Urology

Prerequisites

To begin the Urology Residency, applicants must be graduates of an approved medical school. Note that acceptance into the Urology Residency will automatically assure the applicant of a PGY-1 position in the General Surgery Residency; it is not necessary to apply separately to the surgery residency program. Applicants who are offered interviews, match into our residency program, and successfully complete the residency in urology, will be able to apply for admission to the certification process of the American Board of Urology. Please refer to the American Board of Urology website for additional information.

Application Process

All applications must be made through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service). After careful review of all applications, applicants will be invited for interviews. It is impossible to invite every applicant for interview; those applicants invited will be notified and asked to select one of several days set aside for individual interviews, tours of the facility and time to meet with current residents.

Match Process

In addition to applying via ERAS, applicants must also register through AUA for the American Urological Association (AUA) Residency Match for Urology. With questions about that match, write to AUA Residency Matching Program, 2425 W. Loop South, Suite 333, Houston, TX 77027-4207; call 713-622-2700, ext. 86, fax 713-622-2898; or email resmatch@auanet.org. The AUA assigns match numbers to applicants and programs and sends preference list forms to applicants and programs. Applicants and programs then send the completed forms to the AUA in January. The AUA performs the match and sends results to applicants, medical schools and urology training programs.

Visiting Residents

The Urology Residency accepts visiting residents; applications for that are handled through the Office of Graduate Medical Education. .

The Urology Residency offers robust educational support to help our residents achieve success. This includes:

• Textbook stipend

• Purchase of surgical loupes

• Tablet stipend

• Attendance of AUA Fundamentals in Urology

• Attendance of AUA Board Review Course

• Financial support for travel to present research at regional and national meetings

During the five-year integrated program, residents will first complete one year of internship under the direction of Department of Urology, which includes six months of general surgery and six months of urology. In the following four years, the resident is exposed to all urologic disciplines and provided with a graduated level of responsibility for the medical and operative management of patients.

Rotations are structured in a preceptorship model, allowing the resident to be in regular contact with one of the teaching staff urologists and exposed to one discipline of urology at a time.

This helps the learner to solidify their understanding of the “practice” of urology and hone their surgical skill set through repetition.

Each rotation is on average two months. Residents rotate multiple times on each of the various services throughout their five years.

Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health promote an environment of inquiry, and all residents are expected to participate in scholarly activity during their fellowship training.

Given the diverse interests of the faculty, the program has the ability to support scholarly interest in many areas, including basic science, clinical trials, outcomes research and medical education, and across all subspecialties of urology.

The Department of Urology benefits from robust research support, which includes two dedicated clinical research assistants and support for grants and IRB applications, industry-sponsored clinical trials, quality improvement initiatives, statistical analysis and observational research.

Residents are financially supported to travel and present research at regional and national meetings, and the program regularly has a robust showing of residents attending the Mid-Atlantic Section of the AUA and the AUA annual meetings, among others.

The educational curriculum in the Urology Residency is robust and well-rounded, providing didactic teaching across all disciplines of urology. The resident will be exposed to the entire curriculum twice throughout their residency allowing the learner ample time to garner the medical knowledge necessary to be a successful urologist.

6:30 to 7:30 a.m. Mondays

• Third Monday: Morbidity and Mortality

• Fourth Monday: Case Conference (mock oral exam)

6:30 to 8 a.m. Thursdays

• Every Thursday: Didactic Conference, including the following based on the monthly topic:

  • Journal Club

  • Genitourinary Radiology (7:30 to 8 a.m.)

  • Simulation Center

• Every Thursday: Genitourinary Tumor Board (interested resident rotating on oncology)

• Third Thursday: Clinical Case Presentation

• Fourth Thursday: SASP Review

6:30 to 7:30 a.m. Fridays

• Every Friday: Preoperative Conference

Two to three on-site visiting professor programs are held yearly, allowing faculty, staff and residents to engage with current leaders in the field and network for future employment and research opportunities.

Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center accept ongoing nominations for the Exceptional Moments in Teaching award.

The award, given monthly by the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment, accepts nominations from College of Medicine students who are invited to submit narratives about faculty members, residents, fellows, nurses or any other educators who challenge them and provide an exceptional learning experience. .

Previous nominees from the Urology Residency are listed here. Click the + next to a nominee name to read their nominator’s comments.

The annual Resident/Fellow Research Day is held each year (with exception of during the COVID-19 pandemic) on and around the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center campus.

The intent of the event is to provide an opportunity for residents and fellows to showcase their research accomplishments to their peers in other clinical departments, as well as their colleagues in the basic sciences.

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Previous presentations from the Urology Residency are listed here.