European Association of Urology: leading scientific organisation

Who are we?
The European Association of Urology (EAU) is a non-profit organisation committed to the representation of urology professionals worldwide. All active urology professionals, including urology nurses, are eligible for membership of the EAU.

The constituent bodies of the EAU include the:
• Executive Committee (4 members elected by the General Assembly)
• Executive Board (the Executive Committee and the chairs of the EAU Offices)
• EAU Offices.
Decisions made by the EAU General Assembly are implemented by the EAU Offices. The Executive Committee and EAU Offices are assisted by the EAU Central Office, which is based in Arnhem, The Netherlands, and run by the Executive Management. 
The European Academy of Urology is the advisory body to and of the EAU. The Academy consists of members who have previously had official responsibilities within the EAU.

History
1972 - Prof. Georgio Ravasini, holder of the chair of Urology at the University of Padua, gathered 10 well-known European urologists to discuss the formation of a European urology society.
1973 - during the International Urology Congress in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the Constituent Assembly was held, and the EAU was born. 
1974 - the first Annual EAU Congress, chaired by Prof. Ravasini was held in September 1974 in Padua, Italy. The launch of European Urology, the EAU’s scientific journal, was announced during the congress, and the first issue was published on 1^st January 1975.
Today the EAU is a vibrant, contemporary, professionally run scientific organisation, representing over 11,000 urologists, urologists-in-training and urology scientists all over the world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural Mountains. The EAU is the leading European urology organisation in the fields of science, education and publication.

What is our mission?
The EAU’s mission is to raise the level of urological care in Europe by promoting  professionalism and competence among our members.

The EAU aims to:
• act as the representative body for all European urologists and urology nurses, and thus facilitate the continued development of urology and all its sub-specialties
• foster proliferation of the highest standards of urological care throughout Europe
• encourage urological research and facilitate wide publication of its results
• encourage EAU members to contribute to the medical and scientific literature
• raise awareness of European achievements in urology worldwide
• establish standards for training and European urological practice
• contribute to the formulation of European urological healthcare policies.

How do we fulfil our mission?

’By acting as the representative body for all European urologists and urology nurses, the EAU facilitates the continued development of urology and all its sub-specialties’

The EAU maintains close contacts with national urology organisations who represent the interests of urologists at a national level worldwide. These independent national organisations are crucial as they support the EAU and its European activities, for example the Annual EAU Congress and ‘Urology Week’ (see www.urologyweek.org), which is organised annually to raise awareness of urological conditions throughout Europe, within the healthcare professions and the general public.

Urology associations in the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East regions welcome opportunities for bilateral exchanges with EAU members with regard to training, education and other areas in urology. Ultimately, this exchange will benefit the entire specialty.

The European Association of Urology Nurses (EAUN; see www.uroweb.org under Nursing) aims to contribute to the development of higher standards of urology nursing in Europe. EAUN members receive a series of free publications and benefit from additional privileges, such as the fellowship programme.

‘By fostering proliferation of the highest standards of urological care throughout Europe’

Annual EAU Congress
The EAU organises highly esteemed congresses and courses in the field of urology. The Annual EAU Congress is the largest urology meeting in the world; in 2008, we were proud to welcome over 12,000 delegates to our congress in Milan, Italy.

Regional EAU Meetings
The Board of the EAU has identified the need for an additional series of EU-ACME (European Urology - Accredited Continuing Medical Education) meetings on a regional, but supranational, basis. These meetings provide platforms from which new clinical or experimental work from the region can be presented to an international audience. To complement the international perspective, speakers from outside the region are invited to give state-of-the-art lectures on current hop topics. For details of forthcoming Regional Meetings see the EAU website (http://www.uroweb.org).

EAU Section Office
The EAU Section Office aims to develop specialist sections covering all sub- and super-specialist fields of urology. The participating sections promote and develop scientific and clinical programmes and organise regular meetings to disseminate information about these super-specialist activities and research. See the EAU overview.

EU-ACME Committee
In 2004, the EAU and the European Board of Urology (EBU) - the working group of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) Section of Urology – joined forces to establish a new committee, the EU-ACME to promote Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for all European urologists. The EBU, an independent organisation, is responsible for all regulatory matters; the involvement of EAU makes a truly European-wide system possible.

European urologists can gain CME credit points by participating in accredited activities. We expect that national CME systems will become obligatory in Europe in the near future.
All EAU events and annual meetings of the national urology societies are automatically accredited. For information about other meetings, please visit www.eu-acme.org.

European Urological Scholarship Programme (EUSP)
Knowledge shared is knowledge multiplied. The highest standards of urological care can be proliferated by sharing knowledge. The EUSP stimulates clinical and scientific research across Europe and encourages exchange of expertise and knowledge between European urologists.
Please check www.uroweb.org under ‘Scholarship’ for more information.

’By encouraging urological research and facilitating wide publication of its results’

EAU Research Foundation
To improve and sustain the highest quality of urological research in Europe, the EAU has recently set up the EAU Research Foundation (EAU-RF), an independent body governed by the EAU. The remit of the EAU-RF is to stimulate and coordinate basic, translational and clinical research by qualified ICH GCP (Good Clinical Practice) investigators.

‘By encouraging EAU members to contribute to the medical and scientific literature’

EAU History Office
The EAU History Office keeps records of old techniques, instruments, major events and significant figures in European urology, to promote interest in the history of urology. The series ‘Historia Urologiae Europaeae’, (which forms part of the European Classical Library) contains fascinating accounts of European urological history. The ‘European Classical Library in Urology’ and ‘The Art Collection’ including ‘From Ornamentation to Mutilation’, are very popular and can be ordered from the EAU web site.
 
’By raising awareness of European achievements in urology worldwide’

EAU publications
The  EAU produces several publications that help to disseminate the latest news from the Association.

European Urology, the official scientific journal of the EAU, is a world-class publication involving dedicated urologists and with a high impact factor (IF 5.634). The journal publishes peer-reviewed original articles and topical reviews on a wide range of urological issues. European Urology constantly reviews and updates its features and layout to remain innovative, keep pace with the rapidly evolving world of medicine, technology and surgery and provide the best clinical guidance, research and education for urologists worldwide. European Urology is EU-ACME accredited. It is available in print and online and reaches over 20,000 readers.

European Urology Today (EUT), the official newsletter of the EAU, reports news from the association and its committees as well as announcements regarding upcoming meetings and congress reports. All members are encouraged to contribute articles to the EUT discussing recent studies, technical developments, fellowship experiences, and other issues of interest to EAU members. EUT is published six times a year in full-colour, newspaper format and is distributed to approximately 13,000 addresses worldwide.

European Urology Video Journal (EUVJ) is produced by the EAU Video Committee on a quarterly basis. Each issue includes a DVD containing 45 minutes of high-quality footage showing surgical techniques. An accompanying brochure contains the author's commentary and step-by-step description of the surgery shown in the video, thus providing  the latest information on urological diseases and surgical techniques. All material is educational - common surgical techniques are shown in detail - and informative - the most recent developments regarding new technologies, devices or surgical approaches are presented.

EAU website
The EAU has its own official, state-of-the-art, website. Our site provides access to everything you need to know about the EAU and the latest developments in the field of urology. Details of the Annual EAU Congress, including information on the venue, scientific programme and social events, are available at http://www.uroweb.org.
In addition, the scientific programmes of all the main urology meetings, the highly valued EAU guidelines, original EAU articles (including a ‘chat’ function), a virtual school, webinars and online discussions are just a few examples of the wealth of information and interactivity that is available for you on the EAU website (visit the site now at http://www.uroweb.org).

‘By establishing standards for training and European urological practice’

EAU Education Office and the European School of Urology (ESU)
The ESU is part of the Education Office of the EAU. Its aim is to provide every practicing urologist and urologist-in-training in Europe with a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of all contemporary issues and most recent progress within urology.

Each year, post-graduate ESU training courses, covering both general and advanced clinical and research topics, are scheduled during the Annual EAU Congress. In addition, hands-on training courses are offered in collaboration with the European Society of Urological Technology (ESUT), one of the EAU offices.

The ESU also organises and funds ESU Organised Courses. Course programmes are customised to meet the needs of local organisers and can vary in duration from 2 hours to up to 2 days. The ESU arranges courses at all major national congresses.

Another ESU initiative involves standalone events covering recent developments, for example the annual European Urology Forum in Switzerland

Masterclasses discussing the newest topics and latest developments in all fields of urology are held regularly. Recent masterclasses have included ‘medical treatment for urological cancer’ and ‘female and functional urology’.

The ESU has also started to build the Virtual European School of Urology. Using this new educational tool, both residents and urologists will be able to access on-line CME accredited training. All ESU activities are EU-ACME accredited.

EAU residents
The ESU organises the European Residents Education Programme (EUREP) course, an educational activity designed for European senior urology residents, in collaboration with the EBU. The course offers a series of teaching modules, after which an EBU examination can be taken. The EAU supports residents in terms of registration, travel and accommodation.

‘By contributing to the formulation of European urological healthcare policies’

Political commitment
The European Commission strives to improve public health in the European Union, to prevent human illness and diseases, and to obviate sources of danger to human health.
To achieve a high level of health protection, close cooperation with the scientific experts is vital. As the leading European organisation representing urology professionals, the EAU has engaged in a dialogue with the policy makers in Brussels.