(160) POST-PANDEMIC AMERICAN UROLOGICAL ASSOCIATION SECTION MEETINGS SUCCESSFULLY FEATURE WOMEN UROLOGISTS IN SEXUAL MEDICINE

Abstract Introduction Sexual medicine is a historically male-dominated urological subspecialty, potentially exacerbating the critical lack of research in female sexual medicine. Rates of invited women speakers, moderators, and panelists can correlate to conference planning committees’ representation efforts. Objective An analysis of women urologists in sexual medicine invited as speakers to the 2021-2023 Main and section meetings of the American Urological Association (AUA) was performed to increase understanding of post-pandemic female representation. Historical records were reviewed to stratify sections based on number of past female presidents for further analysis. Methods Review of programs from the AUA Main and section meetings in 2021, 2022, and 2023 was performed. The gender of sexual medicine plenary speakers, moderators, and panelists along with moderators of poster/podium/video sessions was recorded and confirmed via institutional websites or U.S. News & World Report. The number and gender of section past presidents was similarly recorded and confirmed. AUA Census data from 2021 and 2022 was queried for further analysis. Statistical methods included chi-square and two-proportion Z tests (α = 0.05). Results Across 26 meetings (summarized in Table 1), there were 50 women out of 252 sexual medicine speakers (19.8%). There was a range of 13.8% (South Central) to 34.3% (North Central) female speakers across the 9 conferences. Of interest, only North Central had a statistically significant higher proportion of women sexual medicine speakers relative to their proportion of censused practicing women urologists (p < 0.001). When comparing individual section conferences to the Main conference, only North Central had a statistically significant higher proportion of women sexual medicine speakers (p < 0.001). When comparing sections with past female presidents (Northeastern, New England, Mid-Atlantic, Western) to those without (New York, North Central, Southeastern, South Central), there was no statistically significant difference in the overall proportion of female speakers (p = 0.74), women taking part in plenary sessions (p = 0.46), or peer moderators who were female (p = 0.06). Conclusions In contrast to pre-pandemic literature, this study indicated all contemporary AUA conferences have a representative proportion of women sexual medicine speakers compared to their censused proportion of practicing women urologists. Additionally, no section invites a lower proportion of female speakers than the Main conference. Of interest, sections without a previous female president do not invite fewer women sexual medicine speakers or invite them to less prestigious roles. This data supports the efficacy of current diversity and inclusion efforts across the AUA and encourages continued monitoring of female speakers in all subspecialties. Disclosure No.