At the 2023 AUA Annual Meeting in Chicago, the Science and Technology Hall is a vital stop for thousands of meeting attendees from around the world. In addition to demonstrating where urology is heading—the latest medical and technological breakthroughs—the Science and Technology Hall provides an opportunity to review where urology has been. The annual History Exhibit, presented by the William P. Didusch Center for Urologic History, uses the lens of history to examine how our specialty has advanced over time.

This year’s exhibit, Battlefield Urology: The Effect of War on Urology and Urology on War, showcases the ways in which the practice of urology has been impacted by war and conflict, how military medicine adapts, and how advances from physicians in uniform translate to civilian practice.

Our Annual Exhibit Curator is Maryland urologist Dr Mark Edney, former President of the American Association of Clinical Urologists and the next AUA Public Policy Chair. Dr Edney is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserve and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Together with AUA Historian and former U.S. Air Force veteran, Dr Ronald Rabinowitz, Dr Edney has gathered artifacts and stories from centuries of wartime medicine to assemble a clever exhibition showing key points where the evolution of weaponry intersected with critical advances in patient care that changed how we practiced medicine. The exhibit showcases lessons learned from urological injuries during wartime, and celebrates the urologists, trauma surgeons, and allied health professionals who, throughout their time in uniform, have contributed to state-of-the-art care for patients around the world.

Some of the must-see artifacts in this year’s exhibit include:

• World War II gas mask (early versions contained asbestos in the filters)
• World War II Pro-Kit, used by American Troops to prevent Venereal Disease
• Urological prosthetics and instruments
• Bullet molds and bullet examples from the past 200 years
• Modern-era protective clothing
• Model explosive devices from the 19th and 20th centuries
• First generation da Vinci Surgical System^® (Standard) introduced in 1999

Battlefield Urology will also shed light on health policy efforts around urological injuries in the military population, including the AUA’s successful efforts in passing legislation to study urotrauma in veterans.

At the History Exhibit Booth #1342, there will be a number of invited presentations; find titles, times and presenters at the Annual Meeting website and at the booth itself. Urology-related items, including books, prints, and novelties, will also be available for purchase at the Museum Store.