Mentorship is generally recognized as an integral component of personal and professional development within medicine, and urology in particular. Because of this, the AUA is committed to including mentorship within our educational and practice resource offerings. We have several programs, some solely focused on fostering mentor-mentee relationships and some larger initiatives with a mentorship component.

I’d like to highlight 3 mentorship programs, all for mentees at different places in their career journeys, as just a small example of the AUA’s emphasis on mentorship.

AUA Leadership Program

The AUA Leadership Program is the most venerated and long-standing of the AUA’s leadership initiatives. It is designed for urologists who have demonstrated leadership skills within organized medicine and who wish to further develop these skills to become the AUA leaders of tomorrow. Every year, applicants are selected from each AUA Section to participate in a leadership training weekend, group projects with mentors, the Annual Urology Advocacy Summit, networking events at the AUA Annual Meeting, and more.

Of course initiatives like the Leadership Program would not be possible without the dedicated volunteer mentors who guide our participants through their leadership development. Thank you to the 2023-2024 mentors:

• Arthur L. Burnett, MD, MBA, FACS
• S. Larry Goldenberg, CM, OBC, MD, FRCSC, FACS, FCAHS
• Chris M. Gonzalez, MD, MBA, FACS
• Kathleen Kobashi, MD, FACS
• Jennifer Miles-Thomas, MD, FPMRS
• Craig A. Peters, MD, FAAP, FACS
• Linda Dairiki Shortliffe, MD

Urology Scientific Mentoring and Research Training (USMART) Academy

First conceptualized in 2016 as an answer to the need for mentorship for young urology physician-scientists, specifically as they transition to research independence, the USMART Academy has supported more than 30 mentees representing a range of research areas.

Overall, the USMART Academy envisions a mentoring program in which every mentee experiences nurturing one-to-one relationships and community support, which in turn allows each of them to develop to their full potential as scientists capable of independent, impactful research and giving back as involved members of the urological research community. The USMART Academy provides an additional mechanism for creative interactions across the AUA between the mentor and the mentee, thereby accelerating the mentee’s professional growth, research collaborations, and career building beyond their local environment. The objective is to generate not mentoring overlap, but complementary and independent training support for the mentees to reach their full potential.

Due to its success, the USMART Academy doubled the available mentee positions for the 2022 cohort and committed to increasing the diversity of its participants moving forward.

Future Urology Talent From Underrepresented Entities (FUTURE) in Urology Program

A new initiative from the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, the FUTURE in Urology Program matches URiM (underrepresented in medicine) medical students with mentors who are established in the urology community to foster interest in the specialty of urology.

The inaugural event was held at the Annual Meeting in April (see Figure). URiM students in their first or second year of medical (or DO) school from around the country were invited to attend. Mentors exhibited a diverse background of race, age, geographic location, practice specialty, and LGBTQIA+ affiliation. Over 50 students participated and attended AUA2023 events such as abstract sessions, editorial board meetings, the Residents Bowl, and more with their mentors. The goal is to continue to grow this initiative and host similar events each year—stay tuned!

This is only a fraction of the opportunities the AUA offers to support our next generation of urologists, physician-scientists, and leaders in the urology community. I hope you take time to explore the programs listed above, as well as our many other mentorship offerings, and please consider getting involved—as either a mentor or a mentee—the benefits are abundant!