Urology Residency

Program

PGY-1 (Pre-Urology)

PGY-1 is spent in general surgery and subspecialty areas including nephrology, pediatric surgery, surgical intensive care, trauma and vascular surgery.

PGY-2 (Uro-1)

PGY-2 is the first year residents experience seven months of clinical urology. The rotation also consists of three months of clinical or laboratory research and two months of urogynecology. In addition to beginning their urologic research training, residents develop expertise with the basic diagnostic equipment (endoscopy and urodynamics, ultrasound).

Parallel to this, residents are developing additional competence in evaluation, experience with minor procedures and occasional major procedures. Residents also attend the Basic Sciences Conference sponsored by the AUA in June.

PGY-3 (Uro-2)

This time allows development and continuation of research projects begun in the Uro-1 year. The resident rotates through seven months of clinical urology, three months at the VA and two months of transplant surgery to further expand their diagnostic, management and procedural skills.

PGY-4 (Uro-3)

Residents develop procedural skills in urologic subspecialty areas such as pediatric urology, urogynecologic, oncologic, endo and laparoscopic urology. Residents at this level provide a teaching experience for residents at a more junior level as well as medical students. The resident rotates through 12 months of clinical urology.

PGY-5 (Uro-4)

PGY-5 is the year for significant autonomy and independent decision-making. The chief resident functions with independence in the management of patients in intraoperative as well as postoperative care. Residents attend the AUA Annual Meeting as well as a review course to prepare for the board exam. The year is spent on clinical urology and in an administrative role within the residency.

Conferences

Residents are required to attend weekly and monthly conferences, including:

• Preoperative conference: weekly
• Resident lecture conference: weekly
• Resident study conference: weekly
• Journal club: monthly
• Urology staff conference: monthly
• Uro/pathology conference: monthly
• Research meeting: monthly
• Urology case management conference: weekly
• Urology oncology conference: weekly
• Morbidity & mortality: monthly
• Uro/radiology case management conference: monthly
• Quality assurance: monthly
• Ethics/joint conference: monthly

Call Schedule

Residents are required to take call for inpatient and emergency room calls. All call is taken from home; the time spent in the hospital is counted toward the weekly duty hours total.

The call schedule averages no more than one night in three over a four-week period.

The schedule is drawn up in such a way that each resident is not on call more than three nights in a row (e.g., Friday, Saturday and Sunday). Excluding weekends, the schedule should be a one-in-four rotation when possible.

The call schedule is drawn up by the chief resident with the input of all residents.

Investigación

Residents begin a research project during the PGY-2 (Uro-1) year while on the three-month clinic/research rotation. The faculty members involved with the project work with the resident to set a timetable for the research project.

Each resident is required to complete a case study, a retrospective clinical study and prospective project for submission as a presentation and publication in a peer review journal. Ample guidance for completion of the research project will be provided through the program director, research committee, faculty advisors and the director of research and education.

The completed research project enables residents to gain funding for the presentation of their work at a local or national level. The publication of the residents’ research project is an expected part of their research project.