Jefferson Urology Alumni Association Thomas Jefferson University has a long and historic legacy in medical student and residency training. The Sidney Kimmel Medical College is the fifth oldest medical school in the United States and boasts the largest number of living medical school graduates. The Department of Urology, founded in 1904 as the Department of Genitourinary Diseases, is the oldest urology Department in the United States. Jefferson has been training urology residents since 1946 with our first fellows training beginning in the 1980’s. Our medical school continues to have one of the largest numbers of graduates matching into urology each year.
Our goal this year is to create the first directory of Jefferson alumni who specialize in Urology. The importance of alumni to the Department of Urology’s success cannot be overstated. Engaged, connected and supportive alumni are crucial to fostering a legacy of recognizing a superior training environment. Alumni serve as mentors and role models to current students and residents, facilitate job searches, serve as guest speakers at Department conferences, and provide philanthropic support for trainee enrichment. A noteworthy example of how urology alumni support our teaching efforts can be found on page 4 of this “2020 Year in Review” magazine. Alumni engagement is also playing an increasingly vital role in distinguishing the Department’s reputation in hospital ranking metrics and helping to support our research growth. The Jefferson Urology Alumni Award was established in 2019 to recognize a Jeffersonian who has gone on to significant achievement in the field of urology specifically or medicine in general. The awardee can be a previous SKMC student, resident or fellow. Dr. Steve Strup was our inaugural 2019 awardee and Dr. Marty Dresner was our recipient in 2020 (see page 22). Our Awards Committee is currently reviewing nominations to determine who will be our 2021 alumni honoree. Our primary effort for the coming year is to create the first comprehensive directory of former residents, fellows, and SKMC medical students who specialize in urology. This directory will serve as a vehicle to keep alumni connect to the Department and to each other. We are committed to keeping connected with our urology alumni across the United States and internationally. We also encourage our urology alumni to let us know if you have any general news announcement that you would like to share in an upcoming publication. If you have such an item of interest to share with a larger audience, contact Dr. Paul Chung (paul.chung@jefferson.edu).
We are kindly asking for all alumni to update your contact and other information by using the following link https://tinyurl.com/ jeffersonurology or by using the QR code above on your cellphone. Alumni may also directly contact our office by phone (215-955-6961) or email denise.tropea@jefferson.edu to update their information. Specific questions on the Jefferson Urology Alumni Association can be directed to Dr. Paul Chung, Director of the Jefferson Urology Alumni Association (paul.chung@jefferson. edu) or Dr. Leonard Gomella, Chair of the Department of Urology (leonard.gomella@ jefferson.edu).
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