Turkish Urology Surgeon has been elected Honorary Member of the American Urological Association!
One of the world’s leading robotic surgery and urology specialists, Head of Minimally Invasive and Robotic Urology Department, Acıbadem Maslak Hospital, Prof. Dr. Ali Rıza Kural, has been elected to the 2023 Honorary Membership of the American Urological Association. For the first time in our country, a Urology Surgeon became an Honorary Member of the world’s largest association in its field.
The American Urological Association, which was founded in 1902 and is one of the most respected organizations in the world, has awarded 290 urologists the title of “Honorary Member” so far. The American Urological Association, which is the world’s largest and most established association in its field with 23 thousand members, has been leading the formation of education, research and health services policy in addition to scientific studies in the field of urology for 121 years. The association, whose congresses and publications are most heavily followed, is at the forefront of developing innovative, evidence-based, quality education for urologists and urological health professionals worldwide at all stages of their careers. Members of the American Urological Association serve to better serve patients and make discoveries that will improve urological diseases in the future.
Outstanding scientists are selected!
Honorary Membership of the American Urological Association, which held its 118th congress this year, is given to scientists, association officials and distinguished urologists who have achieved outstanding success in the field of medicine related to urology. Prof. Dr. Ali Rıza Kural, Head of Minimally Invasive and Robotic Urology Department, Acıbadem Maslak Hospital, was entitled to be elected as an Honorary Member of the American Urological Association in 2023 due to his innovations and developmental studies in the fields of minimally invasive urological surgery and endourology.
The greatest honor!
Thus, for the first time in our country, a Urology Surgeon became an Honorary Member of the world’s largest association in its field. One of the 6 new Honorary Members this year, Prof. Dr. Ali Rıza Kural was presented with the certificate by Association President Prof. Dr. Presented by Raju Thomas at the 118th Congress of the American Urological Association held in Chicago. Stating that he is very happy and proud to receive this meaningful award, Prof. Dr. Ali Rıza Kural said, “I owe this honor to my country, to my teachers who raised me, to my teammates, and to my family, whose support I have always seen. When I started my profession, I only aimed to be a good doctor and to serve my patients in the best way. Looking back, I can see that I have worked hard, always pursued innovations and shared what I learned with other colleagues. As a result of these efforts, it is a great pleasure for me to see how far Endourology has gone in our country and to be a part of it.” Advising his young colleagues, who are just at the beginning of the road, to prioritize human life in line with the Hippocratic oath, try to be a good physician first, and then follow the innovations in the profession closely. Prof. Dr. Ali Rıza Kural said, “If I had to choose a profession again today, I would choose the profession of Medicine and the branch of Urology again.”
He made the firsts!
After graduating from Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine in 1974, Prof. Dr. Ali Rıza Kural started the first robotic urological surgery program in Türkiye in 2005 and has successfully completed more than 3000 robotic procedures to date. He has successfully performed the first prostate cancer surgeries in our country with his Da Vinci robot, while undersigning the first applications of Urological Laparoscopy, which has developed rapidly in the world in recent years, especially in the treatment of kidney cancer and prostate cancer. Published more than 150 articles in national and international journals and wrote chapters in national and international books, Prof. Dr. Ali Rıza Kural organized many local and international scientific meetings and training courses. In 2018, he became the first Turkish physician to be accepted as an honorary member with the title of FRCS-Honorary by RCPSG (The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow), which has guided British medicine for over 400 years. In the past years, he was elected the first Turkish president of the World Endourology Association and served as the president between 2017 and 2018. Dr. Ali Rıza Kural was also awarded the Educator of the Year Award in 2021 by the World Endourology Society. The “Ralph Clayman Mentor Award”, that is, “Trainer of the Year” Award, which has been given for 10 years, was given to a Turkish physician for the first time. Prof. Dr. Ali Rıza Kural also in 2022 became the first Turkish physician to receive the “Endourological Society Honorary Member Award”, that is, “Lifetime Honorary Membership”, given to 2 people every year by the World Endourology Society.
