The future of urology in Europe: An overview from the European associationof urology

Introduction: In order to be able to influence and monitor future developme nts for urologists, strategies should be promoted in advance to guarantee t he future of the speciality and to accommodate the inevitable changes. Face d with this challenge, the EAU, through its Strategy Planning Office (SPO), has prepared a document which is offered, here, in abbreviated form, to th e European and international urological communities for general considerati on. Material and Methods: A group of subjects, related to the domains and inter nal consistency of urology as a speciality, were selected and discussed amo ng the members of the SPO and later submitted to open consultation among di stinguished members of the urological community. The topics selected for di scussion included: what is urology; urology in the university; sub-speciali zation in urology; training in urology; does kidney transplantation belong to urology, and others. Results: It is shown that urology is going through an exciting and hazardou s transition period. Urology has conflicting problems in its traditional do mains due to changes in health care policy, and internal identification pro blems due to its permanent expansion and sub-specialization options. Weaker points are its relation with primary care medicine (shared care options), the presence and role of urology in institutions such as the university, de partment of surgery, children's hospitals, administration, etc.; the desegr egating effect of the sub-specialities; the increasing encroachment of othe r specialities, and the increasing outpatient effect of technological progr ess. Conclusion: An action plan is proposed to confront these changes without lo osing manpower, internal consistency or social image and improving patient care quality, excellence of training and scientific progress. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG. Basel.