Meet Dr. Gavin Puthoff and the St. John Paul II Fellows

Dr. Gavin Puthoff is one of three St. John Paul II Fellows for the 2014–2015 year. Named in honor of the late pontiff St. John Paul II — an ardent supporter of the Pope Paul VI Institute — this Fellowship Program provides obstetrician/gynecologists (OB-GYNs) with advanced training in the medical and surgical applications of the Institute’s medical breakthrough in women’s health, NaProTECHNOLOGY.

Dr. Puthoff graduated in 2014 from the OB-GYN residency program at Mercy Hospital Medical Center in St. Louis and is a graduate of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

Born in Austin, Texas, Puthoff became a Catholic at the age of 15, which played a significant role in his decision to enter the medical profession, and more specifically, to become an OB-GYN.

As Puthoff says, “The field of OB-GYN is unique in the way it focuses on a woman’s health and fertility. At its core, it is a very pro-life area of medicine as it involves one of the most important times in a woman’s life — the birth of her child. This is one of the reasons I chose to pursue training in this field.”

While in medical school at the University of Texas at Houston, Puthoff met another future OB-GYN and St. John Paul II Fellow, Dr. Steve Hilgers, son of Pope Paul VI Institute Director and Founder, Dr. Thomas Hilgers. This encounter with the young Dr. Hilgers played an important role in Dr. Puthoff’s decision to complete the fellowship training in NaProTECHNOLOGY.

“With NaProTECHNOLOGY, I can address issues that cannot be addressed through mainstream obstetrics and gynecology,” says Puthoff of the training he is receiving through the Fellowship program. “Of particular interest to me, NaProTECHNOLOGY provides very effective — and morally acceptable — treatments for the conditions that cause infertility, which gives new hope to many couples struggling with infertility.”

Dr. Puthoff is looking forward to returning to St. Louis in August, where he will open a new NaProTECHNOLOGY Practice at Mercy Hospital. The FertilityCare Center at Mercy hospital was founded over 30 years ago by Diane Daly and Ann Prebil, co-developers of the Creighton Model FertiltyCare System.

“It has been an incredible opportunity to spend this year working with Dr. Hilgers and the staff of the Pope Paul VI Institute,” he says. “Thanks to Dr. Hilgers and his extensive research in this field, Catholic OB-GYNs like myself can offer patients valuable and effective treatments while remaining true to our moral convictions and the teachings of the Church.”