Call for Committee Volunteers 2024

Be Part of an IUGA Committee!

Application Deadline: October 31, 2024

Don’t miss your chance to be part of an IUGA Committee! You’ll share your experience and expertise, but also gain knowledge and enlarge your networking circle – all while being part of IUGA’s work to continue moving the field of urogynecology forward.

We are now accepting applications for openings on the following committees:

  • Communications Committee
  • Education Committee
  • Fellows, Trainees & Early Career Professionals Committee
  • Fellowship Development Committee
  • Innovation, Research & Development Committee
  • Membership Committee
  • Publications Committee
  • Scientific Committee
  • Surgical Committee
  • Terminology & Standardization Committee
  • Workshop Committee

See below for a description of each committee.

Eligibility

Current IUGA members are eligible to serve on a committee. The intent is for committee membership to mirror the geographic and practice diversity of the IUGA membership. Members from Africa, Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean, and Oceania are especially encouraged to apply, as well as non-physician members (nurses, midwives, allied health professionals).

Members may only serve on one committee at any given time, with the exception of the Fellows, Trainees & Early Career Professionals Committee members who may also be assigned to another committee in order to represent the trainee perspective across the work of the association.

Term

Members added to IUGA committees as a result of this Call for Committee Volunteers will have a term start date of January 1, 2025. The length of the term is specific to each committee and listed below.

How to Apply

To apply for a committee position:

  1. Complete the Committee Application Form by Thursday, October 31st, 2024.
  2. Complete the Online Disclosure Form by Thursday, October 31st, 2024.

Application Deadline

A complete application and disclosure form must be submitted by Thursday, October 31st, 2024, 11:59pm CST, for your application to be considered complete. Only complete applications will be forwarded to Committee Chairs for consideration.

Committee Descriptions

Communications Committee
Terms of Reference
Chairperson: Deepa Gopinath (Australia)
Term Length: 3 years
Description: The Communications Committee is responsible for developing and managing IUGA's media communications to the broader community, including patients, physicians, and IUGA members. Additionally, the committee is responsible for recommending and executing IUGA’s social media strategy while providing relevant urogynecological content for these platforms. Through its efforts, the committee plays a key role in promoting a positive image of IUGA’s mission, initiatives, and activities.

Education Committee
Terms of Reference
Chairperson: Natarajan Rajamaheswari (India)
Term Length: 3 years
Description: The Education Committee is responsible for developing, promoting, and maintaining the educational offerings of the association.

Fellows, Trainees & Early Career Professionals Committee*
Terms of Reference
Chairperson: Yu Hwee Tan (Australia)
Term Length: 2 years
Description: The main duty of the IUGA Fellows, Trainees & Early Career Professionals Committee is to contribute to the academic development of fellows, trainees, and those within their first five years of practice out of training in the field of urogynecology/female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery by fostering international scholarship and making recommendations to the Education and Innovation, Research & Development Committees regarding potential activities. 
*Applicants to this committee should be enrolled in a fellowship or training program or be within their first five years of post-training practice.

Fellowship Development Committee
Terms of Reference
Chairperson: Will be determined in current election
Term Length: 3 years
Description: The Fellowship Development Committee is responsible for the development of a suggested minimum set of core topics specific to urogynecology to be included in training programs as well as target a larger goal of facilitating program development in less developed regions through the sharing of best practices. This information will be important to achieving the long-term goal of establishing urogynecology as a subspecialty around the world.

Innovation, Research & Development Committee
Terms of Reference
Chairperson: May Alarab (Canada)
Term Length: 3 years
Description: The Innovation, Research & Development Committee is responsible for the IUGA Research Grants (in basic science and clinical research) and reviewing surveys and requests to disseminate surveys to the IUGA membership. The committee also develops and promotes research manuscripts and projects through its members and interested individuals. Specific expertise in urogynecology research (basic sciences and/or clinical) is required.

Membership Committee
Terms of Reference
Chairperson: Sivakumar Balakrishnan (Malaysia)
Term Length: 2 years
Description: The Membership Committee works in partnership with IUGA staff to develop and execute member recruitment and retention strategies and to provide input on membership-related processes.

Publications Committee
Terms of Reference
Chairperson: Aparna Hegde (India)
Term Length: 3 years
Description: The Publications Committee publishes the IUGA Spotlight – the official newsletter of IUGA – and determines if submitted content is best suited for inclusion in the newsletter, online news posts, or on social media channels. Committee members are involved in suggesting content/article topics, sourcing authors for articles, and writing and reviewing articles.

Scientific Committee
Terms of Reference
Chairperson: Will be determined in current election
Term Length: 3 years
Description: The Scientific Committee is responsible for reviewing abstracts and developing the scientific program for the Annual Meeting.

Surgical Committee
Terms of Reference
Chairperson: Catherine Matthews and Mark Walters (USA)
Term Length: 3 years
Description: The Surgical Committee is responsible for curating and promoting resources to support surgical education, as well as developing guidelines on best practices for specific surgical procedures. Please note that membership in this committee is exclusively available to regular physician or fellow/trainee members. Non-physicians are not eligible for this committee.

Terminology & Standardization Committee
Terms of Reference
Chairperson: Sarah Collins (USA)
Term Length: 3 years
Description: The Terminology & Standardization Committee is responsible for the development, publication, and subsequent management of IUGA documents related to terminology and standardization. At times, there will be joint projects with one or more other societies. Subsequent management includes translation of the published documents.

Workshop Committee
Terms of Reference
Chairperson: Ivilina Pandeva (UK)
Term Length: 3 years
Description: The Workshop Committee is responsible for reviewing the workshop submissions for the IUGA Annual Meetings and recommending acceptance or rejection of submissions.