“When I considered his cumulative accomplishments within urology as a physician, research, teacher, and mentor, in addition to the direct impact he had on me as a mentor and our University of Minnesota urology program, it was a no-brainer that I should nominate Dr Koyle for this prestigious award.”

Jake Albersheim (Figure 1)
Chief Resident, PGY-5
University of Minnesota

Figure 1. Left to right, Marty Koyle celebrating Cinco de Mayo with Chief Residents Brent Cleveland, Rachel Mann, and Jake Albersheim.

As doctors, we have the ultimate charge and profound responsibility of assuring that our patients receive the highest quality of care possible. This is a source of great pride and satisfaction for those who have chosen to pursue this career path. The word doctor originates form the Latin docere, meaning to teach. Being an educator, as well as a surgeon, adds a rewarding challenge that combines the art and science of medicine with the opportunity to shape the future of our profession. By training, mentoring, and guiding the next generation of health care professionals, we create a legacy. To be rewarded by being honored as the AUA Residents and Fellows Committee 2023 Teaching Award recipient as a semiretired 71-year-old, and having been nominated by 3 residents separately from 2 institutions, is an indescribable event in my 4-decade career.

“Dr Koyle has been a paramount influence on my career…. As a mentor, he has always encouraged our questioning dogma and continuing to ask why.”

Jin Kyu (Justin) Kim (Figure 2)
PGY-4 (aspiring pediatric urologist)
University of Toronto

Figure 2. Left to right, Marty Koyle with urology residents from University of Toronto, Lucshman Raveendran, Min Joon Lee, and Justin Kim, and Martha Pokarowski (front), former research assistant and current MS3, on his 2021 retirement from University of Toronto and relocation home to Denver, Colorado.

It has been incredibly rewarding to observe “students” at all levels flourish, while witnessing their progression from novice to expert, as they gain confidence and proficiency in pursuit of their career goals. Too much of our learning expectations for trainees remain based on memorization and focusing on passing examinations as the putative proof of knowledge and competence. I have been accused of being a maverick in many respects by individualizing my approach in educating each trainee. My own teaching mantra has been one of “Trust nobody! Accept nothing! Surgery is about taking baby steps.” Challenging an inherent culture of “we have always done it that way” while pursuing continuous improvement and promoting leadership (for both trainees and me!) is part of my core. Advances in knowledge in medicine, let alone urology, grow exponentially by the nanosecond. I realized that within 5 years of completing my residency and pursuing a subspecialty academic career, many changes in our field had passed me by, and in essence, I was a fossil, or a dinosaur, with respect to general urology. Open stone surgery represented 28% of my chief resident case log, acid phosphatase became history as PSA became the standard marker for prostate cancer, and whereas I had done only 8 radical prostatectomies as a chief resident (the majority being postradiation failures and, to be frank, a nightmare), Walsh’s introduction of the nerve-sparing prostatectomy made radical prostatectomy our signature operation. Of course, technological disruptions such as advanced imaging techniques, lithotripters, miniaturizing of endoscopes, and now the robot have greatly impacted our practices. As pediatric urology paved the path for American Board of Urology subcertification, other fellowships and other subspecialties have followed suit subsequently.

“Dr Koyle has personally offered support in my pursuit of employment as a general urologist after I graduate this year. He has helped me network with colleagues across the country. In his short tenure at the University of Minnesota, he has quickly become not just a valued professor, clinical educator, and research mentor, but also a friend.”

Brent Cleveland (Figure 1)
Chief Resident, PGY-5
University of Minnesota

Not to say that today’s residents/fellows enjoy an easier life than those of my era, but to say the least, our residency training was both demanding and demeaning. There was an established hierarchy with expectations of dominance, not friendship or even collegiality between most faculty and residents. I was fortunate to be influenced that developing friendships between attending staff and trainees could occur, and credit Stuart Bauer, Bill Dewolf, and Lester Klein for their empathetic approach to training. In my first academic position after residency at University of California, Los Angeles, I was welcomed by 2 colleagues who became not only mentors, but ultimately friends. Jake Rajfer was the most enthusiastic colleague to have as a partner, truly becoming almost a big brother to a very green new faculty member (Figure 3). It’s odd that very few (if any) of us in medical school and in training are taught formally how to teach, but rather we learn to do so on our feet. Jake questioned everything, but always in a very scientific and organized manner, and where there was always a purpose. Along with Rick Ehrlich, Jake promoted independence and guided me as I began learning how to write manuscripts and improved delivering lectures. Rick was an amazing role model, who had so many diverse interests and talents from cooking to art and now as a world class photographer, and made me realize the importance of balance in one’s life (Figure 4). He promoted innovation and opportunities for change, and would often espouse the Stuart Brand quotation, “Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road.”

Figure 3. Left to right, Jake Rajfer, Rick Hurwitz, and Marty Koyle at AUA Annual Meeting.

Figure 4. Marty Koyle (left) and Richard Ehrlich at UCLA (late 1980s).

As the Internet and ultimately the cell phone were emerging, I was fortunate to learn with and from my peers, especially Rick Hurwitz, Tony Caldamone, Pat Malone, Rick Rink, Tim Terry, Tony Manzoni, Joe Ortenberg, Andy Kirsch, and Gene Minevich, as well as so many others who I feel guilty about not listing due to the constraints of word count. Our new generation of pediatric urologists founded a community of both (lifelong) learning and ongoing camaraderie, the Society of Young Pediatric Urologists, which as we matured (gracefully, I hope) has morphed into the American Association of Pediatric Urologists. Rightly or wrongly, before the current restrictions related to informed consent, institutional review board approval, and confidentiality, as pediatric urology advanced as a recognized subspecialty, we could share experiences, leading to shared publications and presentations, and even operate with one another in order to learn or improve technique. This led to our developing genuine trust and respect for one another, in pursuit of learning and the betterment of what we do for those we care for (Figures 5 and 6). We gained further experience by volunteering (medical mission) our time in lower-income countries and personally by my participating annually with my UK colleagues in the British Association of Paediatric Urologists in their annual teaching course. I personally have had a great deal of satisfaction and personal education by serving as an (associate) editor of several of our peer-reviewed publications, while also continuing to teach in the Institute of Health Policy at the University of Toronto and Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill, universities where I had studied and received postgraduate degrees.

Figure 5. The value of peers who are your friends. Bottom row, left to right: Marty Koyle, Pat Malone, and Richard Hurwitz. Top row, left to right: Tony Manzoni and Rick Rink.

Figure 6. Founding members of the American Association of Pediatric Urologists and guests, reunion at Joe’s Stone Crab, Miami, at 2022 Societies for Pediatric Urology Annual Meeting.

“Congratulations!!! I speak from personal experience that there is no higher honor for sure. I cannot think of anyone more deserving than you!!!”

Kate Kraft
AUA Residents and Fellows Committee 2021 Teaching Award Recipient
University of Michigan

Since Elspeth McDougall was announced as the inaugural recipient of this award in 2007, I indeed am privileged and humbled to join the cadre of amazing prior awardees, and know that “deserving,” the word Kate Kraft used in her email to me, truly reflects the influence that so many others have had on my career as an educator and leader, and especially describes those exceptional colleagues who were nominated for this award in 2023.