Benjamin Breyer, MD, MAS, served as the 2021 Justin J. Cordonnier Visiting Professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis at a virtual event held this April. Breyer is internationally known as a clinical expert in performing complex urethral and penile reconstruction for urethra stricture and cosmetic disfigurement, male incontinence, male fistula, surgical treatment for erectile dysfunction and transgender surgery.
The Cordonnier Visiting Professorship was established in honor of the first full-time head of the Division of Urology at the School of Medicine. The professorship is designed for practicing urologists in the community, as well as alumni, attending staff and trainees of the Division of Urology.
The program consisted of lectures by Breyer and presentations and discussion of individual cases and clinical problems by both Breyer and Washington University faculty and trainees. Breyer delivered two lectures at the event, titled “Cycling trauma: A Surgeon’s Primer” and “AUA Urethral Stricture Guidelines: What’s recommended and why.”
Breyer is Chief of Urology at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. He is the Frank Hinman, Jr, MD, Endowed Professor in Urologic Education and a professor of urology and epidemiology and biostatics at University of California, San Francisco. Breyer also serves as Director of the Male Genitourinary Reconstruction and Trauma Surgery Fellowship at UCSF.
“Residents and fellows did a great work today with their presentations and debates,” says Gregory Murphy, MD. Murphy, who is director of the Washington University Urologic Trauma and Reconstruction Fellowship, completed a fellowship at UCSF, where he trained with Breyer.
“We greatly appreciate Dr. Breyer joining us today, and leaving a legacy with us at Washington University through Dr. Murphy,” said Urologic Surgery Residency Program Director Erica Traxel, MD. “As the day has proven, urology is truly a small world, where we are all related in some way, through our clinical practice or education.”
Justin J. Cordonnier, MD, was the first full-time head of the Division of Urology at Washington University School of Medicine. He led the division as chairman from 1953 until 1970. During his tenure at the medical school, Cordonnier was actively involved in training urologic residents. Cordonnier continued to teach as emeritus professor until his death in 1980. The Justin J. Cordonnier Society was established as a non-profit organization in 1974 for the purpose of educating the residents and former residents of the Division of Urology at the School of Medicine. The first Cordonnier Lectureship was held in 1975.