Since a first-grade presentation on the human body, I have been passionate about medicine. Even then, I told my parents I would be a doctor (Figure 1). In high school, a female teacher told me not to pursue my dream, I should have a family instead. Despite that misplaced wisdom, I continued my journey. I became the copresident of my medical school’s American Medical Women’s Association chapter. I fell in love with urology, a specialty at the time that only had 7% women. That fact did not deter me, as I enjoyed urology for the long-standing patient relationships and meaningful quality of life changes urologists provide.

Figure 1. Childhood drawing by author.

After starting my urology residency, I was shocked by the comments from both male (“I have never seen a female urologist before.” “Why would you want to do this as a female?”) and female (“You shouldn’t be a doctor, you should be at home having children!”) patients. Based on these experiences, I was compelled to write an article on the history of women in urology,¹ and was shocked to learn that the first woman board certified in urology, Elisabeth Pickett, was not until 1962!

My love of “putting things back together” brought me to pediatric urology. I have had amazing mentors at all levels of my training. However, it was not fully realized until fellowship when I worked side by side with a female urologist. Now, in practice, I am a founding member of the Phoenix Children’s Women’s Surgical Collaborative, a group established to promote, retain, and support female surgeons at my institution (Figure 2). The mentorship and comradery I have experienced through this group is immeasurable. I have also continued to pursue research on the promotion of women in medicine, recently publishing a survey study of over 4,500 female physicians in Annals of Surgery finding a significantly higher incidence of miscarriage, infertility, and pregnancy complications than the general population² due to long training and demanding work hours. Female surgeons need more education on the risks of delaying pregnancy and better support during family planning. I hope I can assist the AUA in leading the way in forming meaningful and impactful polices to support women physicians with these matters.

Figure 2. Phoenix Children’s Women’s Surgical Collaborative. The author is in pink.

I am honored and humbled to be chosen for the 2023-2024 AUA Leadership Program. The percentage of women in urology is now up to 10% and I am ecstatic that 13 of the 28 (46%) Leadership Program participants this year are women! I am very excited to utilize this opportunity to expand my career goals, network with new AUA mentors and peers, refine my leadership skills, and gain insights into becoming an effective female leader. Retrospectively, I am glad I did not listen to that high school teacher. I look forward to using my position and skills learned to mentor, inspire, and support young women interested in medicine and urology.