My first introduction to urology at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine was during my MS1 year at an intimate meet and greet with the urology faculty. It was a laid-back get-together at an attending’s house. Laid-back is a generous term, because, in reality, I was terrified to be surrounded on all sides by urology attendings and residents while I had minimal prior knowledge of the specialty, especially in such a casual environment. To make matters worse, I ended up sitting down on a plate of cookies and cake that Dr Larissa Bresler had grabbed for dessert as it was lying, unbeknownst to me, on the couch. Mortifying. Immediately I assumed any future career I had in urology was fractured into pieces. However, Dr Bresler laughed and seamlessly diffused this embarrassing situation. We laughed together as she brushed the remaining cookies and cake off of me. The rest of the meet and greet was lighthearted and informational in a pleasant, inviting environment. Another one of our attendings, Dr Kristin Baldea, brought her young son with her, and we all had fun playing with him. One of the most significant takeaways from this experience was observing the numerous female residents and attendings who were present. They were all approachable and confident, and they commanded the room in a way that made me feel empowered to be there and inspired to follow in their footsteps. One of the few things that I did already know about urology was that it was a quintessential male-dominated surgical subspecialty. However, this experience had me picturing myself as a female in urology for the first time.

Over the next few months, I had the opportunity to observe several urologists who were eager to let me participate in surgeries and scrub in for the first time. Serendipitously, we had a Q&A panel specifically for female medical students hosted by our female urology faculty. Despite my gender, I never encountered any discouragement in choosing urology as my future surgical specialty during my time at Loyola.

In the physician workforce, the lack of women in urology is on par with the other surgical subspecialties. Most urologists already know the current statistics: 11.6% of current practicing urologists are women.¹ But why haven’t I felt that pessimistic energy at Loyola as a woman going into urology? Female medical students, even more so for women of color, have a lack of female role models in these surgical subspecialties to guide and advise us on our future trajectory.

Thankfully, there is no shortage of female role models here at Loyola Medical Center. Our brave leader of urology clerkships and residency director, Dr Kristin Baldea, has been an inspiration for female medical students and residents at Loyola. Dr Larissa Bresler is an extremely accomplished surgeon and is now the AUA Chief Diversity Officer. On top of that, we have multiple other female faculty and mentors. Finally, we have several female residents at Loyola, including 5th-year resident Dr Olivia Copelan. She is part of a small but growing circle of female urologists who are paving the way for future generations. These women are the primary reason I have never believed I couldn’t be a female urologist.

I wanted to speak with each of these women to learn about their experiences as a woman in this field. They were trailblazers in the field as they did not have visible female leadership representation. Expectedly, Dr Baldea was one of very few women during her residency. Unexpectedly, Dr Bresler had an all-female residency class at Loyola with female chief residents. I learned that Loyola specifically provides a supportive environment for women in urology, almost like a safe haven. The program has multiple female faculty leaders, and as of 2018, most of the residents were women. When Dr Olivia Copelan was interviewing for residency, she mentioned that she specifically received recommendations to apply to Loyola based on its culture and its support for female residents.

One of the most important and obvious reasons that female physicians are crucial for the field of urology is that a significant portion of women seek urologic care. Urology is not all just male genitalia! Dr Baldea tells me that despite being a general urologist, almost 70% of her practice is made up of female patients. Understandably, female patients often seek out female urologists. But there are many reasons why female physicians are important to urology. For one, women tend to have different viewpoints regarding medical care. Based on the AUA Census, female urologists often spend more time with their patients compared to their male counterparts.¹ Urology is a medical specialty that involves personal and sensitive procedures. Women, in particular, often undergo routine invasive medical checkups starting around the age of 16. It’s possible that female physicians provide the same level of comfort and reassurance to their male patients that they themselves desire in their medical appointments.

I am thankful that, with the staff and culture here at Loyola, I have never felt intimidated or discouraged to pursue my interests in urology. We have phenomenal female role models at Loyola who advocate for us to enter into this specialty. However, I recognize that I am in a “bubble” here at Loyola, and my experience is unique. Unfortunately, many women face obstacles and challenges during their training due to a lack of support, a male-dominated culture, and societal pressures and norms. No student should feel uncomfortable or worry about unequal opportunities when entering a field. Therefore, it is crucial to increase the number of female role models in the field and extend the community of women here at Loyola to other places as well. I want every female medical student to think, why shouldn’t I choose urology?