Alan Shindel

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

I do a lot of medical school advising and what I tell students, based on my personal experience, is that the most important reason to choose a field is the colleagues with whom you get to work. I considered a number of different specialties when I was in medical school and a number of different sub-specialties once I was in urology residency. I found that it was the sexual medicine clinicians that really felt like “my people,” the group I would want to see and work with for the many decades of a career in medicine. These colleagues take what they do seriously and perform at a high level but also know how to approach what we do with humor and collegiality, more so than in many other branches of medicine.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your career?

Being there for patients and helping them solve sensitive and sometimes embarrassing problems is an easy answer to this question. That is definitely true for me, but I have to say that I find the work I do with colleagues on promoting our sexual medicine societies, coming up with guidelines and educational materials, and teaching/learning at our meetings is what really makes me feel fulfilled in my profession.

What is something most people don’t know about you? 

Something many might not suspect is that I DJ’d a techno radio show while in college and was a frequent attendee at raves in St Louis while in medical school. St Louis was not a hot bed of rave culture like NYC or SF but we did okay and I certainly had a lot of fun.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Not sure it was the best advice but the most valuable course I ever took in my life was Keyboarding back in high school! I was very resistant and thought it was a waste of time but given the ubiquity of keyboards in every aspect of our lives now I am incredibly grateful to be a fast typist now. In terms of actual advice, I would say that being sure to take stock of your positive achievements on a regular basis is important. We all tend to be our own worst critics and sometimes we need to force ourselves to see our positives and wins, helps keep perspective.

What would your ideal vacation be?

I am pretty flexible about locations but what I value most in travel is cultural/historical sites and culinary experiences. So pretty much anywhere in the world that has an interesting history (which is most places) and interesting (and hopefully tasty) food works for me!