FACTS Teacher Series: Joseph Stanford, MD
Transforming Women’s Healthcare through Research
By: Louisa Wagner
Director’s Note: As part of our FACTS Teacher series, we highlight the diverse set of physicians and clinicians who contribute their time and expertise to help us educate the next generation of medical professionals via our FACTS elective. Our series continues with Dr. Joseph Stanford, a family physician based in Utah. Bringing years of clinical expertise and research collaboration with the leading experts in different models of fertility awareness or natural family planning, he lends invaluable experience to our elective case study discussions. We are also delighted to welcome Dr. Stanford as one of our speakers at our upcoming virtual conference, The Continuum of Women’s Healthcare next month on November 11th, 2023. Early bird registration ends October 15th for this 100% virtual conference so sign up today and save $25!
Meet Dr. Joseph Stanford
Many physicians grow up knowing they want to be a doctor, but that was not the case for Dr. Joseph Stanford. As an undergraduate at the University of Utah, he planned to major in biochemistry with an emphasis on nutrition. He stuck with that plan for two years, but after a break as a missionary with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he resumed school — this time at Minnesota State University, followed by the University of Minnesota Medical School to earn his medical degree. He went on to complete his residency in family medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He attributes his medical journey to meeting Dr. Bill Mannahan, a family physician who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine that considers the whole person through a holistic lens.
While in medical school, Dr. Stanford recalls he was never taught about natural or fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs) in the classroom. Rather, he learned about these methods through a student-run lecture series that presented topics ranging from supplements to hypnosis as complements to conventional medical care. It was then that he first learned about natural family planning (NFP) methods, and it changed both his life and his career. Dr. Stanford noted that during medical school, passing classes didn’t require any knowledge of FABMs. Patient encounters during residency motivated him to change his approach to women’s health and fertility. Dr. Stanford’s next step was to receive training in the Creighton Model and NaProTechnology from the Pope Paul VI Institute in 1992. During this training, he began to realize that this information could change the way the medical field treated infertility, but it still needed to be researched, developed, and disseminated.
“During his OB/GYN rotation it became clear that standard reproductive healthcare was missing a crucial piece.”
Advances in Research
Dr. Stanford began working with natural family planning and fertility researchers after receiving the opportunity to attend a meeting focused on natural fertility regulation with Dr. Thomas Hilgers at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. This meeting facilitated the networking that allowed him to do necessary research in natural family planning, specifically the Creighton Model. At this point, Dr. Stanford had yet to publish any of his work, but he soon collaborated with Dr. Hilgers to publish an analysis of the effectiveness of the Creighton Model.
Dr. Stanford also worked with Dr. Fehring to publish the effects of hormonal contraceptives on the menstrual cycle. Their goal was to explain how and for how long hormonal contraceptives disturb the return of fertility after a woman discontinues use of the pill. Dr. Stanford has also benefited from mentoring and collegial relationships with other leading researchers in the field of NFP and fertility awareness, such as Erik Odeblad, Bernardo Colombo, and Petra Frank-Herrmann; as well as leading demographers and statisticians, such as Ken Smith and David Dunson. Dr. Stanford has now led groundbreaking research in the field.
Involvement with FACTS
Having benefited from mentorship and scientific collaboration with leading NFP/FABM and scientific experts, Dr. Stanford now also spends time with FACTS helping to educate the next generation of doctors. Dr. Stanford serves on the FACTS Advisory Council, as well as on the board of the International Institute of Restorative Reproductive Medicine.
“Having benefited from mentorship and scientific collaboration with leading FABM and scientific experts, Dr. Stanford now also spends time with FACTS helping to educate the next generation of doctors.”
Each month, Dr. Stanford presents a case study online to students in the FACTS elective. As FACTS seeks to train this next generation of physicians and health professionals to offer women and couples the best options for their health and families, Dr. Stanford has observed students’ need and desire for this information. Having witnessed their engagement and curiosity during the case studies, Dr. Stanford asserts that as long as students continue to ask questions and seek answers, restorative reproductive approaches will start to make serious headway in medicine.
Thoughts on FACTS Work
Dr. Stanford still observes hesitation around FABMs in the medical field, but remarks that anyone who takes a deeper look into women’s healthcare yearns to discover more and provide women with comprehensive care. He noted that many students who take the FACTS elective wind up hoping to make fertility awareness central to their medical careers.
Dr. Stanford leaves us with the message: “We must be willing to learn things that might work differently. We will learn things in the future about fertility that we need to understand and be open to. We must stay curious.”
“We must be willing to learn things that might work differently. We will learn things in the future about fertility that we need to understand and be open to. We must stay curious.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Louisa Wagner
Louisa Wagner is a recent high school graduate from Seton High School in Northern Virginia with a strong interest in female fertility. As she discerns her next career steps, she has accepted a role interning with FACTS and is excited to be learning more about women’s health and fertility.
