About the North American Society of Obstetric Medicine (NASOM)
Obstetric Medicine
Obstetric Medicine is a relatively new sub-specialty providing comprehensive care to women with medical conditions presenting before or during pregnancy and the immediate postpartum period. A specialist in Obstetric Medicine will be involved in preconception counseling with the objective of reducing the impact of the medical condition on the pregnancy, explaining the impact of the pregnancy on the course of the disease and counseling on interventions and medications and their associated risks and benefits. This specialist will also be involved in diagnostic and management decisions for acute medical conditions manifesting during pregnancy or the early postpartum period. These conditions may be related to pregnancy such as preeclampsia or represent a concurrent illness that may require changes to testing, interpretation of results or therapy because of the pregnancy.
The specialist in Obstetric Medicine aims to fill the gap between general or specialised medical physicians with a high level of medical knowledge but little exposure to the pregnant patient and the Obstetrician with expertise in pregnancy but little training in chronic or pregnancy-unrelated medical conditions. The specialist in Obstetric Medicine works within a multidisciplinary team including health professionals from a variety of fields (including, but not limited to Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist, nursing, medical pharmacist, , midwives, anesthesiologists, geneticists, neonatologists, dietitians, physiotherapists, general Obstetricians, other medical specialists, etc..).
The specialist in Obstetric Medicine is commonly involved in research and teaching of students and residents from a variety of fields including Internal Medicine, ObGyn, family medicine, and anesthesiology.
NASOM History
The Society of Obstetric Medicine (SOM) was founded in 1990 and later became the North American Society of Obstetric Medicine (NASOM). Founding members include Peter Garner, Richard V. Lee, Karen Rosene-Montella and William Baron.
The Society includes specialists from Internal Medicine (General Internal Medicine as well as Internal Medicine subspecialties), Obstetrics, Primary Care, Anesthesiology, and others practicing primarily in Canada and the United States, but we welcome members from all countries.
The goals of our society are to promote and support research collaboration, communication, and teaching concerning the medical care of pregnant women.
NASOM Officers and Committees
Current NASOM Officers
President: Dr. Stephen Lapinsky, Canada (2022-2024)
Vice President: Dr. Jayson Potts, Canada (2022-2024)
Treasurer: Dr. Shital Gandhi, Canada (2022-2024
Immediate Past President: Dr. Michael P. Carson, United States of America
Executive Committee Members
Dr. Michèle Mahone (2017-2020)
Dr. Gillian Ramsay (2017-2020)
Dr. Shital Gandhi (2018-2021)
Dr. Isabelle Malhamé (2019-2022)
Dr. Serena Gundy (2019-2022)
NASOM Research Committee
Chair: Dr. Stephen Lapinsky
Dr. Kara Nerenberg Dr. Sophie Grand’Maison
Dr. Natalie Dayan Dr. John Hall
Dr. Niharika Mehta
Philanthropy Committee
Chair: Dr. Courtney Bilodeau
CME Committee
Chair: Dr. Michèle Mahone
Dr. Nadine Sauvé Dr. Meena Khandelwal
Dr. Tabassum Firoz Dr. Jayson Potts
Dr. Wee-Shian Chan
Membership Committee
Chair: Dr. Meena Khandelwal
Website Committee
Dr. Srilakshmi Mitta
Dr. Shital Gandhi
Dr. Isabelle Malhamé
Handouts Committee
Chair: Dr. Gillian Ramsay
Dr. Nadine Sauvé Dr. Tabassum Firoz
Dr. Srilakshmi Mitta Dr. Xavier Thompson
Dr. Jill Newstead-Angel Dr. Anna Bridget Whalen-Browne
Dr. John Hall Dr. Lindsay Porteous
Dr. Jose Antonio Rojas Suarez
Please visit our Membership Section for information about Membership in NASOM