Department of Urology

Curriculum

Official program title:

UPMC Medical Education Program in Urology

Program number:

4804121135

Current accreditation status:

Full 10-year accreditation through 2021

Program size:

Four residents per year

Program structure:

PGY1

  • 6 months on urology services
  • 6 months of general surgical training

PGY2 (URO1)

  • 9 months on urology services (3 months each at Shadyside, Presbyterian/Montefiore, Mercy)
  • 3 months of general surgical training (including one month each in the intensive care unit and on the renal transplantation service)

PGY3

  • Junior resident level rotations at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Presbyterian/Montefiore, and the VA Hospital of Pittsburgh

PGY4

  • 6 months of dedicated research
  • 6 months of clinical rotations as a senior resident at Magee-Women's Hospital and Shadyside

PGY5-6

  • Chief level rotations at Magee, VA, Presbyterian/Montefiore, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and Shadyside

Call structure

We have adopted a night float system in which a single resident covers primary call every weeknight and two weekend nights per month from 6pm to 7am. This resident has no daytime clinical responsibilities. Residents cover night float during PGY-2 (4 weeks) and PGY-3 (6 weeks). The remaining weekend night calls are shared among the remaining PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents.

Operative experience

  • High case volumes in all major urologic procedures ensures graduates of this program receive outstanding surgical training.
  • Residents finish with 2 to 10 times the required case volume for all index case categories
  • In a typical month across our system, we perform approximately:
    • 20 cystectomies
    • 30 nephrectomies
    • 40 radical prostatectomies

Research

  • A 6 month block during the PGY4 (URO3) year is set aside for dedicated research time in one of several labs associated with the program.
  • The Laboratory Research rotation provides an initial exposure to basic urological research with opportunities for study in a variety of areas, including oncology, neurourology, and immunology. With many well-equipped laboratories, the research rotation provides significant exposure to many common research techniques, such as cell culture, small animal dissections, and molecular biology.
  • Residents who have papers accepted to national and sectional meetings are strongly encouraged to attend. In fact, residents are permitted to attend two conferences annually, to which they have an abstract accepted.

Conferences

We have a breadth of educational conferences scheduled on weekly, monthly, and annual schedules.

Some highlights include:

  • Adult and pediatric visiting professors
  • Regularly scheduled journal clubs in the fields of oncology, pediatrics, and female/reconstructive urology
  • Tumor board at UPMC Shadyside
  • Preoperative/indications conferences at each site