Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) continue to be an integral part of the mission for the Sexual Medicine Society of North America (SMSNA). In the last year, as an organization we focused on making meaningful and substantial strides toward sustainable inclusion of our members across the training spectrum. These organizational efforts to implement our DEI mission culminated at our Annual Scientific Meeting.

The 24th Annual Fall Scientific Meeting of SMSNA in San Diego, California, chaired by Dr Lawrence Jenkins was marked by many firsts we are excited to continue into foreseeable conferences. We had a trailblazing plenary session, titled “DEI and Sexual Medicine,” which included engaging discussions on the state of our field and thoughtful solutions toward the future. The composition of the meeting’s scientific content and content experts also spoke to the intentional efforts toward diversity and inclusion. In terms of session moderators, 31% were women and 17% identified as being from underrepresented groups in medicine (URiMs). Among the 70 speakers at the meeting, 33% were women and 17% were URiM. This was not possible without the continuous support from all levels of leadership of the SMSNA, but also the dedication of our wide array of talented experts.

At this meeting, we also held our inaugural DEI Speed Mentoring event, hosted by the DEI Committee. The goal of this session was to expose local and traveling URiM medical students and residents to the field of sexual medicine. We were fortunate to have robust faculty engagement at rotating stations sharing their experiences and lending their mentoring advice to enthusiastic trainees. With a total of 22 mentees (the majority were medical students), 73% were women and 60% of attendees were URiMs. Fifty-three percent of attendees strongly agreed that they learned more about sexual medicine as a urological subspecialty, and 73% of medical student attendees stated they were likely to pursue an elective in urology due this event. Investing in the urological pipeline is not essential for sparking interest in urology and sexual medicine, but it is contributing ultimately to a diverse work population that reflects the populations we are fortunate enough to teach. This pivotal event is in the works for our upcoming fall program as well.

As we look forward to an even more successful 2024, SMSNA strives to continue being on the forefront of leading by example when it comes to sustainable DEI efforts throughout the multiple facets of our organization and community engagement.