Volunteerism is the heart and soul of the CUA

In this, my first written contact with the CUA membership since taking over the position as President from Dr. Curtis Nickel, I take great pleasure in providing you, the CUA membership, with our corporate plans. Dr. Nickel did a great job in his year as President, with many new initiatives and projects that we hope to expand upon and make certain end in success.

Despite what seems like just having completed a very successful annual meeting in Toronto, the corporate office, scientific committee, and local organizing teams are already hard at work developing the Halifax CUA 2018 annual meeting program. We are encouraging young and old academics, as well as seasoned community urologists and those just starting their community jobs, to share their skills and knowledge with colleagues by contributing to our program and providing us with their thoughts and wishes for this event.

The meeting focus is “The Future of Urology,” and this recurring theme will examine new advances in therapeutics and diagnostics across the whole spectrum of urological care. Dr. Nick Power and Dr. Ashley Cox have put together an exciting interactive program (we are still tweaking the talks, list of invited speakers, and session topics), one in which we are still searching for interested community experts to contribute.

We have some very exciting new urology-focused health initiatives coming your way over the next 12 months. The CUA will be in print and broadcast media as an advocate for men’s health and serve as your vehicle to disseminate information, with the goal of helping patients understand their urological concerns. We plan to expand our reach with patient education tools, enhance our clinical and basic research grants, and meet the needs of Canadian urologists from coast to coast.

When I first joined the Executive of the CUA more than 20 years ago, we were a group of interested urologists with an annual meeting and a small number of committees all doing exceptional work. Over the past two decades, great strides have been achieved in our organization, with a full service office of education, journal, and an amazing corporate office. The range of products and services provided to our membership continues to grow, but the essence of the CUA has remained — the foundation based on the volunteers who give of their time, effort, and expertise to make this association succeed. To all who continue to contribute, I want to express my gratitude; without you, the CUA wouldn’t be what it is today. To all those who remain on the sidelines, with much yet to give, I would encourage you to contact me directly (at President@cua.org) or the corporate office, and we will find a committee and a project that suits your interests and gets you involved.

I look forward to speaking with the CUA membership over the next few months, understanding how we can serve your needs better and encourage even more members to volunteer their time and knowledge to the voice of urology in Canada, the CUA.