That Letter | Moving beyond, with Neil Fleshner, Sarah Psutka & Nathan Lawrentschuk

7th September 2021

So there we were, thinking we did a nice job highlighting the #Manels paper published in European Urology recently, and basking a little bit in the glow of positivity it brought to the topic of gender diversity in Urology. We were also really pleased to see the accompanying Editorial which outlined the European Urology position on gender diversity and equality, led by Associate Editor Professor Sarah Psutka and senior members of the Journal's Editorial Board.
Then, a Letter to the Editor appeared and provoked quite a response on social media. It described the results of the European Urology paper as "meaningless", and suggested that "women urologists may take longer to become academically productive owing to the responsibilities of child-rearing".
Many took issue with the content and sentiment of the letter, including the Chair of the Division of Urology at the University of Toronto, Professor Neil Fleshner, who issued a statement to clarify the position of his Division on gender diversity and equality.
So we were very happy to re-visit the issue on GU Cast today, and to welcome Dr Psutka and Dr Fleshner to talk about the issue, and to particularly focus on some excellent strategies now in place to address the issues of gender equity, and racial diversity. We also welcome back friend of the podcast, Professor Nathan Lawrentschuk, Urologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Director of Urology at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
GU Cast hosts as usual are Dr Renu Eapen and Professor Declan Murphy.

Links:
Original Manels Systematic Review in European Urology
Letter to the Editor
Psutka et al Eur Urol Position on Equity and Diversity
University of Toronto response to Letter
Author's reply to the Letter

Or listen to the audio version here