Urology was a serendipitous choice for me—I was exposed to urology only because the radio was broken in Dr Irwin Goldstein’s operating room and (supposedly) he requested a medical student instead. I was literally the first medical student that the resident encountered that day. Luckily for both of us, Dr Goldstein didn’t make me sing. What I saw in Dr Goldstein’s operating room that day was a focus on improving quality of life for one patient at a time. This attention on the singular patient, and the partnership between patient and urologist, has informed my practice of urology since.

I currently work at the University of Washington (UW) and Seattle Children’s Hospital, where I am an attending pediatric urologist; a longitudinal mentor to medical students at the UW School of Medicine; the Vice Chair for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the UW Department of Urology; and the fellowship director for pediatric urology. My clinical deployment is split evenly between Seattle and Eastern Washington; at the latter site, the patients are more likely to be poor, to speak languages other than English, and to have less durable connections with primary care.

While my job is unusual, it perfectly reflects what I want to do and how I want to spend my time. My unorthodox deployment enables me to critically evaluate what my patients really need, and to thoughtfully engage and partner with community providers, clinical organizations, and other subspecialists to optimize systems-based practice. As the bumper sticker says, “The world is run by the people who show up.” If you don’t show up, someone else will. I am currently the Co-Chair of the Rural Pediatricians Group, which supports pediatric providers in Eastern Washington, and the Co-Chair of the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Equitable Care Committee. The latter group has published and updated an online toolkit and presented quarterly webinars dedicated to improving health care equity for the children of Washington State; based on this work, the Washington Chapter of the AAP received the AAP’s 2022 Inspire Change Award. I am also the Pediatric Urology Chair for the Washington State Urological Society, am a former Board Member of the Western Section of the AUA, and sit on the AUA Medical Student Education and The Journal of Urology^® Pediatric Urology Editorial committees. Urologists need to be intentionally present at all levels of patient care and advocacy; we can’t afford not to be. Get involved!

The shortage of urologists, evolving patient demographics, and continued stressors on the health care system mandate that we think differently about how we deliver high-quality care to all patients. Developing the next generation of urologists requires engaging with and anticipating the needs of our patients, our peers, and our nonurologist colleagues. I am excited to participate in the AUA Leadership Program and look forward to gaining and refining critical leadership skills, leveraging my passion for health care equity and relationship-centered care, and partnering with others within our organization to improve the delivery of urological care and the experience of clinicians within urology.