It was a fun, informative, and engaging weekend during Yale Urology's 3rd Annual Bulldog Debates, held at the Yale Club of New York City, Nov. 8-9. It is the department's flagship CME event.
This year, programming broke ground with the first-ever live surgery broadcast from Yale New Haven Hospital. Chair Isaac Kim, MD, PhD, MBA, conducted a robotic single-port prostatectomy, while Steven Kardos, MD, led an interactive panel discussion.
The keynote speakers included Earl Y. Cheng, MD, professor of urology at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Ricardo Gonzalez, MD, associate professor of urology at Houston Methodist Academic Institute, Jihad Kaouk, MD, professor and chair of urology at Cleveland Clinic, and Manoj Monga, MD, professor and chair of urology at University of California, San Diego.
Debates featured pediatric transitional care; micro ultrasound vs. MRI fusion for prostate cancer diagnosis; the best treatment for a prostate greater than 100 grams: HoLEP vs. Aquablation vs. RASP; refractory overactive bladder: Sacral Neuromodulation vs. Botox; Single Port vs. Multi-port RARP; and advanced seminoma: surgery RPLND vs. chemotherapy.
The weekend was also filled with recognition. The inaugural Department of Urology Ralph J. DeVito Surgical Skills Award was given to PGY-4 resident, Dylan Heckscher, MD. He was the top scorer, among his peers, throughout a three-stage surgical skills challenge, involving a written exam, knot tying, and laparoscopic suturing. In addition, the second annual Robert M. Weiss Distinguished Alumni Medal went to John Phillips, MD, resident graduate of the class of '97. Phillips is chair and professor of urology at New York Medical College and currently serves as the official historian for the American Urological Association.