Early in life, I felt a calling to make a difference in others’ lives. For a brief period, I felt called to lead a church congregation as a pastor. At the time, I did not feel equipped to handle the pressures that accompany guiding people through some of the most challenging moments of their lives. After losing my father to prostate cancer before my senior year of high school, I felt a yearning for access to role models who would shape my identity. This led me to choose Morehouse College, a historically Black college in Atlanta, Georgia, made famous by its list of esteemed alumni, most notably Martin Luther King Jr. Morehouse provided fertile soil for my growth as servant-leader.

A later calling, to pursue our dear specialty, came while I was a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh. Spending time on the urology service made me think of my father and families whose loved ones suffer from advanced urological malignancies. I knew then that I wanted to do whatever I could to help address health care disparities that often impact communities that are resource poor. After completing training and working as an attending for a few years in Brooklyn, New York, I realized the limitations of our reach as physicians. This compelled me to seek solutions in other parts of the world. Working with our colleagues in Brazil as an AUA/Sociedade Brasileira de Urologia exchange scholar taught me to think globally and act locally to address health care disparities. Experiences gained through involvement with the American Urological Association highlighted the interplay between patient care, research, and advocacy needed to better serve our communities. This realization led to another pivot and the Presidential Leadership Scholars program (PLS).

I learned about PLS from a colleague who knew of my aspirations to make a greater difference in society. PLS serves as a catalyst for a diverse network of leaders brought together to collaborate and create meaningful change in the United States and around the world while learning about leadership through the lens of the presidential experiences of George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson and their administrations. After a rigorous application process, I was named one of 60 Scholars selected for the eighth annual class. Each Scholar must work on a personal leadership project over the course of the 6-month program.

Our journey as a group began together in January at the National Archives in Washington, DC. It is an amazing privilege to represent our specialty among a group of leaders poised to address challenges that impact us all. Some initial takeaways include the concept that people are often tribal in nature. However, we must focus on inclusive rather than exclusive or divisive tribalism. Another is that when working for the sake of the greater good, it is sometimes better to act first and apologize later, rather than wait to ask for permission. Furthermore, it is important to highlight the importance of “We” not “Me” leadership. This brings me to my personal leadership project for the program, which I have titled “Urology 2025.”

Recognizing the efforts that our specialty is making to become more inclusive for the purpose of improving the health of all communities, I chose to highlight and expand upon some of the great work that many of you are doing. Health care disparities exist and are exacerbated by a number of factors including, but not limited to, access, cost of care, bias, and the lack of providers from similar ethnic or cultural backgrounds. I often wondered whether or not my father could have lived longer if there were greater awareness of health care disparities in vulnerable populations and improved access to specialty care. This is not only an issue in the African American community, but other communities deemed underrepresented in medicine based on race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and physical ability/handicap.

Urology 2025 is a multipronged strategy to address health care disparities within our field. There are 3 components involving education/awareness, service, and mentorship, which mirror efforts of the AUA and UCF (Urology Care Foundation). With Urology 2025, I hope to:

1. Increase awareness of urological ailments in underserved populations through strategic partnerships between the AUA/UCF and sports, entertainment, and media corporations on the local, regional, and national levels.
2. Create parameters to be adopted nationwide by practicing urologists to better serve communities at risk.
3. Organize and refine pipeline programs to attract talented students from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue careers in urology.

There are several communities at risk nationwide that require us to adopt and address our own bias. If we do not, health care disparities could worsen. For example, we have become more comfortable addressing men’s sexual health. One wouldn’t blink if they saw an ad for Viagra or Cialis during a national sporting event. However, most are not aware of the impact of urological cancer on women or those who identify somewhere along the LGBTQIA spectrum.

I began with a description of a calling I ignored as a child, which raises the question of whether or not these callings go away or merely evolve. I believed then that I could not bear the responsibility of ushering people through challenging moments. However, we all support our patients through challenging diagnoses and nuanced treatment decisions. I have been groomed to be a humble servant of our specialty and do not take for granted how much I have grown through interactions with fellow urologists around the world. I will end by again stressing “We” leadership, not “Me” leadership. I was not selected to the 2023 PLS class, “We” were as a specialty. Wherever I am, you are, and please know that I carry the best interests of you and your patients whenever I interact with someone outside of our field. Knowing this, I hope that you will join me in making Urology 2025 a reality.