2025 graduate

What makes the Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery Fellowship unique? The URPS fellowship at Mayo Clinic offers exposure to unique and challenging cases including complex fistula repair and neovagina creation. The program is structured so that fellows work side-by-side with a single staff member in 10-11 week blocks, allowing fellows to see patients through diagnosis, surgical intervention, and postoperative care.

2024 graduate

What makes the Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery Fellowship unique? This fellowship is unique in that you will complete a master's degree during the fellowship, which helps you to critically analyze the literature, understand and perform your own statistics, and develop a research thesis project. First-year fellows complete the master's coursework during dedicated research months. Mayo Clinic is also unique in its mentorship model, in which you rotate with one member of the faculty for a few months at a time. This allows for repetition in the OR and counseling patients and affords you graduated autonomy and confidence.

Current position: URPS Faculty, Aspirus St. Luke's Hospital, Duluth, MN

2023 graduate

What attracted you to Mayo Clinic for fellowship training? Mayo has a unique approach to mentorship that sets you up for success while emphasizing patient care. The program offered excellent clinical and surgical education by hard-working and well-known faculty who really supported and cared for fellows, and there were ample resources available for research opportunities. Finally, Mayo had the distinctive opportunity to do a Master's in Biomedical Science and Clinical Specialties in the first year of the fellowship.

Current position: URPS Faculty, One Boston Medical Center Place, Boston, MA

2022 graduate

What attracted you to Mayo Clinic for fellowship training? "The needs of the patient come first," the primary value of Mayo Clinic, resonates deeply within the hearts of all of those who work at Mayo. I was amazed at the patient-centered, evidenced-based, multidisciplinary, innovative, and expert care that is provided to patients from all around the world at Mayo Clinic on a daily basis. What better way to have trained than to learn from the best?

Current position: URPS Faculty, Sarasota Ob-Gyn Associates, Sarasota, FL

2021 graduate

What did you appreciate most about your fellowship experience at Mayo Clinic? The URPS fellowship fostered my growth as a surgeon, caregiver, researcher, and educator. After matching, I was told by my former program that I was going to be trained by some of the most skilled vaginal surgeons in the field. I found that to be true. We participated in a high volume of typical URPS cases at Mayo which built a strong surgical foundation, but it was the rare cases that made us grow the most as surgeons. In those scenarios, you could see the Mayo Clinic system work, multidisciplinary teams shined and achieved the hoped-for results. I have carried this dedication to establishing collaborative teams and surgical excellence into my own practice after fellowship.

Current position: URPS Faculty, Duke University, Durham, NC

2020 graduate

Did anything surprise you about Mayo's program? The collegial relationship between surgeons and providers across diverse specialties was remarkable. Providers were not just willing but genuinely sought out opportunities to collaborate and work together as multidisciplinary teams both in the lab and in the operating room to optimize patient care.

The research support provided by this program and Mayo Clinic as a whole was outstanding. I enjoyed research and appreciated its “big picture” importance, but I really loved being at the bedside in direct patient care. The incredible research-geared infrastructure at Mayo Clinic makes it possible for physicians here to enjoy the best of both worlds.

Current position: URPS Faculty, U.S. Air Force, Portsmouth Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, VA

2019 graduate

What did you appreciate most about your fellowship experience at Mayo Clinic? A strong feature of the institution was the commitment to its mission: Mayo Clinic will provide the best care to every patient every day through integrated clinical practice, education, and research. The outstanding mentorship made the urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery program stand out.

Current position: URPS Faculty, Billings Clinic, Billings, MT

2018 graduate

What did you appreciate most about your fellowship experience at Mayo Clinic? Training at Mayo Clinic provided me with a solid foundation as a surgeon, researcher, and educator. The collaboration between departments was incredible and benefited not only patients but also trainees as we participated in comprehensive, compassionate, high-quality patient care. The surgical experience and mentorship at Mayo Clinic were exceptional, and I was thrilled to be able to use what I learned to develop the next generation of ob-gyn residents and URPS fellows.

Current position: URPS Faculty, Summa Health, Akron, OH

2008 graduate

What did you appreciate most about your fellowship experience at Mayo Clinic? My fellowship training at the Mayo Clinic made me the surgeon I am today. But more importantly, the Mayo Clinic values and philosophy of care have stayed with me throughout my career and continue to shape me as a physician, educator, and human being.

Current position: URPS Faculty, Advocate Health Care, Park Ridge, IL