Irwin Goldstein
Name of practice
San Diego Sexual Medicine
Location of practice
San Diego, CA, USA
Educational background
Sc.B. Biomedical Engineering, Brown University - 1971
M.D.C.M. McGill University - 1975
Professional background
Internship - Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada 1975-1976
Residency- Dept of Urology, University Hospital, Boston, MA, USA 1967-1980
Fellowships: University Hospital, Boston, MA 1980-1981
Clinical Investigator Award, NIAMDDK 1980-1984
National Kidney Foundation 1981-1982
How long have you been a member of the ISSM?
Since 1982 - now 30 years ago
Why did you join the ISSM?
My department chair, Dr. Robert J. Krane, introduced me to the field of sexual medicine. Dr. Krane attended the first meeting led by Adrian Zorginiotti in 1978. The ISSM (then the ISIR) was then and still is the internationally recognized, premiere society for sexual medicine. The ISSM is where the highest level of scientific communication in our field exists.
How does the ISSM benefit you?
I can't think of life without the ISSM. The society legitimizes the amazing and incredible field of sexual medicine. Without the ISSM, there would be no field of sexual medicine. I was able to advance my understanding of the sexual medicine through ISSM meetings. For example, through the ISSM, I was fortunate to meet Dr. Vaclav Michal of Czechoslovakia. I learned from him, on a trip to the US in 1983, how to perform penile revascularization surgery. I have since performed more than 1500 of these procedures, and taught the procedure to numerous clinical fellows, an accomplishment that can be traced directly back to the ISSM. Through the ISSM, I have had the privilege of being the Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Sexual Medicine and review up to 1000 sexual medicine manuscripts a year. While this is a big responsibility, it is a greater privilege and honor on behalf of the ISSM and the field of sexual medicine.
What led you to begin practicing in the field of sexual medicine?
My mentor, Dr. Robert J. Krane, exposed me to sexual medicine as a first year urology resident. Dr. Krane learned the technique of penile implantation in 1973 directly from Dr. Brantley Scott from Houston. Dr. Krane returned to Boston in 1974 to start placing penile prostheses in Boston. The facility attracted numerous patients from the New England area and in 1978, Dr. Karne initiated one of the fist multi-disciplinary sexual dysfunction clinics in the US that was biopsychosocially focused. We had in one medical center, a neurologist, endocrinologist, vascular surgeon, neurourologist, psychiatrist and psychologist. Dr. Krane asked me to be the physician that tested all the men with sexual dysfunction. We met regularly with the various disciplines to discuss patient management. Together Dr. Krane and I practiced sexual medicine more than 35 years ago. During that time, Dr. Krane asked me if I wanted to be a world's expert in the study, diagnosis and treatment of men with vasculogenic impotence. I said "Sure". I absorbed all I could about sexual medicine as a urology Resident, Fellow, Assistant, Associate and Professor of Urology and continue now in San Diego to enjoy treating both men and women with sexual health concerns. I really having never practiced general urology.
What are the special challenges in working in your region of the world?
I would like to think that the only current challenges we face are self-imposed. Free of the bureaucratic problems of academic medicine, we have a 6000 square foot facility and 11 full time employees to study, diagnose and treat women and men with sexual health problems in the San Diego area. Our practice continues to grow as we provide female and male sexual medicine clinical and basic science research, patient management and education. In particular, concerning education, our staff (sex therapist, nurse practitioner, soon-to-be pelvic floor physical therapist, sexual medicine fellow and sexual health educator along with myself) provide sexual medicine education to local colleges, medical school (all the 4 years including a sexual medicine elective), community-based programs, monthly hospital-based sexual medicine rounds, monthly sex therapy meetings, quarterly pelvic floor physical therapy meetings, and one-on-one preceptorships. Patient care and clinical research in sexual medicine continue to grow as more and more people understand the value of sexual medicine to their lives and how a multi-disciplinary facility can help.
Success story
My success story is not about my patients nor my practice. It is about the ISSM and its passionate members. From 2002-2003 I served as Editor of the ISSM journal and was part of an incredible editorial team that realized the ISSM needed to own its journal. This amazing group of individuals took on the responsibility of starting a new journal that the ISSM owned outright. In 2004, The Journal of Sexual Medicine was born - out of the hard work and true passion of many, many international leaders. It is now 8 years later and The Journal of Sexual Medicine has grown from 3 issues in 2004 to 12 issues in 2012, reviewing close to a thousand manuscripts a year and publishing more than three thousand pages a year. The Journal of Sexual Medicine is a true partner with all the international physicians and researchers in the field of sexual medicine. The ISSM is an amazing and successful and international organization that has fostered and grown and developed the field of sexual medicine. That is the real success - God Bless the ISSM!!!
