Notable and Newsworthy

Jefferson Urology Top Rankings U.S. News & World Report and Doximity Residency Programs

The Department of Urology received a “Best Hospital for Urology” listing in the 2022-2023 ratings of U.S. New & World Report. U.S. News evaluated 1,490 hospitals and ranked the top 50 that see a significant number of challenging urology patients and treat conditions such as those affecting the urinary tract, bladder and prostate.

Jefferson Urology was ranked #36 nationally. The effort of all of our providers and staff helped us achieve this recognition. Additionally, the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, an important partner in our clinical and research activities, also achieved national recognition in the top 50. Eight other specialties at Thomas Jefferson University were also ranked in the top 50. We are pleased that in the latest Doximity rankings our Jefferson Urology residency program was in the top 20 in the United States. Our training program was rated 18 out of 146 in the Doximity database.

Built from Doximity’s network of more than 80 percent of all U.S. physicians, Residency Navigator leverages insights from the largest survey and CV analysis of current residents and recent alumni. Congratulations to our Program Director Dr. Pat Shenot and associate program directors Drs. Alana Murphy and Costas Lallas for the design and direction of our training program. Dr. David Paskin, SKMC Vice Dean for Graduate Medical Education & Affiliations, notes that, “Our Jefferson/Sidney Kimmel Medical College Urology program has always been one of the most sought after in the US. It is rewarding to see our program officially recognized as one of the tops in the United States.” In a related note, Sidney Kimmel Medical College graduates contributed the second highest number of first year urology residents in the United States in the 2016-2021 period. SKMC noted a total of 37 seniors who entered urology training. Only SUNY Downstate had more at 41 graduates. (Kim JE, Kim IE, Lee J, et al Urology . 2022 Oct 14;S0090-4295(22)00824-X. doi: 10.1016/j. urology.2022.08.047. Online ahead of print).

Much of this high level of interest in our specialty by SKMC students relates to our outstanding student run Jefferson Urology Society (see page 62).

Jefferson Medical Group Urology Notes

There are more than 850,000 practicing doctors in the United States and not all qualify to be a Castle Connolly Top Doctor. Unlike other “find a doctor” services, Castle Connolly has curated approximately 60,000 boardcertified U.S. physicians. Through their rigorous research process, only these hand-selected few have been awarded Top Doctor status. A 2018 study published in the Journal of Medical Research found that across several specialties Castle Connolly’s peer-reviewed directory was much more reliable than sites that just relied on patient reviews when it came to identifying quality care. The Urologists (listed on right) are members of the Jefferson Medical Group practicing in the Jefferson Health System and selected as “Top Doctors” in 2022. It also recognizes our academic pediatric partners at AI DuPont. For more information, visit: www.castleconnolly.com/. TOP DOCTORS 2022

JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY UROLOGY

Dr. Deborah Glassman – Jefferson University (Top Doctor for 3 years) Dr. Leonard Gomella – Jefferson University Urology (Top Doctor for 20 years) Dr. Joseph Izes – Jefferson University Urology (Top Doctor for 5 years) Dr. Costas Lallas – Jefferson University Urology (Top Doctor for 10 Years) Dr. Alana Murphy – Jefferson University Urology (Top Doctor for 4 Years) Dr. Patrick Shenot – Jefferson University Urology, Magee Urology (Top Doctor for 15 Years) JEFFERSON PEDIATRIC UROLOGY

Dr. T. Ernesto Figueroa – Nemours/ DuPont (Top Doctor for 5 Years) Dr. Ahmad Bani Hani – Nemours/ DuPont (Top Doctor for 5 Years) JEFFERSON MEDICAL GROUP

Dr. Philip Abbosh – Einstein Urology Dr. Howard Altman- Jefferson NE Urology Dr. Lee Blatstein – Jefferson Buxmont Urology Specialists (Top Doctor for 5 years) Dr. David Kraman – Jefferson NE Urology (Top Doctor for 10 Years) Dr. Cadence Kim – Jefferson NE Urology (Top Doctor for 5 years) Dr. Edouard Trabulsi – Einstein Urology (Top Doctor for 10 Years)

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Launches Single Port Robotic Surgery Program

Jefferson Urology is proud to venture into the next generation of robotic surgery, the single port (SP) platform.

This surgical system offers an HD camera and three working arms that articulate from a single 2.5cm port. This technology is considered the next evolution of minimally invasive surgery and the only single port robotic system in the Jefferson Enterprise is at TJUH.

Dr. Lallas and his robotic surgery colleagues are actively exploring its potential for pelvic and retroperitoneal robotic surgery and report that the initial results are promising. They hope to be able to determine the role of single port robotic surgery in the minimally invasive surgery space for oncologic and nononcologic procedures. More to come over the next year.

Dr. Alex Uhr and Endourology Fellow Dr. Aseem Malhotra with the robotic single port system during a partial nephrectomy procedure.

GOOD News

For the second year in a row, Jefferson Health has landed the #8 spot on Diversity Inc's Top Hospitals and Health System list. Our achievement was based on data collected across six key areas: leadership accountability, human capital diversity metrics, talent programs, workplace practices, supplier diversity, and philanthropy. Thank you to all the teams across Jefferson, who have worked together to make DEI an organizational focus.

Jefferson Urology Office Opens on the Abington Campus

Abington Hospital Jefferson Health Price Medical Office Building 1245 Highland Avenue Suite 302 Abington, PA 19001 215 481 7700 Fax:215-481-7799

Some Urology team members at our new Abington Office include (back) Dr. Whitney Smith, Traciann Carr, Jasmine West, (front) Rosa Castillo-Corporan, and our PA Vivian Ngo.

After many months of supply chain delays, the Jefferson Urology office on the Abington Main Campus opened officially on July 6, 2022. The new office suite is located in the Price office building, Room 302. Dr. Whitney Smith, Clinical site director for our Abington practice is shown here with our Abington office staff. The office is equipped with cystoscopy, prostate biopsy and UDS capability. We will continue to have a urologic oncology specialty SKCC practice at the Asplundh Cancer Pavilion in Willow Grove working with Noreen Wielgus and the larger SKCC GU team. Our Abington practice providers include Drs. Whitney Smith, Patrick Gomella, Joe Izes along with our PA Vivian Ngo. Dr. Mihir Shah has also joined as one of the site providers in September. The Department of Urology Faculty members also help support the Hartnett Health Services Clinic. Harnett provides care for vulnerable populations, the poor, minorities, and other under-served groups through this community benefit program.

The office came into existence through the significant efforts of Marlene Vallett, Peg O'Grady and Pam Frazier working with Dr. Smith in making this new office a reality. We are also appreciative of the support of the Abington division leadership including Alison Ferren and Dr. Gerry Cleary for welcoming our JUP practice to the Abington Main campus.

Dr. Gomella Discusses Precision Medicine

The role of precision medicine has been increasing in urology thanks to new laboratory technologies and a better understanding of genetic and genomic testing.

One area of intense interest is in the management prostate cancer. Dr. Gomella has been discussing the role of precision medicine in prostate cancer on on different platforms including online publications such as Urology Times and various Jefferson websites.