It has indeed been a long and challenging 18-month stretch for all of us, both personally and professionally. Similar to other sections of the American Urological Association (AUA), our 2020 meeting scheduled for New Orleans, Louisiana converted to a virtual format. I believe that these virtual offerings collectively taught us 2 things. Firstly, there is a great deal of educational content that can be successfully delivered through digital platforms. Secondly, as a community, we yearn for the opportunity to attend live meetings–to learn in person, to interact with thought leaders, and to see friends and colleagues, thereby regaining the social elements of our profession.

Although we don’t have a crystal ball, the Mid-Atlantic (MA-AUA) Board of Directors are optimistic that the continued vaccination roll-out will make domestic in-person meetings in the Fall of 2021 a realistic goal. I am therefore delighted to personally invite you to the 79th annual meeting of the MA-AUA scheduled at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, October 13–16, 2021. Our section management team (Veritas Meeting Solutions) has done a fantastic job to procure a capacious footprint on this property to maximize distancing considerations and the safety of our attendees. We are committed to the safety of our guests and will be diligent with spacing during both the educational and social elements of our annual meeting.

The program committee chaired by Dr. Suzanne Merrill (Penn State Health) has constructed an outstanding educational scientific program enriched in expert lectures, panel discussions, and point/counterpoint debates spanning a multitude of domains in urology. As in prior years, the abstract presentations have largely moved to poster sessions to complement our plenary content.

The program will kick off on Thursday, October 14, 2021 with Dr. Peter Schlegel (Weill-Cornell) delivering the annual Hugh Hampton Young Lecture titled “Treatment for Low Testosterone in 2021–Where Are We Now?” Additional keynote speakers on this opening day of programming include Dr. Thomas Chi (UCSF) discussing “Post-Pandemic Endourology” and Dr. Patrick Walsh (Johns Hopkins) giving the annual Young Urologist Lecture titled “If You Want To Make An Important Discovery, Listen to Your Patients.”

Complementing these signature speakers are plenary discussions on Percutaneous Renal Approaches in Urology, Tips for Managing Male Infertility, Health Policy Update, and the always lively Resident’s Bowl Competition.

Dr. Jeffrey Cadeddu (UTSW) gets Friday, October 15, 2021 off to a running start delivering the Paul F. Schellhammer Lecture in Urologic Oncology titled “Multiparametric MRI to Evaluate Renal Masses–Virtual Biopsy.” Later in the day, invited speaker Dr. Kathleen Kobashi (Virginia Mason) will discuss “What is on the Horizon for Refractory OAB” and Dr. Sanford Siegel (United Urology) will lead a panel of esteemed section members through the “Challenges Faced in Coaching and Mentoring in Academic and Private Practice.” Juxtaposed with this content will be a video session on “Techniques in Adult and Pediatric Reconstruction,” case based discussions on “Dilemmas in Female Pelvic Medicine,” presentations regarding “Telehealth and CMS Coding in 2021,” and a panel discussion on “Management Strategies for Localized and Advanced Kidney Cancer.”

Saturday, October 16, 2021 is the final day of the meeting, and Dr. Jennifer Anger (Cedars-Sinai) will present the AUA Course of Choice titled “Recurrent UTIs in Women–Ask the Guideline.” Additional notable sessions for this day include invited speaker Dr. Stephen Boorjian (Mayo Clinic) speaking on “Surgical Management of High-Risk Prostate Cancer” and a panel of section members discussing “How I Manage Intraoperative Complications.” Additional content organized for this day is a plenary session on “Contemporary Management of Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer,” “AUA Guidelines Update,” “Best Papers that Impacted Practice in 2020,” and the “Resident Prize Essay Competition.”

Please consider attending our meeting as an opportunity to visit D.C. Harbor at a beautiful time of year, re-engage with friends and colleagues, and obtain valuable and practical information for your urology practice. While things are far from being back to their norm, I am hopeful that our section meeting is one step in that direction. I look forward to hopefully seeing and interacting with you in the Fall of 2021!