Clinical training

You participate in all aspects of patient care and function independently in surgical cases. You are adequately supervised at all times for surgical cases and are primarily responsible for perioperative management of all surgical and hospitalized patients.

Rotation schedule

Mayo Clinic Urology employs a mentorship model. The fellow will participate in six rotations over the course of the year. There may be opportunity for personalization of the schedule depending on the fellow’s clinical interest.

A typical rotation schedule includes:

• Two rotations focused on ureteroscopic and percutaneous stone procedures
• One rotation dedicated to robotic and laparoscopic upper tract surgery
• One rotation dedicated to robotic and laparoscopic pelvic surgery
• One rotation focused on transurethral BPH procedures (i.e. Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate)
• One combined stone and upper tract robotics rotation

The fellow typically spends time learning about mineral metabolism and metabolic stone disease in the Nephrology Clinic.

Didactic training

You participate in departmental conferences, journal clubs, and training events throughout the academic year. You assist in coordinating the simulation and training activities for minimally invasive urologic techniques in the Department of Urology and in overseeing training assessments for residents in this regard.

Research training

You are provided opportunities and encouraged to actively pursue new research projects. A broad range of research opportunities are available within the fellowship program, and time is provided to pursue these interests. 

This fellowship actively supports the preparation of manuscripts for publication and travel to regional and national meetings to present research data.

You are required to submit one manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed journal before the end of the fellowship and complete one review article or book chapter.

There are several prospectively maintained disease-specific databases, including:

• Prostate
• Kidney
• Bladder
• Upper tract urothelial carcinoma

Call frequency

Our fellows are not scheduled to take call.

Teaching opportunities

You meet periodically with your mentor and the program director to discuss individual goals and future career plans.

If you have an interest in education, an opportunity to present didactic lectures to residents is provided. You also attend the annual Teach-the-Teacher Symposium held in the Department of Urology for faculty development purposes.

Conferences

You will attend the weekly Urology Imaging and Pathology Case Conference as well as participate in the monthly Morbidity and Mortality Conference. You will attend the weekly Topic-Oriented Journal Club in the Department of Urology when endourological topics are discussed. There is a quarterly Nephrology Stone Journal Club. Several weekly, biweekly, and monthly integrated conferences are open for you to attend in the areas that include general surgery, radiology, oncology, and pathology.

There is a monthly, dedicated Endourology Journal Club which is led by Endourology faculty.

Evaluation

To ensure you gain proficiency and develop the corresponding technical skills, supervising faculty members monitor your performance throughout this program. Your supervising faculty completes competency-based electronic evaluations after each clinical rotation. You then meet with the program director to review these evaluations on a six-month basis or more frequently if necessary.

In addition, you will have the opportunity to evaluate the faculty to ensure educational goals are being met.