USAV President's Message & Invitation to Las Vegas Meeting at AUA 2021
On behalf of the Urological Society for American Veterans (USAV) we invite you to attend the annual meeting of the USAV on Sunday, September 12 (10:30 am–2:30 pm, Marco Polo 706-807, Sands Expo/Venetian Hotel complex) in conjunction with the AUA annual meeting in Las Vegas.
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care to over 9 million veterans through its 1,293 health care facilities, which include 171 Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Centers and 1,112 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity. In addition to operating one of the largest health care systems in the world, VHA provides training for the majority of America’s medical, nursing and allied health professionals, with approximately 70% of all physicians in the United States completing at least part of their training in VA facilities. Today, the VA Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA) maintains more than 7,000 agreements with over 1,800 institutions, ensuring that training programs are available in every U.S. state and territory. In addition, VHA medical research programs benefit society at large. This year marks the 75-year anniversary of VA collaboration with academic institutions to provide high-quality, state-of-the-art health care to America’s veterans.
USAV is the premier professional society for the advancement of urological care for veteran patients. Through education, research and raising awareness of health care policies, USAV pursues its 3 missions: 1) promote the highest standards of urological care for American veterans, 2) advocate for the well-being of federal urological practitioners to enhance their ability to deliver the highest quality of urological care to American veterans and 3) affiliate and collaborate with the Society of Government Service Urologists (SGSU) in its missions to represent and support active and reserve urologists of the U.S. Armed Forces.
The 4-hour USAV program at the AUA is designed to review and discuss topics and opportunities unique to VA urological practitioners as well as university urologists and private urologists supporting VA Healthcare in providing care through VA community care referrals. The scientific program chair, Dr. Minhaj Siddiqui, Maryland VA/University of Maryland, and co-chair, Dr. Arvis George, Ann Arbor VA/University of Michigan, have organized a robust educational meeting you won’t want to miss! The program includes state-of-the-art presentations, keynote lectures and updates by nationally renowned speakers. In addition, there are 28 posters, moderated and unmoderated, on a wide range of urological topics. A mid-meeting break, with a light lunch, is provided while viewing the posters.
- The Genomic Prostate Score:
- Implications for Presurgical Planning. Vipul R. Patel, MD, Director of Global Robotics Institute, Celebration, Florida
- Update on VA’s Transition from CPRS to Cerner. Jeremy Shelton, MD, MS, Director of Surgical Informatics, VA National Surgery Office.
- Keynote Lecture: Finding Equanimity in a World of TMI. David Bloom, MD, Chair, Department of Urology, Jack Lapides, Professor of Urology, University of Michigan.
- Scrotal Pain: How to Manage without Going Nuts. Amin Herati, MD, Director of Male Infertility & Men’s Health, The Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins University.
- New Technology in the VA: From Request to Roll Out. Kristin Chrouser, MD, MPH, Chief of Urology, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, S. Matthew Berge Research Professor, University of Michigan.
- The National VA Surgery Advisory Board Open Forum: What Can We Do Better at the National Level? Joshua Meeks, MD, Chair, Urology Surgery Advisory Board, National Surgical Office.
- Benefits of Disposable Cystoscopy Systems in VA Setting.
- Veterans Prostate Cancer Awareness Medical Advisory Group. Michael Crosby, CDR, USN ret., Founder and CEO.
- What is New in Industry: Key Products & Services.
For registration and information on USAV membership, please visit the USAV website at https://govurology.org/usav/. The USAV program can be viewed through the AUA website at https://www.aua2021.org/.
We look forward to welcoming you at the USAV meeting. Finally, we wish to extend our thanks to the AUA and SGSU for their support of the Urological Society for American Veterans.
Muta M. Issa, MD, FACS, MBA, President, USAV