Dr. John Denstedt takes on two international leadership roles

Dr. John Denstedt, Chair/Chief of the Department of Surgery and Special Advisor to the Dean on Health Globalization, Internationalization and Simulation will soon be taking on two additional leadership roles within his urology specialty.

In May, Denstedt will join the Board of Directors of the American Urological Association (AUA), becoming only the third Canadian board member in its 111 year history. The AUA has more than 18,000 members worldwide. Its mission is to promote the highest standards of urological clinical care through education, research and in the formulation of health care policy.

He is already quite active in the organization. Recently, he participated in a health policy advocacy initiative in the US Congress as an observer for the AUA. The Board is welcoming Denstedt's Canadian perspective on issues of health policy. He also brings a wealth of experience in urological education and research to the job, as well as a unique knowledge of internationalization.

"My experience and connections internationally will help in my role as an ambassador for the AUA," says Denstedt. "And being a Canadian can sometimes be an advantage in international efforts, especially in China and the Middle East."

Denstedt has also been asked to co-chair the 3rd International Consultation on Kidney Stone Disease by the Société Internationale D'Urologie (SIU), a large international urology group. He and his co-chair, Dr. Jean de la Rosette of the Amsterdam Medical Centre, will bring together between 80 and 100 of the top urologists in the world to discuss the latest and best practices involved in the treatment of kidney stones, a painful disorder affecting about 12 per cent of the world's population.

Subgroups will be formed and over the next year and a half, each group will discuss and reach consensus on a topic related to kidney stones. The groups will produce a consensus document, and present it at the 2014 SIU meeting in Glasgow. The document will then be compiled into a clinical textbook, covering all aspects of the disease.

This is only the third time the SIU has undertaken such a project in stone disease and it's been seven years since the last consensus was published. Denstedt chaired the last consultation in 2005/2006 and was a participant in the first one back in 2001/2002.

Denstedt is pleased that his colleague, Dr. Hassan Razvi of St. Joseph's Health Care is one of the urologists participating in this year's stone consultation.