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This is an open access article under the terms of a license that permits non-commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.  
© 2022 The Authors. Société Internationale d'Urologie Journal, published by the Société Internationale d'Urologie, Canada.

EDITORIAL

Calling All Urologists Around  
the Globe to Tell Their Stories
Peter C. Black, Editor-in-Chief

Soc Int Urol J.2022;3(2):53–54

DOI: 10.48083/EQQM2273

A key objective of the SIU Journal is to build an inclusive 
environment for exchange between all urologists around 
the world in a way that reflects the truly international 
spirit of the SIU. First and foremost, this includes 
representation on the editorial board from all corners of 
the globe, peer review conducted by urologists in many 
different countries, and the solicitation of submissions 
from authors who may often encounter barriers to 
publication with other journals. However, there is more 
to it than that.

“Urology Around the World” is a column that we 
would like to include in each issue of the SIUJ. This 
feature offers the microphone to any urologists or group 
of urologists who have a story to tell about the practice 
of urology in their part of the world. The story does 
not have to be exotic, and in fact will likely seem quite 
mundane to the urologist telling it, but it should reflect 
something specific about the urologic culture in that 
country or region. We have had diverse examples of this 
up to now, coming from Africa, the Middle East, and 
Australia. Each has had a specific story to tell.

Our first contribution came from Australia in 
the middle of their second wave of the COVID-19 
pandemic[1]. Australia’s two-tiered health care system 
is designed to allow more rapid and efficient access to 
private care if limited resources in the public system 
lead to delays in care. The private and public sectors are 
separate, and potentially have competing interests, but 
the pandemic galvanized the health care sector, allowing 
private and public to come together to increase staffing, 
resources, and patient care capacity. As we have learned 
over the past two years, the ability of a health care 
system to adapt to extreme and unanticipated demand 
is critical, and the Australian system has done this 
robustly.

Urological training is a topic that is relevant to 
urologists everywhere, and there are countless different 
models for training urologists. The second “Urology 
Around the World” described the experiences of a 
senior trainee in Nigeria seeking higher level training 
at a tertiary care center in Ghana[2]. Specialty care 

for patients with urologic conditions is not easily 
accessible in Sub-Saharan Africa, so training models 
to develop local expertise are particularly important. A 
subsequent contribution from Nigeria focused more on 
access to specialized equipment in the region[3]. This 
commentary described the ongoing use of open surgery 
for urinary tract stones in a resource-poor environment 
that lacks endoscopic equipment for ureteroscopy and 
percutaneous nephrolithotomy. Successful introduction 
of endoscopic stone treatment would require not 
only acquisition of the equipment but also training 
of urologists to use this equipment and removal of 
economic barriers that would prevent patients from 
accessing these treatments. This is a unique perspective 
with which many are perhaps familiar, but it prompts 
us all to consider our own working environment and 
value the infrastructure available to us. Importantly, 
this contribution also conveys the desire of urologists 
in countries like Nigeria to upgrade their infrastructure 
and training so that they are able to elevate the standard 
of care in their regions. There is no doubt that they 
are excellent at what they practice, but less invasive 
methods would benefit their patients. The reader is 
again prompted to ponder how to achieve this kind of 
progress.

The most recent contribution to “Urology Around 
the World” portrayed how a newly minted urologic 
oncologist just out of fellowship established himself in 
the world of private practice in Aman, Jordan while also 
consulting on the development of a pan-Arab electronic 
medical record and launching an educational television 
series[4]. Not many of us can claim to combine this 
exceptional skill set!

We anticipate a future contribution about imple-
menting a robotics surgery program in a country with 
limited access to new technologies and one on the 
challenges of being a woman in urology in a Muslim 
country. In both instances these are stories of urologic 
practice that is specific to the author’s country and region 
but is also of broader interest to the urologic community. 
This is the goal of “Urology Around the World.”

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54 SIUJ  •  Volume 3, Number 2  •  March 2022 SIUJ.ORG

EDITORIAL

The SIUJ will be introducing another regular feature 
in the near future: “Global Personalities in Urology.” 
This feature will again strive for inclusivity and diversity 
and will be dedicated to individuals, living or recently 
deceased, who have had a major impact on urologic 
practice in their community and beyond. Stay tuned to 
find out who our first Global Personality will be! We are 
always open to suggestions and nominations.

In the meantime, what is your story? It may seem 
trivial to you because you take it for granted, yet it may 

be quite different from anything anywhere else. Please 
reach out if you want to test an idea—or simply tell us 
your story. All of us have different ways of delivering 
optimal care to our patients. Maybe you also have a novel 
means to conduct research in your hospital, or perhaps 
you want to write about an issue related to practice plans 
and payment structures. One of these days I will have to 
write my own story about the Canadian universities that 
do not pay their academic faculty a salary. But that is a 
topic for another day...

References

1. Hanna B, Chung A. Australia’s two-tier health care system. Soc Int 
Urol J.2020;1(1):4–5.

2. Khalid A. West Africa sub-regional training and skills transfer: my 
experience at the urology unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, 
Accra, Ghana Soc Int Urol J.2020;2(1):7–9.

3. Agbo C. Open surgery for urinary stones in a resource poor setting: 
a look at Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia, Nigeria. Soc Int 
Urol J.2021;2(2):79–81.

4. A b u G h o s h Z . P r i v a t e p r a c t i c e in J o r d a n . So c I nt U ro l 
J.2021;2(6):345–346.

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