in the past, but I think that paying for residents is actually a cheap way to provide medical care. There are studies where they have looked at replacing house staff with nurse practitioners, and it almost doubles the cost. So it would be a quick solution that perhaps in the long run will be more expensive."

Dr. Braun: "Thank you very much."

Dr. DeCherney: "You're welcome."