Helen O'Connell (urologist)

Helen E. O'Connell AO (born 3 April 1962) is an Australian professor of urology and a pioneer in the anatomical study of the clitoris. She is a leading researcher in the area of female pelvic anatomy and was the first woman to complete training as a urologist in Australia.

O'Connell in 2020

Education

In 1994, O'Connell graduated from Melbourne University with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree[1] as Australia's first female urological surgeon.[2] From 1994 to 1995, she moved to the United States for advanced training (a fellowship),[2] with neuro-urologist Edward J. McGuire in Houston, Texas. In 1997, she obtained a Master of Medicine degree[1] for a project on female urinary incontinence. In 2004, she graduated from the University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, and Melbourne Private Hospital with a Doctor of Medicine[1] in the field of female pelvic anatomy.

Career

Since 2016, she has been director of the urology department of Western Health in the Australian state of Victoria.

O'Connell was director of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons (RACS) between 2005 and 2014 and elected Director of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand from 2005 to 2010. She was Chair of the College's Surgical Research Board from 2007 to 2009. Her clinical and research focus is on the surgical treatment of lower urinary tract problems, particularly incontinence and bladder sphincter obstruction.[2][3][4] In 2019, she was appointed director of the International Continence Society meeting to be held in Melbourne in 2021.[5]

To illustrate the historically low proportion of women in the medical sciences and particularly in the field of urology, O'Connell's biography mentions at the outset that she became the first female urologist in Australia in 1993. O'Connell's aim was to improve our knowledge of female pelvic anatomy, including the genitourinary tract with the reproductive organs, through insights from surgery.

Clitoris

In 1998, O'Connell published research results on the widely ramified deeper structure of the clitoris,[6] and in 2005, in the Journal of Urology, the article "Anatomy of the Clitoris". Multiplanar imaging of clitoral anatomy using magnetic resonance imaging in the living state supplemented the dissection material and showed that the erectile vestibular bulbs are a part of the clitoris, and that the female urethra and vagina, although not erectile in character, are closely related structures that form a tissue cluster with the clitoris that is the site of female sexual function and orgasm.[7] Among others, the science magazine New Scientist reported on the results of the investigation.[8] In 2010, O'Connell succeeded for the first time in depicting a stimulated clitoris in a 3D image and showing its more than 15,000 nerve endings in the pelvic area.[9][10]

O'Connell has conducted several research projects on the female genital system. This has resulted in five publications in the form of articles, including her dissertation "Review of the Anatomy of Clitoris", defended in 2005.

In 2003, she was scientific advisor for the documentary film "The Clitoris, the Great Unknown", in which she also gave an interview. In the context, O'Connell referred to an anatomical textbook she used while studying in the 1980s. She said this impression became the motivation for her to focus on this area because there was no description of the clitoris in it, although there was a whole chapter on the mechanism of erection with information on the neuroanatomy and vascular nutrition of the penis, without ever mentioning the clitoris. Later as internship trainee in the surgery operating room, she noticed that special attention was paid to preserving sexual function during surgical procedures on men, while preserving sexual function during procedures on women seemed more incidental. She said there was no available manual on the nerves and blood supply to the clitoris.[11]

Awards and honours

O'Connell was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2021 Australia Day Honours for "distinguished service to medical education, and to medicine, in the field of urology, as an academic and clinician, and to professional groups".[12]

Publications

References
  1. "Professor Helen O'Connell". findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  2. "Prof Helen O'Connell". Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  3. Australian College of Rural & Remote Medicine: Professor Helen O'Connell
  4. Michigan Medicine – Urology: J. Edward McGuire, MD Professor Emeritus, Urology
  5. Continence Foundation of Australia: 5 minutes with Helen O'Connell
  6. Helen E. O'Connell, John M. Hutson, Colin R. Anderson, Robert J. Plenter: Anatomical relationship between urethra and clitoris. In: Journal of Urology. 1998, page 1892–1897.
  7. O'Connell, H. E., Sanjeevan, K. V.; Hutson, J. M. (October 2005). Anatomy of the clitoris. The Journal of Urology. 174 (4 Pt 1): 1189-95.
  8. New Scientist: The truth about women
  9. Flor Monfort: Con V de vulva
  10. Calla Walquist: The sole function of the clitoris is female orgasm. Is that why it’s ignored by medical science?
  11. Alessandra Cencin: Les différentes versions de la « découverte » du clitoris par Helen O’Connell (1998-2005)
  12. "Professor Helen O'Connell". It's An Honour. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  13. Professor Helen E. O'Connell – Urology
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