International IVF Initiative Podcast

Beyond the Webinar - Corporate IVF and The Age Debate

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Episode notes

Welcome to the I3 Podcast discussing the corporate world of IVF and a contentious issue about the ageing population of embryolgists. In this episode you will hear the after party which followed on from a webinar with TJ Farnsworth is the CEO and Founder of Inception Fertility.

What was discussed:

Issues in labs such as equipment not working
Money invested into the business including investment in people
Importance of flexible working and looking after people better
Generation issue - Giles talks about how the job changes everyday
Issues in lack of motivation with younger embryologists in self-training - they’re rigid in their work hours and don’t stay and practice like doing a first ICSI
Young and old embryologists don’t communicate effectively which needs attention
The expectation of people coming out of college thinking they are ready when the older generation feels they aren’t.
How the pandemic impacted labs and processes and procedures

In the second part of the podcast, you'll hear from Roisin O'Raghallaigh, Shaista Chhatriwal Sadruddin, Vivian Kimble, Maria Liossi, Victoria Almela talking about their experience as the younger generation of embryologists.

What was discussed:

Older embryologists set in their ways - not wanting to change anything, not being flexible
Younger might be open and adaptable to new approaches
Hard to communicate different types of efficiencies which is hard for the older generation to grasp the ‘why fix something that isn’t broken’ mentality
Opportunities to train - often recruitment is during busy times so you need someone already trained up, rather than training people up ahead of these times.
Complaints about there being a lack of embryologists but older generations aren’t willing to train, possible they leave it too long, rather than training them when there is the capacity to train them not when the lab is already a stretched
Modern embryologists working smarter and harder - being more efficient
Being told they are a lazy generation is offensive
The work culture of society is changing as are employee needs - so employers need to be attuned to this and it’s toxic to make sweeping statements across generations.
No need to make your own media when you can buy it - skills have become redundant

You can watch the full webinar here