Robert Flanigan, MD
2025 Exhibit Curator
In this exhibit, we have attempted to describe what we believe are important milestones in the development of urologic education, beginning with ancient times and continuing to what we believe the future holds. We will begin with a few definitions:
“Education” – the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially in a school or university. An enlightening experience involving the transmission of knowledge, skills, and character traits, the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for a mature life.
“History” – the study of past events and written accounts of these events (providing a sense of where we have come from and our heritage and allowing us to understand our place in society and the forces that shape it): the study of change over time. We believe that one’s own beliefs and interpretations define history. This explains why we often hear it said that “historians agree” or “historians disagree.” This helps us understand how historical events or persons can be described so differently by different people or at different times.
Hence, we attempt to review the impact of our most distant past and the evolution of medical education, which has led specifically to our primary concern in this exhibit - urologic education. As such, we will review the dramatic change in educational practice from tutorial interactions and apprenticeships to the formation of schools and professional organizations.
We recognize that we write this exhibit from the perspective of Western, and especially North American, history. We recognize that the described historical developments have, in many cases, occurred in different ways in different areas of our world and that these differences may be related to the historical and cultural differences between our North American experience and those of other world populations.
In this exhibit, we review what we believe have been important developments in urologic education and the preparation of urologists for the effective practice of our specialty, including the use of virtual simulation and the advent of new educational tools that will likely define our future.
See the Schedule of all History Events at the Annual Meeting