The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

This will be a much shorter post than normal, mainly as the topic is directed to my attendance at the annual meeting of RCOG, to present my hysteroscopy manuscript. The other reason is that, outside of inane and specific challenges I’m facing with analysis, continued lockdown has really put a cramp on our research (there’s not much to report!). I’m hoping this is soon to be a concern of the past, although I’m also wary of the power of a jinx, so less said the better.

I won’t go into detail about the paper underlying the presentation itself. If you missed my last entry, I hope this will give you an easily digestible synopsis (http://richaharrison.com/pain-free-hysteroscopy/). The only thing I wanted to discuss today was the reception of the work itself.

I won’t lie that I was experiencing trepidation in the lead up to the presentation, as many clinical friends had suggested that I may be in for a baptism of fire. Generally, human beings do not like being told what they are doing is wrong, or that there is fallibility in the way they do things. With the power of an in-group, I can see how presenting a critical message of hysteroscopy to the membership body that binds gynaecologists together could elicit furore. However, this is not something I experienced at all, and I consider this a very promising and reassuring finding indeed.

For those who wish to see the presentation, you can find it here (http://richaharrison.com/media/). If you have watched it, you’ll likely notice the findings are quite compelling, and the data indicates a near-normal distribution in pain ratings, in opposition of the described low-to-no pain. That is the primary discursive point of the paper in my view, and is one that seemed to be very well received at RCOG. The dialogue I was able to open is a real success of the meeting, and is something that is sorely required.

The main reason underlying me building a website in the first place, is that the largest challenge in research is dissemination. Getting your findings and stories out into the real world. While RCOG still represents a specific subset of research-minded, driven, passionate and forward thinking clinicians, it is important that the data permeates the clinical world as much as possible. I find it very pleasing that the main piece of feedback I received at the conference, from multiple mouths, was “This is remarkable, it seems impossible that the procedure can be described like that, when the data shows the opposite”. I couldn’t have written a better piece of feedback myself.

Lastly, I’m not sure if those who sent the messages will necessarily read this, but one more unexpected benefit arose from my attendance of RCOG. I have received 8 or 9 genuinely thoughtful messages of thanks, which have buoyed me. There are many downsides to lockdown, including the forced isolation via working from home. To receive positive feedback regarding our work, and to hear that our research is being appreciated, has been a real antidote to this psychological challenge. I can’t speak from my co-authors (although I expect they’d agree with me), but the only thing that really matters is that our research makes a difference somewhere down the line. So, thank you for your thank yous, the words carry great weight and appreciation. Keep staying safe, keep staying healthy and keep wearing a mask.