Faculty Focus: Q&A with pediatric urologist Hogan Randall, MD

What’s special to you about joining the Iowa Urology team?

To me, the people are what make the Iowa Urology team special—the people that make up our team and the people that collaborate with our team. On the team are many thoughtful leaders who are continually advancing their particular field within urology. That type of development is important because it fosters the growth of other team members to do the same while simultaneously compelling them to forge relationships with members of other departments.

It is an incredible opportunity to work with not just the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Public Health, and the people who make up their various disciplines, but to have so many other colleges such as the College of Engineering, the College of Business, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences all within the same city. Removing the barrier of physical distance between these fields, as the University of Iowa has done, remains critical to those of us in smaller fields like pediatric urology. Even as the internet serves to connect the world, inspiration, empathy, and relationships often form at arm’s length.

What are you looking forward to as a member of the Iowa Urology team?

I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to teach medical students, residents, and possibly fellows. The main focus of my career is to expand high-level urologic care to parts of the United States and world that don’t have it. That represents something much larger than I could do alone; however, through teaching others, taking part in equipping them with that expertise, the number of impacted locations grows and the number of patients who are served multiplies.

What led you to the field of urology?

I always joked that going to medical school after college (where I earned a liberal arts degree in Spanish) was my way of kicking the career-decision can down the road. For me, the delayed decision-making paid off. Urology is a surgical field, and as a first- and second-year medical student, I was disinterested in becoming a surgeon. That mindset completely changed on the very first day of my third year of medical school. I was in a urology operating room, and I fell in love with the art of surgery and the field of urology right there on that day. I still vividly remember the experience, and I’m so glad to have finally found the field that I continue to love.

What do you love about being a urologist?

There are many things that I love about being a urologist. One of them is the people. There’s a certain personality of quirky intellect that some people possess, and the world of urology likes to find these people. I will always be blown away by how exceptionally smart my peers are, but the quirkiness of certain urologists is actually what keeps me coming back. Their interests, views, ideas, stories, and humor make spending time with them so unique and enjoyable.

Apart from urologists themselves, another thing that I love is how people outside of urology relate to urologists. I doubt there will ever be a heroic medical show that glorifies a urologist as its protagonist. Urology lends itself much better to a show like Scrubs, and I find that very healthy because there’s less risk for egoism.

In addition to these things, I also love the field itself. Practicing the art of surgery, working hands on with the intricacies of human physiology, is such a humbling privilege. In my particular field, I mostly do surgeries that attempt to rebuild or recreate things that didn’t develop correctly or had something happen to them—kidneys and bladders for example. I enjoy the challenges and the objective itself of using surgery to try to restore things.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at work?

I enjoy spending time with my family. As much as I enjoy my job, my family matters so much more. Unfortunately, I don’t usually get to show them this with how much time I spend at work versus how much time I spend with them, so I want to always maximize the quality of my time with them. I enjoy cooking with them, going outdoors, and being creative.