What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

What drew me to sexual medicine is the privilege of helping people reclaim a part of their lives that is deeply tied to identity, connection, and overall well-being. As a urologist, I’m honored to support patients in optimizing their function across every stage of life — whether they’re navigating illness‑ or injury-related changes, recovering after cancer treatment, or simply facing the natural shifts that come with aging.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

In 1989, I was reading the New England Journal of Medicine and came across a review article published by Irwin Goldstein, Inigo Saenz de Tejada, and Bob Krane on impotence. I was fascinated by the physiology that was described by the authors. Before doing a day of urology, I negotiated with my chair of surgery to spend two months with Irwin doing research, and my passion for the field was ignited and sealed before I ever returned to my residency program.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?
As an undergrad student, I joined Dr. Michael Adams lab for my honors research project. I thought I would have a hypertension project and I ended up working on hypertension related erectile dysfunction. I carried this work through to my PhD studies and attended SMSNA meetings annually. I became hooked on sexual medicine and have continued this research in my lab.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

My path to sexual medicine emerged from my work as a psychosocial oncology researcher. For many years, I focused on understanding how people living with cancer navigate the interpersonal and emotional challenges of the illness. Across studies and clinical encounters, couples consistently described sexual health as one of the most pervasive and persistent unmet needs in cancer care.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

My mentor Dr. Ricardo Munarriz, who is a superb surgeon and excellent educator, motivated me toward this career path during residency. Whenever I need advice or have an impending difficult case I call Ricardo and Dr. Steve Wilson, who has also been a tremendous inspiration and support for me. I am also lucky to work with terrific residents, some of whom have gone on to careers in sexual medicine. Their burgeoning enthusiasm for our field continues to inspire me.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?
It was a departmental visiting professorship from Dr. Peter Schlegel when I was a PGY3. Prior to that, I had no idea that andrology and sexual medicine could be a primary career focus.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

My amazing mentor inspired me to work in sexual medicine. Her passion and dedication to this field is contagious and has truly motivated me to continue learning and grow as a provider while working in this awesome field of medicine.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

The people, the patients, the impact, the culture, the surgeries. My passion for sexual medicine grew early in my training under the mentorship of Dr. Jesse Mills, whose example showed me how one can make a meaningful impact in patients’ lives by addressing complex and often overlooked quality of life issues. I very quickly fell in love with both microsurgery and prosthetic urology, and in exploring the subspecialty, the SMSNA conferences. These experiences solidified my passion for the field and led me to pursue an SMSNA fellowship, where I could further develop the skills and knowledge needed to provide comprehensive, compassionate care in this rewarding subspecialty.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

I was inspired to work in sexual medicine by two exceptional mentors: Dr. Wayne Hellstrom and Dr. Ronald Lewis. During my andrology fellowship at Tulane University, I was introduced to the field and quickly recognized its profound impact on patients’ quality of life. Later, during my urology residency at the Medical College of Georgia, I saw firsthand how restoring sexual function could help individuals regain not only physical well-being, but also emotional health and relationship harmony. The guidance and encouragement from these giants in the field paved the way for me to dedicate my career to advancing care, education, and research in sexual medicine.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

When I was a postdoc, one of the professors gathered all the trainees in a room and played a video about prostate cancer patient survivors. It really impressed me, early in my career, that as difficult as it is to survive cancer, living with the treatment side effects can be debilitating, and have severe impact on patient quality of life. The video instilled in me that research is a privilege, and we should strive for excellence because the research we do can make a difference and help patients.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

Wayne Hellstrom clearly had the biggest impact on my initial decision to go into sexual medicine. He was and is still my mentor. He provided an atmosphere that pushed me to rapidly get caught up in the field of sexual medicine which helped to springboard pretty much everything else that came downstream. He also was very good about helping to introduce me to the SMSNA family and has continued to help with my career in many other ways.

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

I was a research fellow at Sloan Kettering conducting research on fatigue in men with prostate cancer who were on androgen deprivation therapy. John Mulhall presented grand rounds for my department. After his presentation, I introduced myself, he said, "Let's write a paper, come shadow me in clinic one day. I want to work with a psychologist clinically and academically...interested?"