Message from the President

(Posted July 22, 2020)

2020 has proved to be a very challenging year for all of us for many reasons. Despite all these challenges, SGS managed to successfully conduct our first ever “virtual” scientific meeting earlier this month. The 46th Annual Scientific Meeting was held from a home base in Boston from July 9-12th. The meeting consisted of a hybrid of pre-recorded and live presentations. While we were not able to be together physically, the essence of SGS could still be felt. We still had “Discussants” comment on the research and question the presenters, who then answered these queries, all live. Viewers were able to type in questions to the moderator who then relayed them to the presenters. It was almost like being in Jacksonville! While there were a few technical glitches, overall, I think everyone who attended would agree that it went very smoothly. Many people were responsible for making this meeting such a smashing success. I can’t list them all, but I believe I would be remiss if I did not congratulate and thank some of the most critical people who helped to bring the meeting to fruition. 

The Executive Committee of SGS made the difficult decision to make our annual meeting fully virtual on May 18th. That left the Program Committee just under 8 weeks to create a virtual meeting. Luckily we had an incredibly dedicated and facile group of people who were up to the task. This group was headed up by the scientific program chair, Dr. Patrick Culligan, who briefly relocated to Boston to work together with the technical crew to run the meeting. While wearing masks and socially distancing, Dr. Culligan and our out-going president, Dr. Peter Rosenblatt kicked off the meeting on the evening of July 9th. In addition to the fantastic science that we have all come to expect from SGS, the program also included engaging keynote speakers, two unique panel discussions, a number of timely product theaters, and four excellent postgraduate courses on Sunday. The program was recorded and thank goodness; the presidential address given by Dr. Rosenblatt was one for the history books. Watch out Ken Burns, you’ve got some competition. Information on options for viewing these recorded sessions will be coming shortly.

The content of the material presented at the meeting was carefully selected by the abstract reviewers chaired by Dr. Peter Jeppson and the video reviewers chaired by Dr. Michael Moen. The Scientific Program Co-Chair, Dr. Megan Schimpf, made sure the program stayed on time. Finally, as with most things related to SGS, Nancy Frankel and Lennie Siegel brought everything together and amazingly managed to rescue SGS from a potentially large financial loss. Our society owes you all a great debt of gratitude. 

In regard to the future, we welcomed 18 talented new members to our society. This substantial number is a reflection of the vigor of our society, and we welcome them with virtual open arms. We continue to engage our trainees through the FPRN® who also conducted a video-teleconference after the conclusion of the scientific abstracts late Saturday afternoon. Finally, SGS is sponsoring a multicenter, prospective study of the re-introduction of gynecologic surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While no one can predict the future, I am fervently hoping that we will be able to meet in person in Palm Springs next year. Dr. Schimpf and I, along with the rest of the 2021 Scientific Program Committee, are working hard to put together a stimulating and diverse program. 

So stay tuned, stay safe, and stay healthy!

Miles Murphy, MD

2020 Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting Schedule

View SGS 2020 Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting (July 9-12) Final Program

Joint Statement on Re-introduction of Hospital and Office-based Procedures in the COVID-19 Climate for the Practicing Gynecologist

View the new joint statement HERE

A guide for urogynecologic patient care utilizing telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic: review of existing evidence

Thanks to the hard work from the SGS' Systematic Review Group (SRG) and the Collaborative Research in Pelvic Surgery Consortium (CoRPS) the above titled manuscript is now published in the International Urogynecology Journal. Click HERE to read the manuscript.

Female Sexual Health: Barriers to Optimal Outcomes and a Roadmap for Improved Patient–Clinician Communications

The Alliance for Advancing Women’s Health (AAWH) collaborated on a consensus paper detailing the barriers to optimal women’s sexual health and a path toward improving clinical interaction. The paper, “Female Sexual Health: Barriers to Optimal Outcomes and a Roadmap for Improved Patient-Clinician Communications,” was recently published in the Journal of Women’s Health... Read More