Russian urology-2021: the elite of medicine and the urologists passionarity

V.A. Shaderkina,
science editor UroWeb.ru

According to VTsIOM, the main achievements in 2021 that the Russians named were: the Russian athletes victories at the Olympic Games and at the Paralympic Games (7%); the fight against the coronavirus pandemic (5%); the Russian figure skaters and tennis players victories, the Russian athletes winnings and the completion of the Nord Stream-2 construction.

For Russian urologists, 2021 became another opportunity to show their professional and personal qualities. Having adapted to the new conditions of work and life, urologists show miracles of optimism and efficiency, being an example for doctors of other specialties.

The pandemic continues
In early September 2021, Igor Bukhtiyarov, chief freelance professional pathologist of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, director of the Research Institute of Occupational Medicine named after N.F. Izmerov, reported that 700 doctors died in Russia in 2021 after infection with COVID-19 in the workplace. In the unofficial "Memory List" that contains the names of deceased medical workers, for example, on 26th of November 2021 there were 1,459 people. The Trade Union of Healthcare Workers of the Russian Federation has published up-to-date information on the number of doctors infected with COVID-19 in the workplace and those who died from this disease, as well as the amount of payments to their families. From the data provided to the trade union by the Russian Social Insurance Fund (FSS), it follows that during the entire pandemic, 419 thousand doctors have been infected with coronavirus infection at work, and 1,126 people died.
Such a situation affects the urological specialty as well, having recently led to a supposed certain decline in the urologists activities. But in fact, 2021 became a period of adaptation to a new reality and the restoration of the specialty at a fundamentally new level. Gradually, urologists learn to live and work in conditions of anti-epidemic restrictions.

Memorable events of 2021
According to the UroWeb calendar, there were held 258 events in 2021. Most of them took place in an online format, as it depended on the epidemiological situation in a particular region and the country.
A bright and unforgettable event awaited fans of surgical treatment of ICD in March – the stone wrestlers organized ” and demonstrated the pros and cons of the Chinese disposable ureterorenoscope. Traditionally, each expert stonecutter did it in his own style, and the chat was bursting with questions and discussions on the topic of endoscopic treatment of ICD.

The XVII “Men's Health” Congress held under the leadership of Academician Armais Albertovich Kamalov may be called enchanting – the first full-time event in a year, bringing together 132 speakers from 18 regions of the Russian Federation, 780 full-time participants in the hall – and all this was under the noise of the warm May Black Sea in the hospitable Krasnodar region. Only after the face-to-face meeting, the urologists felt how they missed each other and missed for live communication, heated arguments, evening discussions outside of scientific sections. Thanks to the wisdom of the leadership of the Men's Health society, another 1023 specialists were able to join the holiday, albeit in a remote format on UroTV.

The September XXI Congress of the Russian Society of Urologists was held in an online format, although most doctors hoped for its face-to-face holding. During 3 days of the Congress, 3332 unique listeners from 78 regions of Russia and 16 other countries joined the online broadcast, held in 8 virtual halls. More than 300 Russian and foreign lecturers presented 367 reports. In addition, there were organized 3 practical master classes, where experts demonstrated various modern techniques used in the surgical treatment of urolithiasis.

The 2021 year ended with a friendly meeting of urologists on the Kuban land. Professor Vladimir Leonidovich Medvedev hosted the guests of the master class “Laparoscopic and robotic urology”. They showed true skill bordering on virtuosity in performing surgical interventions for malignant neoplasms of the urinary system, urolithiasis, benign prostatic hyperplasia, reconstructive interventions on the organs of the genitourinary system. 23 operations, 21 urologist surgeons in parallel in 4 operating rooms, 235 urologists in the hall and 381 online-participants at UroTV – that was an incomparable practical experience from the masters of laparoscopy and robotic operations.

New urological Internet projects
Urocoins (UroCoin) is the unique own premium unit for the UroWeb active users and a tool that gives a number of advantages in a professional environment, reflecting professional online-activity and the “Social impact factor” of urologists. At the end of October 2022, there will be summed up the results and the winners will be selected – the first 50 people, perhaps this figure will be increased.
Probably, the brightest digital project in 2021 was the BRIDGE, an international urological project created with the support of the Uroweb.ru team (Russia), Russian Urology Today and Talkabouturology.com (International) to unite the urologists all over the world and promote the Russian urology prestige.

In collaboration with foreign urologists, 7 round tables were organized. There were participants from different countries – Italy, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Turkey, the USA, the United Arab Emirates, and, of course, Russia. The topics of each issue concerned one area of urology, oncourology, andrology, pediatric urology, urogynecology, neurology and robotic urology.

It is necessary to mention, that such leading urologists, as Arthur D. Smith, MD, the endourology founder, D.Yu. Pushkar, Chief urologist of the Russian Federation, Janak Desai, President of the Society of Urologists took part in the BRIDGE.

The BRIDGE organizing team includes Alexander Maykhir (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia), Anastasia Polikarpova (Moscow, Russia), Stepan Krasnyak (Moscow, Russia), Victoria Shaderkina (Moscow, Russia) and Azimjon Tursunkulov (Tashkent, Uzbekistan).

 

 

White spots, gray areas (black holes) – a project about unresolved issues of our specialty, about those problems on which there is no consensus yet among the professional community. For example, “Cystitis: the territory of questions”; “Does prostatitis remain a "trash can" of medical ignorance”; “Aesthetic urology”; “Erectile dysfunction: is everything clear?”. The project addresses not only issues on diseases, but also issues related to the organization of the specialty as a whole: “Ultrasound in the urologist life: the art of light touches”; “Urology: surgery versus therapy”; “Urologist-blogger: a friend among strangers, a stranger among friends”. More than 10,000 views and auditions of the program audio version indicate that the selected topics really interest urologists.

“Innovations and Leaders”, the Academy of the Russian Society of Urologists, is a new educational project of the Russian Society of Urologists that will bring the recognized specialists in the field of urology and andrology together in the online space. As you know, the philosophical school founded by Plato in 367 BC was also called “Academy”. Today, the Academy of the Russian Society of Urologists aims to improve the skills of Russian urologists in the system of continuing medical education. So, the leading urologists, experts in various fields of our multifaceted specialty, are involved in this project. The scientific program has been compiled considering interests of urologists who prefer in their practical activities such areas of the specialty as oncourology, laparoscopic and robotic surgery, endourology, reconstructive plastic urology, andrology, urogynecology.

Author projects
Gradually, the classical academic approach is being replaced by a new format for transmitting professional information. Experts have new channels of interaction with doctors and new opportunities to present scientific and practical experience to their colleagues. The content created by highly professional specialists not under the auspices of academic institutions is characterized by responsiveness, creative form and dynamic presentation. An example of such an extraordinary format that invariably attracts the urologists attention is the individual activity of urologists on YouTube and social networks.

Few urologists may devote time to individual projects, especially if they are designed for a long time. It is necessary to choose time to plan dates, search for speakers and discuss the event details with them, prepare unique presentations, search for new theoretical material and present clinical cases – and that is for the whole country, for the entire professional community.

The most popular in 2021 were the next author projects:

 

“Clinical cases in neurology” by Ekaterina Korshunova, Ph.D. in Medicine, Associate Professor of the Department of Urology of CSMA, neurologist of the Scientific Center of Neurology, Clinical Medical Center of the Moscow State Medical University named after A. I.Evdokimov (Moscow).

“Clinical cases in andrology” by Maxim Korshunov, Ph.D. in Medicine, Associate Professor of the Department of Urology of FSBI FVE “СSMA” Administrative office of the President of the Russian Federation.

“Male infertility based on evidence-based medicine” by Dmitry Rogozin, Ph.D. in Medicine, urologist of the highest category, Associate Professor of the Department of

General Surgery of SUSMU.
Such projects could be called pedagogical – they transfer invaluable own experience to all urologists of the country, teach clinical thinking and the theoretical foundations of urology.

Journals and articles
In 2021 there were not registered any new regular journals on urology. All existing journals continued publishing articles with the results of literary and analytical reviews, their own unique clinical studies, clinical cases and experimental data.
Currently, there are 7 journals, included in the List of Russian peer-reviewed scientific journals, where the main scientific results of dissertations for the degrees of PhD in Medicine and Medical Doctor should be published:

 
 

 

Urologists have not only the State Commission for Academic Degrees and Titles (VAK) journals, but also other periodicals – newspapers that continue to carry scientific information in a more familiar “paper” format. It is impossible to disagree with the global trend – currently paper newspapers are already “vintage”. Most journals have switched to an online format, which, on the one hand, reduced the cost of their release, and, on the other hand, made newspapers more accessible to all people using the Internet.

 

 

New Department of Urology
The scientific component of our specialty has been strengthened by another Department of urology creation – based on the St. Petersburg Medical and Social Institute. The head of the department is MD, Professor Vladimir Yurievich Startsev.

We wish the newly created department a cohesive team, creative determination and scientific discoveries!

Anniversaries
In 2021 the First urological television Uro.TV turned 10 years old! In 2011 no one, except the creators of the project, could have imagined that in 10 years there would be no urologist who did not know and did not use UroTV. Teamwork of the staff, well-known and just beginning speakers, pharmaceutical companies that support the initiatives – all this made UroTV an indispensable urologist assistant in searching for professional information. For the entire time of its existence, 7893 videos have been published on UroTV.

 

 

The Professional Association of Andrologists of Russia (PAAR) celebrated its 20th anniversary on September 18 with the PAAR Anniversary Congress. On this day, congratulations were received by Pyotr Andreevich Shcheplev, MD, Professor, President of the Professional Association of Andrologists of Russia, chief urologist of the Moscow region.

Awards
We are pleased to announce the award of a major international award of the International Society of Urology (Society International Urology, SIU) – Distinguished Career Award – to the guru of Russian endourology Alexey Georgievich Markov.
The prize has been awarded annually since 2004. It is awarded to outstanding urologists, each of whom is a legend in his field of urology – not only in his own country, but also in the world.

 

Among all the holders of the honorary award, Professor A. G. Martov is the first Russian urologist. Once again, we congratulate the professor on his well-deserved award and are waiting for photos from Dubai, where the award ceremony took place!

Books on urology
“UROLOGY”, the textbook for students of medical universities of all faculties, was published in the publishing house “Practical Medicine”. It was prepared for publication in 2021 by MD, professor, honored scientist of the Russian Federation, head of the Department of Urology and Human Reproductive Health with a course of pediatric urology-andrology of the FPC and teaching staff of RostSMU, President of the Association of Urologists of the Don – Mikhail Iosifovich Kogan. A special feature of this textbook is the author's view of urological diseases, 300 illustrations and a new structure of educational material presentation.

G.N. Alekseeva, L.F. Pisareva, L.I. Gurina, N.V. Cherdyntseva – “Epidemiology of kidney cancer in the region of Siberia and the Far East”. The book presents the comprehensive study results of spatial and temporal patterns of the kidney cancer spread in Siberia and the Far East over a 15–year period (2001–2015). The peculiarities of morbidity among the male, female, urban and rural populations are revealed. There are demonstrated the specificity of morbidity, mortality and these processes forecasts for the near future on the model of Primorsky Land. Associations of the incidence of kidney cancer with bioclimatic and ecological zones of Primorsky Land are established.

There has been developed and validated in practice a program aimed to improve oncological care for kidney cancer patients in Primorsky Land based on optimization of early diagnosis, a scientifically based algorithm for determining the tactics and scope of surgical treatment of localized kidney cancer and drug treatment of advanced kidney cancer, analysis of the quality of life and survival of patients who received various treatments.
D.N. Shchedrov, I.S. Shormanov, S.V. Kotov, E.V. Morozov – “Urachus diseases in children and adults”.

The manual discusses the issues of pathology caused by violations of the urachus obliteration in childhood. The issues of its etiology and pathogenesis are highlighted. The data on the surgical anatomy of the corresponding area are given. Modern methods of diagnosis and urachus diseases treatment are described in detail. The publication is intended for operating surgeons and urologists.

A talented person is talented in everything: our colleague Pavel Ilyich Rasner has presented his art book entitled “Opus Vivendi”. We immensely respect Pavel Ilyich not only as a highly qualified specialist in his field, but also as an immensely interesting person, to whose thoughts and whose opinion my colleagues and me are always ready and glad to listen. We hope that you will appreciate the work of Pavel Ilyich, so we encourage you to download the book and share it with friends and colleagues!
The book is a kind of vinaigrette of the rules of good behavior, historical anecdotes, curious facts and sighs of the author about “times and customs”. It is designed for the widest range of readers. You may purchase the book in electronic form on the LitRes portal by following the link.

Trends in urology
After 2 years of living in pandemic conditions, everyone is forced to adapt and continue to live here and now. Over the past year, the ways of communication that previously, before the pandemic, caused ambiguous feelings and reactions of rejection have crystallized.
Blogging is an active position in social networks, Instagram, Tik-Tok. This is a method of interaction not so much with fellow urologists as with patients to attract their attention, followed by their lead generation for a face-to-face appointment. This takes a huge amount of time, especially if a specialist shoots videos and writes texts himself, not resorting to the Instagram administrators help. But the feedback is also fast, lively and active.

Even the chief urologist of the Russian Federation and Moscow, academician Dmitry Yuryevich Pushkar opened his Instagram, united both doctors and patients.

However, given the peculiarities of our specialty, there are restrictions in any social networks – it is forbidden to show a fully or partially naked body; the video should not contain scenes, difficult to perceive; it is impossible to violate copyrights (music, photos, videos), transfer personal data to third parties, etc. Otherwise, the profile may be blocked for a long period time.

The online format has become familiar to almost everyone, significantly reducing the time and financial costs of travel, accommodation, participation in events, etc. The opportunities of speakers have significantly expanded, making it possible to simultaneously participate in several events, often held in parallel. With a sharp increase in the number of events, speakers began to refuse to travel, preferring to speak remotely. In favor of a full-time event, you could only attract many full-time participants and an interesting social program.
The abundance of online events has also affected the selectivity of urologists in choosing events to watch – rare webinars can boast of many participants. It is impossible to watch everything in a row, it is difficult to highlight the important, so in the future urologists will pay attention not only to the information itself, but also to the unusual format of its presentation.

 

The elite of medicine
Urology, as a relatively young science, attracts specialists who can and want to move forward, have an irrepressible disposition, strong-willed character and nerves of steel. In combination with diverse interests, education and intelligence, the mixture of positive properties of its representatives makes urology an elite specialty with a high degree of passionarity.

 

 

Passionarity is a term that was introduced by the Soviet historian Lev Nikolaevich Gumilev (the son of the poet Nikolai Gumilev and the poetess Anna Akhmatova) in his passionate theory of ethnogenesis. It means an irresistible inner desire for activity, the desire for renewal and development.

For example, 2 groups of urologists in May and June climbed the most famous mountain in Europe – Elbrus, included in the list of the highest peaks of the parts of the world “Seven Peaks”. Preparing equipment and physical training started a year before the ascent, search for like-minded people, difficulties and problems on the way were really difficult – our colleagues told us about everything without hiding in the program “Here you are not a plain or Urologists on Elbrus”.

 

But all the hardships that urologists have experienced could not be compared with the delight and tears of joy at the top of Elbrus!
The urologists passed the test very well, having conquered the peak of 5642 metres. We are proud of our colleagues!

In conclusion of the annual report, let me express to you, dear friends and colleagues, gratitude and infinite respect for your work, caring, patience and perseverance, which are manifested in your letters, comments, calls, messages and personal communication.
What the New Year 2022 will be is up to you and me, only we could make the year successful, productive, joyful. The main thing is not to stop, but continue to work, strive to conquer new heights and always set high goals. This is the only way our specialty “urology” will continue to remain elite.

Colleagues, send information about your achievements in scientific, surgical, publication and other professional activities in 2022 to the post office viktoriashade@uroweb.ru marked “Achievements”. We will be happy to include you in the next report.