A. A Senior Elective Program for a student interested in Urology should include the following:
1. Faculty representation through the office of Dr. Koch or another suitable mentor within the Department of Urology.
2. The elective should be a university based one, mainly at the Adult University Hospital and Riley Children's Hospital under the supervision of Drs. Koch, Gardner, Sundaram, Rink, Cain, Hsaio, Bihrle, Foster, Beck, Kaefer, or Meldrum.
3. The elective for a
student interested in a urology career should be in the first three months of
the senior year. This would give us an opportunity to evaluate the student
prior to internship application commitment, and we can better advise the
student.
B. Process of obtaining graduate education in urology.
1. Timing of application: Most applications are due in October. Students usually interview in November and December.
2. Type of internship: Preferably straight surgery.
3. Letters of recommendation: 3 are usually required and should be from the urology faculty. Letters should be written in September and received by October.
4. Factors in judging graduate programs in urology:
(a) A program should offer a broad exposure to the field. An optimal program has a high surgical volume, a well-developed academic curriculum, and will have an opportunity for more independent responsibility, e.g., a VA and/or county hospital.
(b) All urology programs have become highly competitive in the past 10 years. Nationally, 30-35% of applying students do not match. Applicants to any program should be highly competitive academically and should be well known by urology faculty who are willing to write strong letters of recommendation. The most competitive programs in the central US are Indiana, Michigan, Vanderbilt, Loyola, Mayo clinic, and Cleveland clinic.
Michael
Koch, M.D.
Professor and Chairman
Department of Urology