P
rimary care physicians (PCPs) typically encounter patients presenting with urologic conditions on a daily
basis.
The encounter may be over the phone, when a patient calls to renew a script for a recurrent urinary tract infection.
Or a patient may present in the PCP’s office with lower urinary tract symptoms or gross hematuria. Or the PCP
may find red blood cells in a microscopic urinalysis sample collected during a patient’s annual check-up. Amale
patient may report decreased erections or other signs and symptoms of testosterone deficiency syndrome.
PCPs working in an emergency department may see patients who present with severe renal colic, or a painful or
sudden-onset swollen testicle or scrotum, or even urinary retention.
It is rare for a PCP to pass a day without seeing a patient who has a urologic condition. Because of this, over five
years ago,
The Canadian Journal of Urology
(CJU) created and published the first edition of “Update in Urology for
the Primary Care Physician” as a journal supplement. Since then, I have helped develop three subsequent editions.
These supplements have gone viral! Over 15,000 doctors in Canada alone have seen them. PCPs can access the
supplements online for free on the CJU website
). Whenever I give lectures anywhere in the
world, doctors frequently approach me with compliments and expressions of gratitude for these guides to urology
care. Many have told me that these supplements have become their “go-to bible for urology.”
In this edition, which we renamed “
Practical Guidebook in Urology for Primary Care Physicians
,” we have taken
a slightly different approach. In collaboration with two PCPs, Dr. Matt T. Rosenberg and Dr. Martin Miner, who
have extensive knowledge and practical experience inmanaging urology patients, we have created a resource with
a new focus. Wherever possible, we aimed to provide treatment algorithms or step-by-step guides to diagnose and
treat patients with typical urologic conditions. We describe how PCPs can manage urology patients who are seen
in their office or in the emergency department. For each urologic condition, this guidebook provides a practical
patient-management approach based on the literature as well as up to 35 years of clinical experience.
We hope that this guidebook will become your new “everyday handbook” for the practical management of your
urology patients.
Jack Barkin, MD, FRCS(C)
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Executive Deputy Editor, CJU
E D I T O R I A L
“How We Do It” - The New Guidebook in Urology for Primary Care Physicians
© The Canadian Journal of Urology™; 21(Supplement 2); June 2014
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