It’s a great pleasure to welcome you to the UroToday Center of Excellence focusing on sex- and gender-based disparities among urologists and their patients. Some may wonder why a site like UroToday is taking on this focus – hopefully, as you digest the data that this center will provide, it will become clear that the bias and disparities existing in our society critically affect our professional interactions and career satisfaction, the delivery of urologic care, and outcomes for our patients.
As we examine the data available, this center will consider three primary focuses. First, we will examine data considering the role of women in medicine, in surgery, and in urology particularly as it relates to representation, career advancement, and practice development. Second, we will examine data from across medicine and surgery, with a particular focus on urology, that examine the effect of physician sex and gender on patient outcomes. Finally, we will consider sex-based disparities for patients with urologic conditions, beginning with a focus on those with bladder cancer. Review articles and overview talks will be supplemented with Journal Club videos taking a deep dive on key articles.
Complementing these data-driven approaches, we will include podcasts, interviews, and round table discussions to highlight the lived experience of women in urology, the barriers they experience, and future directions to address sex- and gender-based disparities.
PS. Some of you may be wondering why a man is leading this effort. The truth is that this work reflects the combined efforts and priorities of a large team of men and women. The unfortunate reality in our world is that women are punished for work on this issue. It is my hope that, by highlighting important work in this space, men and women can work together to address these disparities and improve urology as a field for women and outcomes for our patients.
Written by: Christopher Wallis, MD PhD FRCSC
Assistant Professor, Division of Urology, University of Toronto
Urologic Oncologist, Division of Urology, Mount Sinai Hospital and University Health Network