In its pivotal second year of fostering medical student research, the innovative PROSPECT program crafts a blueprint for collaboration that propels workforce diversity into a new era. PROSPECT is the brainchild of the AUA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force’s dedicated efforts. Among the integral strategies recommended by the task force was the imperative to cultivate mentorship avenues for historically underrepresented groups in medicine (URiM) within the AUA and its specialty societies, a vision now brought to fruition through this program’s mission to foster research mentorship and provide necessary tools for successful careers in urology.

Through their work on the Diversity in the Workplace Subcommittee of the task force, Drs Linda McIntire, Yahir Santiago-Lastra, and Efe Chantal Ghanney-Simons were instrumental in developing the PROSPECT program. PROSPECT is designed to offer early exposure and sustained engagement in the field of urology. The subcommittee found that many schools graduating high numbers of URiM students do not have an affiliated urology residency program and sought to address this critical need for early exposure, education, and mentorship. The subcommittee addressed 2 critical factors essential for the success of any pipeline program: firstly, the need to engage world-class urology residency programs with educational institutions that graduate a significant number of URiM students, and secondly, the necessity of providing continuous mentorship and sponsorship to these students once they are introduced to urology as a potential specialty. This approach ensures that students remain actively involved and supported throughout the various stages required for a successful application and matching process within a highly competitive specialty.

At the conclusion of the AUA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion taskforce, Drs Linda McIntire and Hadley Wood created the North Central Section (NCS) PROSPECT program. This version of PROSPECT is a collaboration between 5 institutions within the NCS (Cleveland Clinic, University of Michigan, The Ohio State University, Henry Ford Hospital, and University of Wisconsin) in collaboration with the NCS-AUA. The California version of PROSPECT is called the Integrative Summer Research Program in Urology. This program is led by Drs Yahir Santiago-Lastra and Kymora Scotland. It is a collaboration between the University of California San Diego, University of California Los Angeles, University of California San Francisco, University of California Irvine, and University of California Davis. Both mentorship programs provide research opportunities for early-career medical students but are innovating in different ways.

The NCS PROSPECT program is cofunded by each participating urology department and the NCS, which provides infrastructure and administrative support, as well as supporting the fellows traveling to the annual NCS conference to present their findings. In 2023, the inaugural NCS medical student fellow class presented their findings at the annual meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona (Figures 1-6) to a crowd of faculty leaders from across the NCS. The program also includes a 14-week virtual lecture series introducing the fellows to the art of scientific investigation, basic urology topics, and urology as a career choice. This virtual program extends from May through Labor Day and is open to MS1-2 students interested in urology. In addition, outgoing fellows are recruited to serve on the selection committee for subsequent fellowship classes and are enlisted to provide peer support for subsequent years.

The integrative summer research program addresses the issue of students without home urology programs in a slightly different way. First-year medical students are competitively accepted for a summer research position at one of the 5 institutions. After this initial summer, the student continues to participate in remote research with the institution of choice for the next 2 years. If the student has decided to apply to urology as a third-year medical student, their institution of choice then becomes a de facto home institution, allowing them to undergo their subinternship at that institution. This longitudinal program thus allows for students to have some of the advantages of students with home urology programs, namely the support of ongoing mentors, familiarity within that department, and a guaranteed subinternship position. As the program evolves, the Integrative Program hopes to count on the support of the Western Section of the AUA in order to provide students with necessary opportunities to present their work and participate in academic scholarship and networking.

Both programs have an onsite research component that is 6 to 8 weeks long and provide a stipend for travel/room/board. Both programs are open to medical students in good standing from all MD and DO programs in the US and Canada. The founders of these programs hope that other institutions and their respective sections will build upon these innovative opportunities. Through PROSPECT, the next generation of urologists can be poised to enter the field equipped with unparalleled research experience, enduring mentor relationships, and a network of support, ensuring that the future of health care reflects the rich diversity of the communities it serves.