Graduate Information Sheet

Sydney IVF is Australia’s leading centre for infertility and IVF treatment.  Since the establishment of Sydney IVF in 1986 as the first outpatient IVF service in Australia, our research program has instigated the introduction of many innovative changes in practice around the world.  In the 1990’s, the stage specific culture medium suite developed at Sydney IVF was manufactured and continues to be supplied worldwide by a commercial partner to the company.  Now in the 2000’s we lead the world in blastocyst culture, single embryo transfer and preimplantation genetic diagnosis.

Embryology

A career in embryology with Sydney IVF will place you in one of the best performing clinical embryology laboratories in the world.  Our high success rates are the result of our state of the art research facilities and our unending quest to understand what it is that embryos need to be successfully cultured to produce a healthy baby.

The successful unification of a sperm and an oocyte will create an embryo.  The embryologist must be adept in the safe handling and processing of both gametes to maximize the chance of success.  The embryologist is required to maintain precise and specific culture conditions during the time the gametes and embryos are in the laboratory. Embryologists require meticulous laboratory skills and extreme attention to detail.  The decision regarding which embryo to transfer is based on both quantitative and qualitative assessments of embryo viability and the embryologist plays an integral role in this decision. 

Fertility treatment is a deeply personal journey – and on this journey our patients entrust their hopes and dreams on everyone involved in their care.  Embryologists at Sydney IVF are frequently in contact with our patients and it is vital that they are able to effectively communicate the science of IVF in an empathic and caring manner.

Andrology

A career in Andrology with Sydney IVF will place you in one of the best performing clinical men’s health laboratories in the world. Andrology (from the Greek Andros, man) is the medical specialty that deals with men's health, particularly relating to the male reproductive system. One might say that Andrology is to the male what gynaecology is to the female. 

Sydney Andrology offers a number of quality services to assess and analyse male fertility.  A semen analysis tests the overall appearance, acidity/alkalinity and volume of semen and measures the concentration, motility, vitality and morphology of the sperm.  A trial wash evaluates the quality of the sperm and recommends the most suitable method of assisted conception. Sydney Andrology scientists are able to perform male and female anti-sperm antibodies testing and perform biochemical analysis of seminal plasma components. Further procedures include sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) which estimates sperm DNA damage, semen cryopreservation and retrograde ejaculation evaluation.

Advances have improved our understanding of male infertility and resulted in a growth in the field.  Research plays a prominent role at Sydney Andrology, with areas of interest including the correlation of semen analysis and fertilization, the in vitro assessment of sperm function and sperm cryopreservation. 

Graduate Scientists

The Sydney IVF Graduate Program will have you overseeing the technical aspects of both the Embryology and Andrology functions. We endeavour to provide you with the hands on skills and knowledge to form a ground up understanding of assisted conception techniques in order to commence an exciting long-term scientific career with us.

A career at Sydney IVF can combine your technical and research skills with the human side of reproductive science.  A career in reproductive science can be extremely rewarding when you are an integral member of a team that assists a couple to have a healthy baby.