Today's episode of the Inside Tract Podcast is an excerpt from the recently released IMPACT research publication from the Urology Care Foundation.

The inaugural issue of IMPACT highlights how AUA and Foundation supported research has made a difference in reducing the burden of urologic disease. To read IMPACT visit http://www.AUAnet.org/IMPACT.  

Welcome back for another urology advocacy edition of the AUA Inside Tract Podcast. 

In our top news this week, the AUA joined the Alliance of Specialty Medicine in sending a letter to the chairs of the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees urging Congress to quickly address an unresolved need to provide positive updates to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule conversion factor. 

Dr. Eugene Rhee joins the AUA Inside Tract Podcast to discuss his popular talk about "sketching life after training" in urology. He discusses the different options young urologists have after training. He also includes some advice for how young urologists can better prepare for this change in their life. Dr. Rhee's insightful discussion also focuses on his thoughts of entering practice as a hospital-employed physician. 

Dr. Rhee is Regional Coordinating Chief of Urology for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California and the National Chair of Urology for the Permanente Federation. He is a past president of the California Urological Association and the San Diego Urologic Society. Dr. Rhee is chair-elect of the AUA's Public Policy Council. He begins his four-year term as chair on June 1, 2020.

Learn more about the 2020 Urology Residency Match Day on today's bonus episode of the AUA Inside Tract Podcast.

Today's episode also features interviews with Meena Davuluri, MD, MPH, and Michael Ernst, MD. 

On this advocacy episode of the AUA Inside Tract Podcast, Hans C. Arora, MD, PhD and Daniel Frendl, MD, PhD discuss their experience with the Holtgrewe Legislative Fellowship Program. 

This program prepares and educates urology residents and fellows in the legislative aspect of health policy. It is open to all AUA residents in their research year, fellows, and first year post-graduates. Applications are now being accepted, visit AUAnet.org to learn more. 

Kyle Richards, MD, FACS, is our guest this week on the AUA Inside Tract Podcast. He discusses his experience working as a urologist at an academic institution and V.A. hospital.

Dr. Richards is a urologic oncologist with the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He is also Chief of Urology at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, Wisc.

Today’s Advocacy Update of the AUA Inside Tract Podcast includes a summary on the first session of the 116th Congress and what to watch for in the second session. Today's update also contains news about this year’s AUA Summit, and a look ahead at the 2020 elections.

Drs. Kevin Koo and Karen L. Stern join the AUA Inside Tract Podcast for a chat about myths and facts in urology residency. Dr. Stern is a urologist with Mayo Clinic in Arizona where she specializes in endourology. Dr. Koo is a fellow in endourology and minimally invasive urological surgery with Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Md.

Dr. William Gee joins this advocacy edition of the AUA Inside Tract Podcast to discuss the importance of state-level advocacy in urology. Dr. Gee is a urologist in Lexington, Kentucky and a past-President of the American Urological Association (AUA). 

To learn more about the AUA's state-level advocacy efforts, visit AUAnet.org. 

In 2018, the American Urological Association (AUA) announced a modernized structure to better align its international growth with its global footprint and to further develop wide-reaching collaborations and opportunities. With this announcement, the AUA established three new Assistant Secretary positions, each with a distinct global geographic region of responsibility. Sam S. Chang, MD, MBA; Aseem R. Shukla, MD; and Angela B. Smith, MD, MS, FACS have each been appointed to fill these roles. Today we will hear from Dr. Shukla on his experience within this leadership position.