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Revista mexicana de urología

versión On-line ISSN 2007-4085versión impresa ISSN 0185-4542

Rev. mex. urol. vol.82 no.3 Ciudad de México may./jun. 2022  Epub 13-Mar-2023

https://doi.org/10.48193/revistamexicanadeurologa.v82i3.896 

Editorial

Development and perspectives of italian women in andrology

Desarrollo y perspectivas de las mujeres italianas en andrología

Alessia Celeste Bocchino1  * 
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3168-1684

Marta Pezzoli2 

Ana María Autrán-Gómez3 
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4961-5669

1University of Cagliari, Santissima Trinità Hospital, Department of Urology, Cagliari, Italy.

2University of Florence, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Florence, Italy.

3Confederación Americana de Urología, Oficina de Investigación, Buenos Aires, Argentina.


Based on a conventional dichotomous division, modern medicine is characterized by feminization. In Italy, according to the data released online by the CED-FNOMCeO (Data Processing Center-National Federation for the Orders of Doctors and Dentists) updated on March 2, 2021, the registered medical women are 178,062 against 218,266 male colleagues; and considering the age group under 50, 60% of them are female (92,583 women versus 61,971 men).1 (Table 1)

Table 1 Classification by age and sex of female and male Doctors in Italy, registered to FNOMCeO. 

Age range Female Doctors Male Doctors
<=24 3 1
25-29 15,155 12,005
30-34 20,665 15,557
35-39 20,152 12,074
40-44 18,817 10,666
45-49 17,801 11,668
50-54 13,021 11,427
55-59 17,618 19,751
60-64 22,105 31,710
65-69 21,528 42,708
70-74 7,423 28,933
>= 75 3,774 21,726
Total 178,062 218,226

Data processed and published online by CED-FNOMCeO, updated to 2 March 2021.

Consequently, more female doctors are engaging in surgical specialties that over the centuries have been predominantly male.

Furthermore, in this background it must be considered that over the past few decades, urology has developed an independent relevance from general surgery because of a high prevalence of urological pathologies and their significant social and economic impacts.2

Currently, urologists have a multitude of practice options, ranging from general urology to several subspecialties that are defined by different regional healthcare systems.2

Andrology is a clinical and/or surgical subspecialty that deals with male health, particularly concerning on male sexual and reproductive system disorders.

In Italy, there has not been any andrological residency for many years, therefore the andrological pathologies are now diagnosed and treated mainly by specialists in urology, endocrinology and psycho-sexology.

For this reason, the Italian Andrology Society (SIA) has established a residential course called Andrology Certificate Project (PCA) for the achievement of the andrological certification dedicated to members with less than 5 years of affiliation.3

The PCA combine theoretical and relational skills for a correct management of the andrological patient in accordance with the guidelines.

From 2017 to 2021 the data provided by SIA of PCA report a total of 296 enrolled, of which 24 urologists and 3 psycho-sexologists were women (9%).

In 2021 the Italian Society of Urology (SIU) by the effort of the delegates of the Italian Residents Committee, called “Senato degli Specializzandi” developed an online epidemiological Survey, which investigated composition, attitudes, and future perspective of Urology Residents in Italy.3 The data were presented at 2021 edition of SIU National Congres, reporting a total of 698 participants, of whom 118 were women (17%).4

Although the proportion of women in uro-andrology is increasing, they remain under-represented in leadership positions, not achieving similar promotion progress, and with lower remuneration compared to men.5

Future efforts should be focus on eliminating gender inequalities by empower female urologists’ qualifications and promoting academic leadership positions, especially in the subspeciality with male prevalence as the andrological one.

Another topic that should be considered by every andrologist of the future, would ideally be a complete vision of andrology in relation to all stages of andrological development already from the pediatric age, as it could have important repercussions on the health of the adult male.

References

1 FNOMCeO. Data Processing Center-National Federation for the Orders of Doctors and Dentists (CED-FNOMCeO) https://portale.fnomceo.itLinks ]

2 Ficarra V, Mirone V, Dasgupta P. Urologists of tomorrow - the case for educational intervention. BJU Int. 2017 Mar;119(3):368-70. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/bju.13732 [ Links ]

3 Società Italiana di Andrologia (SIA). Società Italiana di Andrologia (SIA). http://www.andrologiaitaliana.it/Links ]

4 Società Italiana di Urologia (SIU). Società Italiana di Urologia (SIU). https://siu.it/Links ]

5 Autrán-Gómez AM, Rodríguez A. Development and Perspectives of Latin American Women in Urology. Revista Mexicana de Urología. 2021;81(6):1-2. doi: https://doi.org/10.48193/revistamexicanadeurologa.v81i6.866 [ Links ]

Received: March 16, 2022; Accepted: May 10, 2022

*Corresponding author: Alessia Celeste Bocchino. Via Is Mirrionis, 92, 09121, Cagliari, Italy. Email: alessia.celeste@gmail.com

Citation: Bochino A. C., Pezzoli M., Autrán-Gómez A. M. Development and perspectives of italian women in andrology. Rev Mex Urol. 2022;82(3):pp: 1-2.

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