Engaging and Empowering Future Female Surgeons: Development of the Medical Student Section of the Society of Women in Urology

Authors

Allison G. Booher
Sasha Vereecken, University of Colorado School of Medicine
Erin Kim
Neharika Penmetcha, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Alexandra Aponte
Eman N. Chaudhri
Meghana Noonavath
Ibukunoluwa Omole
Joanna Orzel
Leigh Martin

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2025

Abstract

Objective: To describe a replicable model for a large-scale, cross-institutional, and student-driven initiative to promote gender equity within surgical fields.

Methods: To address the lack of a national infrastructure to support female medical students pursuing careers in Urology, a historically male-dominated specialty, the society of women in urology (SWIU) established its medical student section, called SWIUdents, as a student-led initiative to offer mentorship, education, and networking resources for future female urologists. In 2022, SWIUdents convened its first medical student leadership board, comprised of two co-chairs and four subcommittees focused on membership, program implementation, mentorship, and community relations. SWIUdents membership was open to medical students of all gender identities, and recruitment for the organization took place via official SWIU communications, social media, and word of mouth.

Results: As of April 2025, there are 319 SWIUdents members, 195 of which are current medical students, representing all regional sections of the American Urological Association (AUA), as well as international medical students. In the 2024 to 2025 academic year, SWIUdents paired 87 medical students with resident or faculty members in Urology. SWIUdents also maintains an active social media presence and offers a broad array of programming, with robust attendance at monthly webinars and journal clubs.

Conclusions: This paper outlines the development and infrastructure of SWIUdents, a national, student-driven model which may be replicated by other specialty organizations aiming to engage and empower women and other groups underrepresented within their respective field.

Comments

Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Recommended Citation

Booher, A. G., Vereecken, S. J., Kim, E., Penmatcha, N., Aponte, A., Chaudhri, E. N., Noonavath, M., Omole, I., Orzel, J., Martin, L., DeMeo, G., Overholt, T. L., & Mehta, A. (2025). Engaging and Empowering Future Female Surgeons: Development of the Medical Student Section of the Society of Women in Urology. Journal of surgical education, 82(10), 103649. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2025.103649

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Publication Title

Journal of Surgical Education

DOI

10.1016/j.jsurg.2025.103649

Academic Level

medical student