The Society of Academic Urologists, (SAU) mission is to provide academic urologists with a forum to discuss, review and resolve critical issues in all aspects of academic urology. In addition, the SAU partners with the AUA to run the Urology Match each year.

It has been a busy year for the SAU Board and members managing the vastly altered landscape of urological education in the face of the recent pandemic. We were all forced to alter applications, interviews and the Match timeline to adjust to global events. The SAU provided guidance to society members through email, website postings and live interactive webinars. Initiatives included a COVID-19 best practice guidelines for education and clinical work through the acute phase of the pandemic shutdown. Other approaches included shifting the Match timelines and the development and promotion of virtual sub-internships. The pandemic also resulted in the introduction of several new aspects to the interview process, which was held virtually in 2020, and will continue in 2021 in accordance with Coalition for Physician Accountability (CoPA) recommendations. These included altering the requirements for letters of recommendation and the development of a nationally coordinated synchronized interview release process. With your help, the SAU continues to innovate and promote collaborative best practices to improve the field of academic urology and graduate medical education. The Board always looks to its membership for ideas and individuals willing to serve on committees and workshops.

This year’s program at the AUA Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada will address issues facing faculty and chairs. The SAU meeting will be held on Thursday, September 9, 2021 (8 am–5 pm) at The Venetian Las Vegas in the Zeno 4601-10 Foyer East. Co-chairs Drs. Simone Thavaseelan and Mark Litwin have developed a program that addresses the important aspects of academic practice.

The program includes important updates from partner organizations including the American Board of Urology, American Urological Association, Residency Review Committee, Society of Women in Urology, Association of American Medical Colleges and the R. Frank Jones Society. A session on individual faculty development will include topics such as operationalizing the use of “academic” RVUs (Relative Value Units), the benefit of advanced degrees for physician leaders, applying for chair positions and the use of social media for scholarship. An interesting session planned on competency-based surgical education will include viewpoints from Canada and the U.S., the use of EPAs (Entrustable Professional Activities) for surgical skills assessment and increasing faculty competence in new common program requirements. Lunch will be provided for members followed by an update from our SAU grants recipients who have received funding to investigate new approaches to resident education, competency and evaluation. An important session on equity and inclusion in faculty, trainees and patients is planned, with talks addressing each of these components. A featured speaker, Dr. Puneet Sindwani, will lecture on “Mindfulness as an Antidote for Burnout.” Finally, the meeting will close with taskforce topic updates on Universal Residency Assessment Tools, Medical Student Interest, Encouraging Practice in Rural America and Objective Information about Candidates During the Interview Process. The workshop leaders from our winter meetings have collated the data and opinions expressed at these discussion forums and recommendations will be presented to our membership for final comment. Moreover, topics for winter meeting workshops will be solicited from the general membership.

We look forward to this return to in-person meetings and seeing colleagues and friends at the upcoming SAU meeting. Although the meeting will not be live streamed this year, content will be placed on the SAU website for future reference. The leadership of the SAU hopes you will join us at the meeting and participate in directing the future of academic urological practice.