Approach of medicine academics on female fertility

Introduction: Motherhood at an advanced age has shown significant growth in Brazil in recent decades. Socioeconomic transformations have modified the role of women, increasing their autonomy in relation to the parental project. The postponement of motherhood can be a recurrent phenomenon for future doctors, since training in Medicine has a long duration. Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of medical students about reproductive health, through questions about reproductive senescence, fertility preservation techniques and desires related to motherhood, highlighting the importance of the topic for satisfactory family planning associated with the pursuit for a medical career. Method: Descriptive cross-sectional study, which analyzed the knowledge of 149 academics about reproductive health, through an online questionnaire. Data were analyzed using R software version 4.0.3. Results: Although aging determines a decline in female fertility, assisted reproduction technologies help those who opt for late motherhood. The training time was estimated at 11 years. Most students reported the desire to have biological children and were in favor of the possibility of postponing motherhood for professional reasons. Most erroneously reported that fecundity would be between 55-85%. 89.9% reported knowing what assisted reproduction is. Most students were not instructed about reproductive senescence and fertility preservation. Conclusion: The students have a limited understanding of reproductive health, probably due to the lack of medical guidance, in addition to insufficient family planning, which does not always consider the professional factor.