There and (wanting to come) back again: My masterclass experience
After finishing medical school in my country, Bolivia, I travelled across the world as a medic and took my urological residency in Russia. Once my residency concluded, I went back home to work but instead of finding helping hands, I only found closed doors from my peers.
Years ago, while I was searching for knowledge and new experiences to help me improve my urological skills, I decided to become an EAU member. The academic resources are excellent, as are the webinars and e-courses. Soon after, I decided to apply for another new experience: the Masterclass on Urolithiasis organised by the European School of Urology (ESU) and the EAU Section of Uro-Technology (recently merged with the EAU Section of Urolithiasis and collectively known as the EAU Section of EndoUroTechnology).
The experience of the masterclass was high-level; it was unique from the very first second of being there to meeting some colleagues from across Europe. The scientific programme was excellent and comprised high-quality information: presentations of challenging cases by high-level experts, live surgery with the chance to ask experts questions as if I were in the OR, plenary sessions about challenging cases and complications, industry presentations, and hands-on training sessions.
To be with colleagues from other countries and key opinion leaders was a truly fulfilling experience. To watch the experts in the OR was excellent. To discuss cases with them was outstanding, but getting tips and tricks during the hands-on training? Priceless.
A friend of mine once said that sometimes we see experts as “unreachable gods”. Being in Greece, I had the chance to be close to these “gods of urology” and it was interesting to realise that they are not unreachable; they are very kind, patient people, and very human.
After this experience, I returned home more confident, better prepared, and ready to take on the big challenge of showing and applying my newfound knowledge in my daily practice.
If you were to ask me if taking an ESU masterclass is worth travelling more than 10,000 km for, I would say it is worth every cent, kilometre, and second of my time. I cannot wait to be in another!