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EDUCATION DEMOGRAPHICS
The Changing Face of Urology
Erica Lambert, MD; Kristin Kozakowski, MD, and Sarah Lambert, MD
Erica Lambert, MD; Kristin Kozakowski, MD, P&S'03; and Sarah Lambert, MD, P&S'03, Columbia's first all-female class of urology residents.
Admit it: you didn’t expect this year’s graduating urology residents to look like this.
   For the first time in its history, Columbia’s entire graduating class of urology residents is made up of women.
   “If the word ’urologist’ came up in a word association game, most people would probably picture a man,” says Mitchell Benson, MD, the George F. Cahill Professor of Urology and chair of urology. “The field has traditionally been male-dominated because urologists have been thought of as a man’s ’gynecologist’.”
   That image, however, is slowly changing. Though there is currently about one female urologist in the United States to every 15 male urologists, demand is rising steeply and more female medical students are entering the field.
   “Female baby boomers are starting to demand more help with quality of life issues such as urological problems,” says Kimberly Cooper, MD, a former urology resident at P&S who is now an assistant professor of urology and the department’s first female faculty member.
   Male physicians can treat female patients just as well, of course, but people often want a doctor they feel can relate to their problems on a more personal level. “A woman with frequent urinary tract infections after intercourse is probably going to be more comfortable talking to Kim than to me,” Dr. Benson says.
   Along with increasing demand, the number of women choosing urology is rising because of the field’s distinctive traits. “It’s one of the few specialties where you can be surgeon and doctor to your patients, you can develop long-term relationships with them,” Dr. Cooper says. “You also have more control over your hours. Much of what we do can be performed in the office, but even our surgical procedures don’t take very long. It’s a fantastic field for maintaining a work-life balance.”
   Urology at P&S has probably done more than any other program to increase the number of women urologists, Dr. Benson says. Beginning in the 1970s, John Lattimer, MD, chair of urology from 1955 to 1980, began training some of the first women to enter the field. “He created an environment that allowed women to feel comfortable, and not like pariahs,” Dr. Benson says.
   In total, about 15 women have graduated from the P&S urology program; three women (not including the three new graduates) are currently enrolled.

—Susan Conova

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