IVF Academy Blog
Cutting edge publications and research
from the IVF Academy Team.
"True humility is staying teachable, regardless of how much you already know"
When we are recruiting students to the IVF Academy I am personally reviewing each application to ensure they will qualify under the SART/ASRM/CLIA and JCAHO guidelines. I am personally vetting each student before they spend their time talent and treasure on the training and launch their careers as embryologists.
A mínimum requirement for doing high complexity testing (Andrology) is 24 hours of science credits. For Embryology, ASRM and SART have a higher requirement of a mínimum of a bachelors degree in a physical, chemical, or biological sciences with the same science credits. The new guidelines has removed the three hour requirement for physics, and has a new requirement for a mínimum of 12 hours of biology sciences, 6 hours of chemistry. The remaining 6 hours can be a combination of any sciences. What these requirements do not describe are what we call the 5 H’s. I am looking for people that are HAPPY, HUMBLE, HUNGRY, HONEST, & have HUMAN skills. Is the glass half full or half empty? Or are you simply grateful to have a glass of something? This is how I define happy. Do you have grit. Your resume/CV should tell me you have grit. Is it all about you or the team? If you are more self centered, then you are not likely to be a great team player. In the IVF lab, i beleive humility is the most important. Particularly when you are completely trained and have more responsibilities.
Recognizing you are fallable and still have more to learn. I have found that the best students that come through the program are those that have worked post graduation for a while and know that they need a little help getting to the next level in their career. They are hungry and ready to work hard and dig in to learn the skills. Honesty ranks right up there with humility in my book. If you are an embryologist long enough you will have an error. As a lab director, I know i can trust people that tell me the smallest mistake they make. If small mistakes get overlooked, its only a matter of time before it is a big mistake. You have to own it. Can you talk to people? Lab people tend to be introverts and do not derive their energy from talking to people. Which is why they work in a lab. Embryos do not talk back.
However, you are a team member and the team is the most important piece of the puzzle. We can teach Embryology & Andrology to anyone. However, we cannot give them a personality and that is what employers are looking for. Our days are spent equally sleeping, working and playing. We need to have chemistry with our team members. The regulatory requirements are easy to define. The 5 H’s are not. Just know we are doing our best to seek out those students and if i send a resume to you saying they are good. I am not just saying they meet the requirements. I am saying they have the 5H’s.
Upcoming Courses at the IVF Academy USA
ICSI May 12-13
PGT/Biopsy May 14-15
Vitrification May 15-16