Dr. Ania Kowalik was kind enough to offer some of her time to answer a few questions about how her studies led her to working in the field of fertility, her work at Fertility Solutions, and how she spends her time outside of the center. Get to know Dr. Kowalik by reading her responses below:
Did you always know that you wanted to be a fertility doctor?
I decided to be an Obstetrician Gynecologist after completing my clinical rotation in medical school. The specialty offered to me the perfect mix of medical care and surgery and I could not think of anything more rewarding than helping women to have healthy pregnancies and build families. While completing residency at Weil-Cornell Medical Center, I realized that there are a number of women who unfortunately have difficulty conceiving and the field of reproductive medicine was finally able to offer treatment and hope to those who previously did not have any. I decided to become a reproductive endocrinologist as I viewed this as the highest impact, life altering and hopeful subspecialty in the field of gynecology.
How did you find yourself working in the fertility field?
Weill Cornell has a premier reproductive endocrinology division and its IVF center was one of the largest and most successful programs in which to learn. I elected to continue my training there after residency to acquire the skills and knowledge required to work in this field.
What about working in the fertility specialty appeals to you most?
As a fertility specialist I get to work with couples at various stages in their life, but the goal of our interventions is to help those couples build their future through realizing their dreams to have or to grow their family. Since raising a child is the most rewarding and important part of a person’s life, I view my work as having a tremendous impact in people’s lives.
What’s your favorite part about your daily work?
Working with a team of highly dedicated and motivated individuals whose focus is to improve our outcomes in providing fertility care and to make the process for patients going through it as stress free as possible.
What new technology or advances excites you the most?
As molecular biology techniques improve, we have the unique ability to offer enhanced diagnostics in infertility treatment and to optimize our outcomes by selecting the healthiest embryo which is most likely to result in pregnancy. We also are finally are able to offer clinically applicable methods for fertility preservation for women which is an exciting development for those who want to delay childbearing or who are at risk of losing their ovarian function due to another disease process.
And lastly, How do you spend your free time?
I enjoy spending my free time with my own family. My husband and I have two teenage children. We are all involved in both winter and summer sports (skiing, snowboarding, watersports) which gives us a healthy way to spend quality time together. Our two dogs are frequent participants and add to the fun. I also enjoy more solitary activities like reading and needlepoint.