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During the first six months of surgical training, PGY-1s rotate on colorectal surgery, plastic surgery, general surgery, surgical ICU, renal transplant, and uro-gynecology surgery. View the 2021-2022 Block Diagram.
Transitioning to adult urology in January, PGY-1s are granted their choice of holiday vacations. PGY-1/uro-1 rotations are structured with tiered mentorship involving Uro-2s and Uro-3s. Uro-1s each have a one-month outpatient urology rotation under the supervision of the medical urologist to learn urologic history taking and examinations.
During all years of training in the Urology Residency, residents participate in the day-to-day operations of the service, which includes active involvement in the diagnostic evaluation of urologic patients as well as pre- and postoperative care. Under mentorship training, you gain surgical experience in both traditional open techniques and newer endoscopic and laparoscopic operations.
The second year of the Urology Residency (PGY-2) is designed to train you in the recognition of uropathology and fundamentals of evaluation and management. You become familiar with urologic diagnosis, the basics of endoscopy, and the management of urologic oncology patients.
The second-year urology resident is trained in basic operative skills and receives in-depth experience with common and uncommon urologic disease processes. This PGY-2 year concludes with two months of pediatric training at Nemours Children's Specialty Care in Jacksonville, Florida.
The third and fourth years of urology (PGY-3 and PGY-4) provide intensive training in endourology, female urology, urodynamics, infertility, erectile dysfunction, and urologic oncology. Four months of the PGY-4 year are spent in completion of pediatric urology. Two-month rotations in urologic oncology provide focused exposure under a mentor specializing in kidney cancer, or prostate cancer, or bladder cancer.
The final year of urology (PGY-5) consists of hospital and clinical services in adult urology. This experience has been designated as a Transition to Independent Clinical Practice. Three afternoons each week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) one chief has their own clinic. Each morning, and all-day Monday and Friday, one chief chooses major cases to scrub, while the other chief is assigned a subspecialty rotation. This allows the resident-in-training to transition to practice and mature into a knowledgeable, confident, and skillful surgeon who is capable of thinking independently, handling office-based procedures, and carrying out complex operations.
I felt very prepared to tackle all aspects of urology when I completed training, both surgical and clinical. I was able to work with and learn from leaders in the field during my time, and was exposed to a wide array of very unique pathology and challenging cases. Robotics is a large portion of urological practice and my training provided ample opportunity early on to hone those skills.
Eric Schommer, M.D.
Urology Residency graduate, class of 2018
The first year of the Urology Residency at Mayo Clinic's campus in Jacksonville, Florida, is devoted to rotations in general surgery and a variety of subspecialties, including:
This year provides you with a broad clinical foundation on which to build your urology training. During the second half of your PGY-1 year, you are introduced to adult urology.
As a Uro-2, Uro-3, Uro-4 (PGY2-4) you will rotate every two months on a urology specialty service including men’s health, endourology/BPH, endourology/stones, endourology/robotics, kidney, bladder, and incontinence.
In your third through fifth years, you assume increasing responsibility in caring for urologic patients, culminating in an appointment as chief resident in urology.
As a chief resident, you are given as much independence in the management of patients as Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and Medicare Teaching Supervision Guidelines permit. You coordinate and manage all in-hospital activities of urology residents, such as rounding, consultations, and emergency services. You assist the Program Director with administration of call schedules, vacation schedules, and in-service didactics.
Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, is a referral center and, like the other two Mayo Clinic campuses in Rochester and Arizona, draws regional and international patients for procedural services. Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, is geographically within a day’s drive to Miami and Atlanta, which is attractive to patients and families seeking second surgical opinions and interventions in geographic proximity. Our large case volumes and the wide range of urologic problems will optimize your experience as a trainee.
All education efforts of our faculty are focused on residents and medical students. Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, does not have a urology fellowship training program.
The American Board of Urology shared an updated Leaves of Absence policy in August 2021.
Clinical conferences, seminars, journal clubs, and one-on-one preceptorships are all an integral part of the Mayo Clinic Urology Residency. These include:
There are no urologic basic science laboratories on the Jacksonville campus. Residents are expected to engage in clinical research and develop abstracts for the South Eastern Section and American Urological Association meetings annually. Residents work with their faculty mentors to design clinical databases pertinent to their ongoing rotations. The Department has a Research Administrator who guides residents through the rigors of Institutional Review Board submissions. Summer graduate and undergraduates are hosted by Mayo Clinic Florida, trained in electronic records review and HIPAA compliance. Summer research students are assigned to faculty with approved IRB clinical protocols. Research allows another opportunity for tiered mentorship: students - residents - faculty.
Research projects involving human subjects must be conducted under the auspices of the Institutional Review Board. Yearly online training in the ethical conduct of clinical trials is a mandatory experience for all staff and residents at Mayo Clinic.
Mayo Clinic follows the recommendations of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). On average, you are on call no more than every fourth night and every fourth weekend. Currently, residents take call from home.
The work/life balance is truly second to none. The mentorship model helps to focus work load. General call days are equally split among the residents so there is no seniority except for when it comes to chief year. The flexible vacation policy also enabled me to go on some of my favorite trips while in residency. I can easily say that I had one of the best work/life balances compared to my med school buddies who ended up at other programs.
Katherine Cockerill, M.D.
Urology Residency graduate, class of 2020
Residents are given the opportunity to serve on graduate education and clinical administrative committees.
Case presentations in clinical pathologic conference style are an integral part of Urology Grand Rounds/Case-based management. Junior residents participate in debates and imaging competitions hosted by the Florida Urologic Society and the Southeast Section of the AUA.
You have the opportunity to teach Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine students and visiting students from other medical schools through bedside instruction and formal didactic lectures.
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As chief resident, you supervise junior residents in the clinic and operating room. The chief resident may act as a teaching surgeon to the junior residents. Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, governance requires every patient to be supervised by a Consultant. Residents do not have admission privileges.
Urology Grand Rounds are held weekly and are designed to incorporate current topics in urology, genitourinary imaging, and uropathology as well as management, morbidity and mortality conferences.
To ensure you acquire a thorough knowledge of urology fundamentals and develop superior technical skills, your performance is monitored carefully during the course of your residency training. You are evaluated formally by your supervising faculty member after each clinical rotation (2 months).
In accordance with ACGME Urology Review Committee guidelines, you meet with your program director at least twice annually to review your evaluations and discuss any issues of concern (bi-annual review and self-reflection). In addition, you are evaluated by the Program’s Clinical Competency Committee bi-annually to ensure that your educational goals and objectives are being met. Residents evaluate the faculty and program annually. These evaluations are conducted in a manner that ensures confidentiality. Residents are surveyed annually by the ACGME and Mayo Clinic’s Graduate Education Committee to ensure that education, equity, and safety best practices are in place.
You meet periodically with various faculty members, administrators, and the residency program director to discuss your individual career goals. Additional training opportunities are available through Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education. Mayo Clinic also recruits many of its staff physicians from its own training programs. Therefore, when you successfully complete the Urology Residency, job opportunities may be available at one of Mayo Clinic's regional teaching facilities or community practices. Learn more about where our alumni have taken their talents after graduation.
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