Refurbishing a Rusty Cystoscope into the Retrospectroscope Award

Objectives The AUA Earl Nation Retrospectroscope Award is presented annually for the best presentation and paper at the annual History Forum. The award, bestowed by voting members of the AUA History Committee, includes a personalized and refurbished Brown-Buerger cystoscope and an AUA honorarium. The history of this prestigious award itself, however, is not widely known. Our objective was to identify the persons, vision, and processes required to establish the award and continue its tradition as a highlight of the annual meeting of the AUA. Methods We reviewed contemporaneous documents including AUA Board of Directors’ Meeting items, AUA archives, History Committee minutes, and notes by the AUA museum curators. Original newspaper archives were obtained as cited from digital resources. Secondary publications regarding the founding of the AUA History Club, the History of Urology Forum, its creators, and the award itself were obtained from the AUA Archives or from on-line resources as indicated. Results The annual History Forum at the American Urologic Association national meeting has been held annually since 1975, modelled after the smaller history meetings moderated by Earl Nation and Frank Bicknell since 1965. The development of an award for the top history paper was proposed at the 2005 meeting and formally approved by the AUA Board of Directors in 2006. During this time the AUA Museum had collected numerous ACMI Brown-Buerger cystoscopes from urologists who were switching to fiberoptic instruments. The Retrospectroscope Award, later named after 1977 AUA President Earl Nation, thus came into existence whereby the winning History Forum presenter would be given one of the donated cystoscopes and a small honorarium. The first Retrospectoscope winner was Shamim Baker for her 2005 paper on the Tuskegee experiment. The prize has been awarded annually for the past 19 years, eventually coming under AUA sponsorship in 2014. Conclusions The History of Urology Club at the AUA began in 1965 but an award for the best presentation has only been awarded since 2006. The AUA website lists prior award winners. The History of Urology Forum has significantly increased in popularity from the original 5 presentations in 1965 to 21 podium presentations in 2022 with 14 posters, a keynote “Bicknell Oration”, and a Medical Ethics Debate. As competition for the AUA Earl Nation Retrospectroscope Award has increased, contenders must submit a completed manuscript in addition to their presentation.