Chief resident physicians Joanna A. Orzel, MD, and R. Grant Owens, MD, MBA, each received awards during the 2025-26 academic year.

In October, Orzel received the John D. Silbar Award, presented annually by the North Central Section of the American Urological Association to a resident who demonstrates outstanding clinical ability, high ethical and moral standards, compassion for patients, and outstanding bedside manner.

Orzel is the fourth Iowa Urology resident to receive the award. Previous awardees include Drs. Henry M. Rosevear (2012), Matthew A. Uhlman (2015), and Laura A. Bertrand (2016).

Orzel, now a urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery fellow at the University of Michigan, also earned the Outstanding Resident Award from the Society of Women in Urology and the inaugural Society of Academic Urologists Resident Teaching Award.

Owens, now a urologic robotic oncology fellow at St. John's Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, CA, received an Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award from the UI Health Care Office of Graduate Medical Education.