Introduction: The William P. Didusch Museum is a resource and repository of artifacts, texts and knowledge that encompasses the history of urology. Methods: We reviewed the literature and personal accounts surrounding the founding of the museum. We had discussions with previous historians, curators and staff of the museum in regards to the changes to the museum over time. Results: William P. Didusch was a world-renowned medical artist who studied under Max Brödel and was the staff artist for the Brady Urological Institute when it was first established under Hugh H. Young. The William P. Didusch Museum was founded in 1971 and comprised of the collection of Didusch’s drawings and Dr. Young’s instruments, which were housed at the AUA headquarters. When the museum was opened in 1972, Didusch served as its first curator. At the time of Didusch’s death, the AUA had purchased a new building and began extensive restructuring and renovation. Dr. Herbert Brendler and then Dr. William W. Scott served as the next curators focusing on cataloguing all of the items housed in the museum prior to it being reopened in 1989. Dr. Rainer Engel took over as curator of the museum in 1993 and supervised extensive renovations to the exhibit area with new display cabinets and updated story lighting and story boards. In 2003 the museum was moved to the new AUA Headquarters in Linthicum, MD. The new headquarters was designed to incorporate urologic history into the building, from cabinets to house educational exhibits, stairwells containing urologic history panels and meeting rooms with urologic history items. Under Dr. Engel, the central exhibit on the history of the cystoscope was finalized and the annual history exhibits flourished. With industry sponsorship and growth of the exhibit hall, the exhibits took on a life of their own! Dr. Michael Moran, the last of the full-time curators, brought his interest of historical texts and extensive publications to the museum. The museum is now governed by a history committee and has an annual exhibit curator. The museum continues to evolve and includes a dynamic website with a virtual museum tour and links to the past history exhibits. A quarterly newsletter, "The Scope of Urology," is in its 2nd year helping to further disseminate interesting history articles. Conclusions: The William P. Didusch Center for Urologic History has a rich heritage. It continues to evolve in pursuit of its mission to preserve, document and present the history of urology and to educate and engage the medical community and public in order to better understand its impact on today’s healthcare environment and provide insight into the future. SOURCE OF Funding: None
