EAU17: My Ideal 24 Hours (Prof. Marcus Drake)
Prof. Marcus Drake (GB) of Southmead Hospital Bristol is a board member of the European School of Urology (ESU) whose expertise is functional urology. Drake shares his ideal day at the upcoming 32nd Annual EAU Congress (EAU17). This is the third instalment in the series of articles on the perspectives and expectations of participants of the Congress in London.
Drake’s EAU17 highlights
“The EAU17 Scientific Programme is highly comprehensive; there are plenty of lectures and sessions to attend and learn from. It’s difficult to choose a specific day, therefore my ideal 24 hours at EAU17 would be a combination of lectures and sessions from various Congress days,” said Drake.
Drake begins with sessions on Friday, 24 March: “I’m looking forward to attending the joint meeting with the Confederación Americana de Urología (CAU), as well as, the Special Session ‘EAU Patient Information Project: Setting standards in cooperation and care’. Afterwards, the ‘Meeting of the Young Academic Urologists (YAU)’. These young urologists are the future. Also, their insights are complementary to the more experienced urologists. It’s a good mix.”
As an expert on functional urology, Drake is also enthusiastic about the Saturday programme on 25 March. “Saturday is when the meeting of the EAU Section of Female and Functional Urology (ESFFU) ‘Revisiting management of LUTS in neurogenic and non-neurogenic patients’ will take place. Then there are also the Poster Session 15 ‘Receptors and targets in functional urology’ and Poster Session 23 ‘Basic science in functional urology: Where do we stand?’ I’d like to go to.”
“I would like to be at the Saturday meeting of the EAU Section of Genito-Urinary Reconstructive Surgeons (ESGURS) ‘Advancements in genito-urinary reconstruction’ and the Special Session ‘EAU Research Foundation Meeting’ then round it off with a satellite symposium. And what better topic than Nocturia?” said Drake.
Drake also recommends sessions from Sunday, 26 March and Monday, 27 March. “I intend to be at Plenary Session 04 ‘Benign Prostatic Enlargement (BPE): Evaluation, drugs, surgery or new interventional treatment’, since this is one of our main clinical encounters in routine practice. Poster Session 42 ‘OAB and Nocturia’, and Plenary Session 06 ‘Functional urology’ have a large amount of novel information. I will be at the ESU course ‘General neuro-urology’, as a member of the faculty- we always get great interaction at this session. After this, I’ll check out Poster Session 85 ‘Innovations in urodynamics and diagnostics’, again to see cutting-edge knowledge.
HOT courses
And what is an ideal EAU17 day without ESU/ESFFU’s Hands-on Training (HOT) courses? “I’ll make sure I’ll attend the HOT courses such as ‘OnabotulinumtoxinA administration for OAB’ and ‘Urodynamics’. And when I’m in need of recharging my intellectual batteries, I’ll check out the latest developments in education through ESU at the ESU booth, and the ESU Innovation and Education Square on the exhibition floor,” shared Drake.
London
Familiar with the city of London, Drake shares the route he takes during EAU17 “I love to use the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to get from Central London to the East. That’s how I’ll start my day. Then a nice walk to the Excel Centre crossing a high level bridge over Victoria Dock or from Pontoon Dock DLR over a floating bridge. The way back is also a sight to behold. After each Congress day, I’ll walk along the north side of the dock to get to the Emirates cable car. It crosses the river Thames. The view is spectacular! I’ll see the Canary Wharf, the O2 arena and the Thames Barrier. I’ll be exhausted but happy. I plan to get a good night’s sleep and wake up energised for the next day,” concludes Drake.
