As my year serving as AUA President comes to an end, I’ve been reflecting on my career. I’ve dedicated myself and my work to patient care, education, administration, leadership, and my particular passion, research. In addition to these areas, as AUA President, I focused on workforce shortage issues and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. And, thanks to the hard work of the AUA staff under Mike Sheppard’s leadership, the AUA Board of Directors, the committee and council chairs, and, most importantly, the AUA volunteers, we have made incredible strides in all of these areas over the last year.

Workforce Issues

The AUA Census reports that 60% of U.S. counties do not have a practicing urologist. In March, thanks to tireless advocacy from AUA members, Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced S. 705, the Specialty Physicians Advancing Rural Care (SPARC) Act. The SPARC Act establishes a loan repayment program for specialty physicians who elect to practice in a rural community for up to 6 years. In exchange, the specialists will have up to $250,000 of their student loan debt repaid. The Act expands specialty care coverage in rural America where many Americans lack access to close and readily available specialty care.

Research

In 2022 alone, the Office of Research awarded $1.548 million in grant funding to 48 researchers, 39% of whom are women and 27% of whom are underrepresented in medicine awardees.

In April, the AUA announced the first recipient of the Boston Scientific Medical Student Innovation Fellowship, which funds a 12-month research project for a medical student interested in translating urology research into innovation. Strong preference is given to applicants from groups underrepresented in urology and/or projects focused on health disparities.

Additionally, the AUA recently established Innovation Nexus, the only urology-specific incubator of its kind, which hosted its inaugural event in April just prior to the AUA Annual Meeting. The event brought together startups, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investors, and urologists to advance urological discovery to solutions that improve patient care and save lives.

Leadership

As part of the newly launched Institute for Leadership & Business—an initiative dedicated to providing education, training, and resources to support leadership development and business acumen within the urology community—the AUA hosted the inaugural Global Residents Leadership Retreat in April. The 1-day event brought together 40 residents from across the globe for a unique program dedicated to leadership training and development as well as fostering connection between residents and trainees around the world.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Last summer, the AUA announced the appointment of Larissa Bresler, MD, DABMA, as AUA’s new Chief Diversity Officer and Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Committee Chair. In the fall, the full D&I Committee was announced. It is made up of members from all 8 sections of the AUA and has the diversity of gender, race, sexual orientation, practice type, and specialty that provides the diversity of thought that is necessary to move diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives forward. The inaugural D&I Committee includes:

• Denise Asafu-Adjei, MD, MPH, Director of Male Reproductive Medicine and Assistant Professor in the Department of Urology and the Department of Public Health Sciences at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
• Gregory Broderick, MD, Professor of Urology, Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine; Program Director, Urology Residency, Mayo Clinic Florida
• Pamela Coleman, MD, FACS, FPMRS, Associate Professor of Urology, Department of Surgery, OBGYN, Howard University School of Medicine; Interim Chief of Urology, Howard University Hospital
• Gabriela Gonzalez, MD, Urology Resident Physician, University of California, Davis
• Tomas Griebling, MD, MPH, FACS, FGSA, AGSF, John P. Wolf 33rd Degree Masonic Distinguished Professor Urology, Department of Urology, Faculty Associate, The Landon Center on Aging, The University of Kansas School of Medicine
• Nathan Grunewald, MD, FACS, Chief Medical Innovation Officer and Urology Medical Director, Sauk Prairie Healthcare
• Lourdes Guerrios, MD, Urology Attending, Urology Section, Surgery Department, Introductory Research Program Co-Director, VA Caribbean Healthcare System; Research Program Director, Puerto Rico Trauma Center; Assistant Professor, Surgery Department, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine
• Justin Han, MD, Assistant Professor of Urology, Hofstra-Northwell Zucker School of Medicine; Director of Male Reconstructive Urology, Smith Institute for Urology, Northwell Health; Chair for Quality in the Department of Urology, North Shore University Hospital
• Linda McIntire, MD, Urologist, MyMichigan Health; President, R. Frank Jones Urological Society
• Michelle Jo Semins, MD, Professor, West Virginia University School of Medicine; Chief, Division of Urology, West Virginia University Wheeling Hospital
• Gjanje Smith-Mathis, MD, MPH, Staff Urologist, WakeMed Health and Hospitals
• Simone Thavaseelan, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery/Urology and Program Director of the Urology Residency, Brown University; Chief, Section of Urology, Providence VA Medical Center
• Vijaya Vemulakonda, JD, MD, Professor of Pediatric Urology, Director of Research and Residency Program Director, Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine

Looking back on the past year, it has truly been a pleasure to serve as the AUA President. We’ve accomplished much, but there is always more to do. Onward!