Spotlight on Urology
Spotlight on Urology takes a look at recent activities undertaken to advance urology around the world. This week, we provide a wrap-up of the CUA Trainee Exchange Program, announce the recipient of a EOI and results of the June examination, and share recent media coverage of Urological issues.
CUA Wrap Up
The Canadian Urological Association (CUA) Annual Meeting was held from 27-29 June 2026 in Saskatoon.
As part of the Trainee Exchange Program, two USANZ SET5 Trainees, Bradley Reynolds and Andrew Silagy, attended the CUA Meeting and associated Canadian Senior Urology Residents (CSUR) retreat. This opportunity was made possible through the generous support of the Australasian Urological Foundation (AUF), who contributed toward travel costs.
Bradley and Andrew have supplied a report from their time in Canada. They emphasised the value of the scientific program, including presentations on endourology by Dr Naeem Bhojani, on sexspan and longevity by Dr Rachel Rubin, and genomics in uro-oncology by Dr Ricardo Rendon.
They also spoke about how the social program allowed them to form professional and personal relationships with attendees, including other exchange participants as well as current Australian Fellows based in Canada, notably Darius Ashrafi and Pete Donato. Another highlight was attending a concert by 'The Void', a band of urologists from across Canada who are practising specialists by day!
Thank you to Bradley and Andrew for this report and the photographs below. We're so pleased to hear about your wonderful experiences in the Exchange Program, and congratulations for your representation of USANZ abroad!
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EOI Outcome
USANZ recently called for Expressions of Interest for the USANZ Speaker role at the Korean Urological Association's 78th Annual Meeting.
The USANZ Board of Directors is pleased to announce the successful applicant was Wenjie Zhong. The KUA Annual Meeting will be held from 14-16 Ocotber 2026 in Seoul. As the USANZ Speaker, Wenjie will present on the RoboSling: From Surgical Innovation to Randomised Evaluation in Continence Recovery Following Robotic Radical Prostatectomy.
USANZ congratulates Wenjie on this successful application, and looks forward to hearing about your experiences at the KUA Meeting upon your return.
SSE Results
The Surgical Science Examination (SSE) in Urology is a summative assessment of a candidates's knowledge, understanding and application of anatomy, physiology and pathology relevant to Urology.
USANZ is pleased to announce that all 18 candidates were successful in the recent June examination. USANZ congratulates the following candidates on this impressive step in their Urology career:
- At Melbourne: Mohammadmehdi Adhami, Bodie Chislett, Anne Hong, and Jessica Paynter
- At Sydney: David Armany, Arya Bahadori, Kylie Lim, and Jodie McDonald
- At Brisbane: Madeleine Bain, Georges Mehawed, Alice Nicol and Nishal Patel
- At Perth: Mitchell Barns and Katherine Ong
- At Canberra: Tran Ngoc An and Samuel Siaw Yik
- At Auckland: Ali Hooshyari and Eden Park
Media Update
Recently, a pre-clinical trial in the USA involved humanoid robots conducting laparoscopic surgery on a pig.
This story was covered on 9News on Friday 10 July. As part of the segment, USANZ Member Declan Murphy was interviewed to provide expert commentary on the future of robotics in surgery.
Declan commented that it was an exciting step in the use of technology, though he noted there were glitches in the surgery and it took a long time. He emphasised that there is still a long way to go before such robots are capable of performing complex surgeries or working autonomously.
Watch the interview (free log-in required, interview begins at 39min).
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