USANZ Participation at the AUA 2023

The Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association was held in Chicago recently from 28 April - 1 May. 

We had a number of representatives from USANZ attend the meeting, including our President, Professor Helen O'Connell AO, and CEO, Michael Nugara. We were pleased to see that many of our Members travelled to this event and embraced the opportunity to connect with our international colleagues.

USANZ AUA Reception 2023

It was with great excitement that we planned the USANZ AUA Reception, held on Friday 28 April 2023 during the AUA Annual Meeting.

The reception was held at Row 24, a venue in Chicago. Due to COVID related challenges, this was the first AUA reception we've held in a few years so it was particularly rewarding to see such a good turnout at the event with 180 attendees.

The Society would like to thank everyone who attended, including our Members, international colleagues and representatives from urological associations across the world. It was wonderful to have so many friends of the Society meet in Chicago and share such an enjoyable evening.

BAUS-BJUI-USANZ Joint Session at the AUA

The British Association of Urological Surgeons, BJU International and USANZ hosted another joint session at AUA this year, exploring the topic of American Influence on Global Urology: The Good, the Bad and the Indifferent. Held on Sunday 30 April at the McCormick Place Convention Centre, the event was well received and well attended with 79 people in the audience. The program was split into three sessions and included participation from USANZ members.

The first session, chaired by Joe Philip and Nikita Bhatt, was on the topic of renal and ureteric stones. Necole Steeper and Angus Luk considered medical expulsive therapy for ureteric stones, and Joe Philip explored shockwave lithotripsy for renal and ureteric stones and the post Covid changes in clinical practice.

Following this, the second session considered whether PSA screening is a proactive measure or a counterproductive test for patients. Jo Cresswell, Alan McNeill and Michael Gorin chaired this session. The session was opened by Sigrid Carlsson, an Assistant Attending Epidemiologist in USA, in favour of PSA Screening. Next up was Hashim Ahmed, BJUI Sponsored speaker and Chair of Urology, Imperial College London, taking the position that PSA screening is counterproductive. Finally, Renu Eapen, BJUI sponsored USANZ speaker and consultant urologist in Victoria, presented on PSA screening and early diagnosis from an Australian perspective. 

This debate was covered in UroToday, with an in-depth summary of Sigrid, Hashim and Renu's respective arguments. Read the article online.

USANZ President Helen O'Connell, together with Jo Cresswell and Michael Gorin, chaired the final session on the 10 most important US contributions to urology. This session was presented by Nikita Bhatt. 

Residents Bowl at AUA 2023

A staple of the AUA Meeting for 10 years, the Residents Bowl is designed to foster a sense of competition and pride amongst the 8 Sections of the AUA. Each section of the AUA fields a team of residents in the ultimate 'battle of the brains', and their knowledge is tested on urological subspecialties, the history of urology and new research findings. In the spirit of international collaboration, each team includes an international trainee. This year, USANZ Member Cynthia O'Sullivan participated on the AUA Western Section team. Their team, called the 'Phallic Philosophers', competed well but were knocked out in the semi-finals.

A SET 5 Trainee, Cynthia has trained in regional and tertiary hospitals in Aotearoa New Zealand. She currently works at Auckland Hospital and has an interest in research with a previous focus on prostate cancer in Māori men.

We're sure that the AUA Western Section were pleased to have Cynthia join their team and share her knowledge. Congratulations on your involvement, Cynthia!

The AUA Daily News Online covered this event and the article is available to view online.

We thank Ipsen for generously supporting the AUA Residents Bowl.

AUA Global Leadership Retreat

In addition to participating in the AUA Residents Bowl, Cynthia O'Sullivan was selected to attend the AUA Global Residents Leadership Retreat. 

This was AUA's first Global Residents Leadership Retreat, established with the aim to cultivate the next generation of urological leaders and foster connections between international residents and trainees. 

This event was also covered in the AUA Daily News Online. Read the article.

Congratulations again, Cynthia! You certainly had a busy and productive time in America.