If you’ve scheduled a consultation at Arizona Center for Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility, then you’ve probably met Emily Liscum, our office supervisor. She’s been an integral part of our team for almost six years and is one of the first people you’ll meet as you start your infertility journey with us.

Emily’s is a woman of many hats; her job at AZCREI entails a little bit of everything. She handles many of the financial aspects of our center, such as the coding and billing, as well as receptionist tasks and assisting with IVF consultations.

 

More Than Just a Financial Confidante

Most patients will know Emily as the person to go to for insurance questions and help with payment plans. Her work entails more than just money though, a large part of what she does focuses on building relationships. “It’s really important to build relationships because we don’t want our patients to ever feel alone,” she says. “The part that I deal with the most is the money part, and that’s often the scariest beyond the procedure itself.”

Our team realizes that infertility treatment can be costly, and Emily is our champion in helping you feel comfortable, not just with the treatments and procedures themselves, but with the money you’re investing in your future family. “Money is a big thing,” she says. “If you have a question about it, don’t be afraid to ask. That’s what we’re here for.”

Emily’s goal is to help you feel confident with your decision to move forward with treatments—and she’ll continue to meet with you and answer your questions until you have that certainty.

“My favorite part of the job is just seeing them understanding and excited,” Emily says. “Obviously, if they get pregnant that’s even more incredible, but having them come to me with their excitement, fears, everything—it feels good to know that they trust me with something so important like that.”

 

Leading Our Team of Support

We want our patients to know that you’re not alone, you have a whole team here to assist you. “Some of us have gone through the procedures ourselves,” Emily says. “And in the time frame I’ve been here, I’ve learned so much.”

Infertility can often be more complex than other medical issues, in that it isn’t something where you can type your symptoms into Google and quickly determine a cause or solution. Emily and the rest of our team will help you find the answers to your specific questions. Whether it’s about potential medication conflicts, insurance coverage, or emotional support outside of our clinic, we will help you figure it out. If it’s a question we don’t have the answer to immediately, we’ll talk to Dr. Gelety and have him get back to you with an answer. We’ll never leave you hanging or give you a vague or unhelpful response.

 

Specialized Care, Personalized Support

All of our patients come to AZCREI because they want to overcome their infertility. While each woman is dealing with her own specific condition and situation, they all have the same general issue: there’s something hindering them from getting pregnant. Because of this, our team is able to offer specialized care from a medical standpoint. Dr. Gelety has been helping women overcome their infertility for more than 30 years; we know what we’re doing in helping women achieve a successful pregnancy.

We’re also able to offer our patients specialized care from an emotional standpoint. “We’re here to make sure you feel comfortable in knowing that we’re doing all that we can to help you,” Emily says. “We’re a very small clinic, and we work together to be on the same page [in offering patients support]. I think that’s what kind of sets us apart from other clinics or medical offices.”

…

No matter what infertility difficulties you may be facing or what questions you have about the process, Emily and the rest of our team at AZCREI are here to walk with you along this journey and help you feel comfortable, confident, and excited at the prospect of growing your family. For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit us online or call 520-326-0001.

 

For nearly 20 years, the Arizona Center for Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility has been helping couples and women get pregnant and grow their families. Nothing brings us more joy than seeing them hold their precious little babies after battling infertility.

 

Our work and the relationships that we build with our patients are all inspired by the mission of our Director, Timothy Gelety, MD. He believes every woman has the right to be a mother and every couple has the right to have a family.

 

Patients come from all over the U.S.—and even the world—to work with Dr. Gelety and his team and grow their families because of his long history of achievement in the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Here’s how Dr. Gelety came to Tucson and began helping thousands of people in the community successfully get pregnant.

 

School & Certifications

 

During school at Ohio State University College of Medicine, Dr. Gelety first explored the field of neurology, but instead, decided on the specialties of obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), primarily because of the opportunities available in reproductive endocrinology and infertility. At the time, the first babies were being born from in vitro fertilization, and it was a very exciting area to be studying.

 

After medical school, Dr. Gelety completed his residency in OB/GYN at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), which was—and still is—a very prestigious program. He then went on to join a fellowship for specific training in endocrinology and infertility at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).

 

Pioneering Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility Research at the University of Arizona

 

With his board certification in OB/GYN and reproductive endocrinology and infertility, Dr. Gelety came to Tucson in 1995 to join the University of Arizona’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology as a faculty member. He became an assistant professor in reproductive endocrinology and fertility, founded the in vitro fertilization program at the university, and later went on to become the head of the Department of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility.

 

The program at UA was the first to successfully use cryopreservation of embryos in Arizona and was the first to achieve a pregnancy of frozen and thawed embryos. Dr. Gelety also started the program of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IPSI) at the university using grant funding; this led to his team being the first in Arizona to achieve a pregnancy through IPSI.

 

While at UA, Dr. Gelety also initiated a program for egg freezing in conjunction with the bone marrow transplant program at the university. Again, they were the first in Arizona to successfully freeze immature eggs in women who were undergoing cancer therapy.

 

Opening AZCREI & Helping Patients Start their Families

 

In 1999, Dr. Gelety took the infertility programs he started at UA and brought them into the community of Tucson. Now, leading the team at Arizona Center for Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility, he helps patients overcome their infertility issues to realize their dreams and get pregnant. When he meets with couples who are trying to get pregnant, he works with both the male and female partners to determine what the underlying issue(s) may be. Once it’s diagnosed, AZCREI uses modern medicine and technology to complete the appropriate procedures to allow them to have children. Sometimes the issue might be hormonal, other times it can be physical—involving problems with their reproductive organs, and with some patients, the obstacle might be more psychological and due to the stress that’s involved with getting pregnant.

 

Dr. Gelety says his favorite parts about the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility is that it’s both very challenging and very rewarding. The results are very positive and gratifying. When the team at AZCREI is successful, it’s a beautiful thing—families are able to grow and experience the overwhelming happiness of holding their baby.

 

Since the beginning, Dr. Gelety and AZCREI’s goal has always been to help patients achieve pregnancy and have a bundle of joy to call their own. Contact us today by calling (520) 326-0001 or visit us online to schedule your visit.

As the lead medical assistant here at Arizona Center for Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility, Kayla Vidal gets to walk with patients through every step of the infertility process. We call her Dr. Gelety’s right hand; she helps him with everything patients need while they’re seeking infertility treatments at our center.

 

Some days Kayla searches for the cheapest medication for patients and educates them on how to use it properly. Other days she may be aiding Dr. Gelety with procedures. There’s no typical or routine day in the office, but you can always find Kayla supporting our doctor, the rest of the team, and most importantly, our patients. She works closely with patients to make sure they’re comfortable during every step of the process, and in doing so, she builds special relationships and trust, which eases any concerns or questions they have. Here’s a little bit more on how she got her start at AZCREI and what she loves most about her job.

 

Finding Her Future at AZCREI

 

Kayla began working at AZCREI over two years ago. She always knew she wanted to work in the medical field, either with a gynecologist or somewhere that specialized in infertility, and when the externship she needed for school brought her to our clinic—that’s when she really fell in love with the field.

 

“I ended up doing my externship here, learning more about infertility,” Kayla says. “And that’s when I decided that I wanted to stay here and keep helping patients.”

 

Kayla is a certified medical assistant, but she says much of her education comes from the day-to-day duties she has on the job. Dr. Gelety and the rest of the “veterans” on our team took her under their wing and helped her find her future in working with patients who struggle with infertility.

 

Building Personal Relationships & Walking with You Through the Process

 

If there’s one thing Kayla has learned while working at AZCREI, it’s how difficult infertility is on patients’ emotions. She says a large part of what she does here is provide emotional support to each patient as they go through the treatment process. There’s a unique opportunity to establish relationships with patients since they typically visit the office once or twice a week for the few months while they’re being treated. Seeing them so frequently and being their emotional support helps them connect with patients on a deeper level.

 

“All of us here at the clinic have either been through it, or we’ve had someone very close to us go through it,” Kayla says. “So we really know what the patients are going through.”

 

Because the infertility process is so difficult, patients will often open up to Kayla and the rest of our team about problems that they’re having and what they’re going through emotionally. Sometimes she offers advice, but quite often, she’s there to listen.

 

The Greatest Reward of Working at AZCREI

 

Building relationships and seeing the joy a couple has once they become pregnant is the greatest reward for Kayla. When a couple comes back into AZCREI with their baby or when they send in photos of their newborn, it brings joy not just to her, but everyone in the office.

 

Helping patients overcome obstacles gives Kayla the opportunity to become close with them. She says that seeing them leave the office pregnant, after everything they went through together, is the best part of her job.

 

“Not only did we go through such a hard time with them, and have them here sitting and crying and telling us everything,” she shares. “But later they come in and they bring the baby, and it’s just amazing to be able to see what we helped them with and how happy they are with their baby now.”

 

 

No matter what infertility difficulties you may be facing, Kayla and the rest of our team at AZCREI are here to help you and walk with you through the process. Our only goal is to help you have a healthy, happy baby. For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit us online or call 520-326-0001.