Aurora J. Grutman, B.S.
The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, The Brady Urological Institute
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When I started medical school, I was required to participate in a longitudinal clerkship program. I heard it was a great opportunity to gain clinical experience, and I was excited to finally interact with patients. While I was open to working with any specialist, I decided to email the program coordinator with a specific request. My multi-paragraph email expressing a passion for urology must have made an impression – I doubted anyone else had written an ode to the prostate. To my delight, I was paired with a urology clinic, where I spent nearly every Thursday for two years learning from patients and providers about the complexities of urologic care.
However, my initial enthusiasm only carried me so far. During my time at a male infertility clinic, some patients were uncomfortable speaking to a young woman. I understood and respected that a male patient might not want to talk with me, perhaps because I could not fully grasp his personal experience. But I still felt devastated. Often, I did not even introduce myself before a patient decided he did not want to work with me.
One week, after a particularly long clinic day, I sat in my car, questioning whether I could even become a urologist. "How many women are in urology?" I typed into Google. The answer was disheartening. Women surpassed the 10% mark in 2020.1 As a student learning at the birthplace of urology residency, I wondered if my home institution had a different history. I searched the Brady Urological Institute website but found little information. I contacted Johns Hopkins medical archivists who then directed me to someone who might have an answer. That is how I met Dr. Patrick Walsh.
Dr. Walsh, known for his pioneering work on the nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy, also serves as the Brady’s unofficial historian.2 During our first meeting, he took me on a tour of the original wing of the Brady building. I was in awe: pictures of early 20th-century urologists, Hugh Hampton Young’s punch procedure urethroscope encased in glass, and letters from James Buchanan Brady lined the walls. I asked if we could pause to look at a series of resident headshots. Among a sea of mustaches and short hair, the first woman resident stood out. I counted 14 others who followed her.
I wanted to learn about these women’s experiences and how they navigated the field. I came up an idea: I would interview the first women residents so I could hear their stories told in their own words. Through many meetings with Dr. Walsh to discuss the Brady’s history, Dr. Marisa Clifton, the former Brady Residency Program Director, to talk about institutional changes, and Dr. Nathaniel Comfort, a renowned medical historian, to learn about the oral history tradition, I honed my research question and methodology.
Between July 2023 and February 2024, I conducted 10 interviews. Many women spoke about the challenges they faced navigating a male-dominated specialty, such as difficulty finding work-life balance or facing resistance from patients who expected a male urologist. Although I shared some of these experiences, I realized that these women entered the field in a vastly different era (in 1979, for instance, women made up only 0.9% of urology residents).3
But there were also many moments of joy. Former residents recounted victories – forming lasting friendships with coresidents, receiving transformative mentorship from faculty members, and ultimately helping to change the culture of urology for future generations.
This project became more than just an academic exercise; it was a lesson in resilience and the power of storytelling. Each interview reinforced the importance of preserving these experiences, not just for posterity’s sake, but to honor the strength required to be a woman in urology at a time when they were few others. These women’s stories are part of a larger narrative that celebrates the participation and success of women in urology. I am deeply thankful to the first women residents at the Brady for helping to pave a path forward for future generations of women in urology.
References:
- Benjamin P. Saylor. Women urologists represent 10% of urology work force, report finds. Urology Times. May 28, 2021. https://www.urologytimes.com/view/women-urologists-represent-10-of-urology-work-force-report-finds
- Patrick Walsh, Janet Worthington. The Brady 100 Years: A History of the James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins. The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute; 2015.
- JA Halpern, UJ Lee, EM Wolff, et al. Women in Urology Residency, 1978-2013: A Critical Look at Gender Representation in Our Specialty. Urology. 2016;92:20-25. doi:10.1016/j.urology.2015.12.092