• Call for nominations
• Comment on draft MUS Statement
• 2014 AUGS/IUGA Scientific Meeting
• Countdown to the meeting
• Special Interest Group meetings
• Patient education items available for sale at the meeting
• Laparoscopic SIG survey
• “Botox and Sacral Neuro-Modulation: Treating Refractory OAB” webinar recording now available online
• IUGA Facebook© photo contest voting

Call for nominations
This year there are several positions available for nomination and ultimate election by the membership.  The election will take place in the fall of 2014.  The positions for which nominations are sought are:

Board
       Vice-President
       Treasurer

International Advisory Board, the representatives for
       Europe
       Latin America
       North America

Committee Chairs:
       Terminology and Standardization

Members of the Scientific Committee:
       Four vacancies

Members of the Nominating Committee:
       Two vacancies

Nominations may be submitted through the IUGA web site until noon EDT on Wednesday, July 23. Nominations may be submitted by any IUGA member in good standing, including the nominee him or herself.  One member may not be a candidate for more than one position.  Once their nomination is confirmed, nominees will be asked to submit a short position statement and a photo to be posted online prior to and at the time of voting.

For more information about the nominations process and to submit your nomination, please click here.

Comment on draft MUS statement
The IUGA Board would like to invite the membership to comment on a draft statement regarding mid-urethral slings that has been developed with input from the International Advisory Board.  The draft is available on the members-only section of the IUGA website by clicking here.  If you don’t recall your log-in details, or are having difficulty accessing the members-only section of the website, please contact Amy Cassini, the Membership Manager, at amy@iuga.org.  The deadline for submitting comments is Monday, July 14, at 0900 EDT (in North America).  The board plans on releasing the final statement during the joint annual meeting with AUGS in Washington, DC, July 22-26.

19 days left until the meeting
There is still time left to register for the AUGS/IUGA Scientific Meeting! This year’s meeting is sure to please with exciting debates, innovative presentations during the scientific program, a fun new twist on the typical Friday night closing celebration and so much more. To view the various registration rates and types, please click here.

IUGA members will be required to enter a key code during the registration process to identify them as members. The code and instructions for using it were sent via e-mail  on April 11th. You can also find the code on your profile page by logging in at www.iuga.org and selecting ‘Profile Home’ from the menu options on the left-hand side of the page.

CLICK HERE TO BEGIN YOUR REGISTRATION

Please send all registration questions to info@augs.org.

Special Interest Group (SIG) Meetings
The IUGA SIG meetings will be held on Tuesday, July 22nd. The list of SIGs, a link to their web page on the IUGA web site and the time of each meeting is listed below:

Laparoscopic: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Neuro-Urogynecology: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation: 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Urogenital Pain: 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Purchase patient education items at the IUGA membership booth
If you’ve been hesitating to order IUGA’s patient education items because of shipping costs, now is your chance to purchase them. Items from the online store including patient brochures, the Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Anatomical & Surgical Chart, and illustration pads will be available for sale at the membership booth starting Wednesday, July 23-July 25. All major credit cards and U.S. dollars will be accepted as payment.  For more information and to view prices, please click here.

Complete the Laparoscopic SIG survey
The IUGA Laparoscopic Surgery SIG is requesting your assistance in completing a survey which will help guide the development of the SIG. It should take approximately 15 minutes to complete and should only be completed by members who perform sacrocolpopexy (ASC) for POP. It will be available through Monday, July 14, at 0900 EDT (in North America). To begin the survey, please click here.

OAB Webinar Series Part 2 of 2: “Botox and Sacral Neuro-Modulation: Treating Refractory OAB”
Recording now available online
On Wednesday, June 25 at 3:00pm (early June 26 in Asia and Oceania) IUGA offered the final installment of a two part OAB webinar series.  This session was recorded and is now posted on the IUGA web site. It features the following speakers and topics:

Moderator – Zeelha Abdool (South Africa)

Karl Tamussino (Austria)
Management of refractory OAB and the mechanism of action for Botulinum toxin, indications for use, and its efficacy and complications.

Kristine Whitmore (USA)
Sacral neuromodulation: method of preliminary and permanent implantation and its mode of action; full range of its potential benefits for both urinary and fecal incontinence.

Zeelha Abdool (South Africa)
Case scenarios submitted by IUGA members.

To view the recording of this webinar and/or previous webinars click here and find the section at the top labeled “Previously Recorded Webinars”. The recordings are available to members only. If you are not already logged-in to the IUGA web site, you will be prompted to log-in.

IUGA Facebook© photo contest voting begins June 27
We challenged our members to show the urogyn community, in a photo, what they are doing to have a positive effect on the lives of women, in their community and around the world.  Well, some members accepted that challenge and we received 12 awesome entries into the photo contest! Show your support for fellow members by voting for their photo to win 1 of 3 prizes. To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Visit the IUGA facebook page.  
2. If you haven’t already , click the like button on the page.
3. Go to photos, then albums and select the album titled ‘photo contest entries’.
4. Click your favorite photo, then click the ‘like’ button.

Note: you must like both the IUGA facebook page AND the photo in order for your vote to count. Spread the word to the rest of your friends and colleagues. If you are not currently a member of facebook, visit www.facebook.com and click the ‘sign up’ button.