I was very fortunate to be selected to complete an Endourology Fellowship at St Joseph’s Health Care, London, Ontario, between 2010 and 2012 under the supervision of Professor John Denstedt. I was immediately warmly welcomed as part of a very cohesive and academically productive urology team. John took a personal interest in my academic and clinical progress during my 2-year fellowship and 11 years later continues to maintain regular contact as a mentor.

I applied for a fellowship under Professor Denstedt’s supervision in order to learn a structured, reproducible approach to obtaining safe percutaneous renal access. I quickly realized that the acquisition of technical skills comprised only a small part of the experience for fellows under John’s supervision. He provided plentiful clinical, research, and academic opportunities. While constantly demonstrating the importance of performing safe and high-quality surgery for patients, he also reinforced the value of contributing meaningfully and generously to academic meetings and to the provision of surgical care and education in developing countries.

Figure. Fishing with Professor Denstedt at Lake St Clair, Ontario, Canada.

During surgery, Professor Denstedt demonstrated a unique ability to make the most complex cases appear routine, which for fellows under his supervision was intimidating at times, but provided an excellent example of the skill and dedication required to reach mastery of the surgical management of urinary stone disease. He reinforced the importance of concentrating on the immediate task at hand, while maintaining an ability to preempt and troubleshoot issues that may occur later in a procedure. This maintained efficiency and minimized both intraoperative and postoperative complications. His gentle but unambiguous communication style ensured all members of the operating theater staff felt involved in a procedure and valued for their contribution. He frequently managed this while simultaneously providing a live surgery feed to another international site via a web-based link.

In addition to providing me with excellent opportunities both clinically and academically, John took a very personal interest in my well-being outside of work, regularly asking about family, and ensuring my wife and I felt at home and well settled despite moving from Australia to Canada with a very young child in 2010. I fondly recall John very generously providing me with a bicycle in order to commute to and from work each day. I can only assume he felt an Aussie would be safer on a push bike than driving in a Canadian winter on the opposite side of the road to what I was accustomed to in Australia.

Professor Denstedt is a humble man of few, quietly spoken, and well-considered words whose career has been defined by his passion for innovation and surgical education. Congratulations, John, on completing your term as AUA Secretary. Thanks for your service to the AUA and for the contribution you’ve made to the education of hundreds of residents and fellows throughout your career. I’m very proud to have you as a mentor and friend.