The residents are expected to acquire basic skills in patient care, including pre-operative and post-operative evaluation and management. Basic surgical principles and skills should be learned as well. Each of the residents will spend four months in urology and the other eight months will be spent in a variety of surgical specialties, including, but not limited to, surgical critical care, colorectal surgery, surgical oncology, transplant, and pediatric surgery.

The resident is expected to begin to develop a broad base of knowledge of urologic anatomy, physiology, and pathology. They are also expected to learn the basic diagnostic procedures performed by urologists. The hospital rotation will provide the opportunity for residents to improve their patient care skills and begin learning open, endoscopic, and laparoscopic urologic procedures. During this year, the resident should develop areas of interest for scholarly activity during the remainder of the training program.  The resident rotates on the UK pediatric urology service (four months), VA (two months), and back to UK for endourology (two months), and flex service (four months). The flex service’s primary responsibility is Good Samaritan consults. 

This year focuses on refinement of basic diagnostic and surgical skills as well as expanding each resident’s cognitive abilities. Each resident serves as junior resident at the VA and UK adult urology services. During the pediatric urology rotation, the resident is expected to learn diseases and procedures that are specific to this area of subspecialty, including out-patient and in-patient activities. The resident rotates on the UK pediatric urology service (two months), the VA (two months), and back to UK for reconstructive (four months), oncology (two months), and endourology (two months).

During this year, the resident will receive broad exposure to more attending urologists and gain greater proficiency in complex diagnostic and surgical procedures. Areas such as lithotripsy, endourology, and laparoscopy will be emphasized. A wide experience in major open operative cases will also be expected. The resident will spend four months in pediatrics, four months in community practice, two months in endourology, and two months in reconstructive urology.

The chief resident at each hospital, UK and VA, will be responsible for the administrative aspects of the daily coordination of in-patient and out-patient care by the resident staff as well as coordinating conference schedules. This will be done under the supervision of the program director and the faculty.

Each chief resident will gain extensive experience in the more complex procedures as well as broadening her/his overall knowledge base. Each chief will spend time at the VA (four months), in oncology (four months), in reconstructive (two months), and in endourology (two months).