2024 Essay Contest Winner

Congratulations to Courtney Yong, MD, a second-year fellow at Indiana University, and winner of the seventh annual Residents and Fellows Committee Essay Contest! The theme of this year's contest, open to medical students, residents and fellows, was "The Evolution of Urologic Training." Dr. Yong is the first to be selected as a repeat Grand Prize Winner, having previously authored the winning essay in 2021.

Dr. Yong's essay will be published and shared with the urology community in an upcoming issue of The Journal of Urology® and on the AUA website.

Three essays were also selected as Honorable Mentions and will be published on the AUA website in the coming months:

• Rebecca Howland, MD, Resident, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Kiran Sury, MD, Fellow, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
• Jonathan Xu, MD, Resident, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Burlington, Massachusetts

Thank you to all the medical students, residents and fellows who participated in this year's contest and stay tuned for the published essays! 

Please check back in Fall 2024 for the 2025 submission guidelines. 

Past AUA Residents and Fellows Committee Essay Contest Winners

2023

Nicolas Seranio, MD - 2023 Grand Prize Winner
Resident, Stanford University
Read Dr. Seranio's winning essay.

Madeleine Ball, BS - 2023 Honorable Mention
Medical Student, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Read Madeleine Ball’s essay.

Baine Herrera, MD - 2023 Honorable Mention
Resident, Texas ATM/Baylor Scott and White Temple Memorial
Read Dr. Herrera's essay.

Hannah Kay, MD – 2023 Honorable Mention
Resident, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Read Dr. Kay's essay.

2022

Avi Baskin, MD - 2022 Grand Prize Winner
Resident, University of California, San Francisco
Read Dr. Baskin's winning essay.

Laurence Hou, MD - 2022 Honorable Mention
Resident, Hackensack University Medical Center
Read Dr. Hou's essay.

Utsav S. Shah - 2022 Honorable Mention
Fellow, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences
Read Dr. Shah's essay.

Kiran Sury, MD – 2022 Honorable Mention
Resident, University of Pennsylvania
Read Dr. Sury's essay.

2021

Courtney Yong, MD - 2021 Grand Prize Winner
Resident, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
Read Dr. Yong's winning essay.

Kiran Sury, MD - 2021 Honorable Mention
Resident, University of Pennsylvania
Read Dr. Sury's essay.

Esther Nivasch Turner, MD - 2021 Honorable Mention
Resident, University of Pennsylvania
Read Dr. Nivasch Turner's essay.

Wesley Yip, MD – 2021 Honorable Mention
Resident, University of Southern California
Read Dr. Yip's essay.

2020

Meghan A. Cooper, DO, MA - 2020 Grand Prize Winner
Resident, University of South Florida
Read Dr. Cooper's winning essay.

Paulette C. Dreher, DO - 2020 Honorable Mention
Resident, Main Line Health
Read Dr. Dreher's essay.

Lauren Poniatowski, MD, MS - 2020 Honorable Mention
Resident, University of Washington
Read Dr. Poniatowski's essay.

Blair Townsend, MD, MBA - 2020 Honorable Mention
Resident, Carolinas Medical Center at Atrium Health
Read Dr. Townsend's essay.

2019

Karen Wheeler, MD, PhD - 2019 Grand Prize Winner
Fellow, University of Texas Health Center San Antonio
Read Dr. Wheeler's winning essay.

George Goucher, MD - 2019 Honorable Mention
Resident, McMaster University
Read Dr. Goucher's essay.

Blair Townsend, MD, MBA - 2019 Honorable Mention
Resident, Carolinas Medical Center at Atrium Health
Read Dr. Townsend's essay.

JJ Zhang, MD- 2019 Honorable Mention
Resident, Cleveland Clinic
Read Dr. Zhang's essay.

2018

Unwanaobong Nseyo, MD - 2018 Grand Prize Winner
Resident, University of California, San Diego
Read Dr. Nseyo's winning essay.

Julia Fiuk, MD - 2018 Honorable Mention
Resident, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Read Dr. Fiuk's essay.

Natalie Hartman - 2018 Honorable Mention
Medical Student, University of Southern California
Read Natalie Hartman's essay.

Ramphis Morales-López, MD - 2018 Honorable Mention
Resident, University of Puerto Rico
Read Dr. Morales-López's essay.

Nathan Wong, MD - 2018 Honorable Mention
Resident, McMaster University
Read Dr. Wong's essay.