Introduction: According to recent updates to Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Program Requirements, urology program directors are responsible for the design, implementation, and oversight of the Postgraduate Year One (PGY-1) academic year. We sought to detail the national use of educational curriculum resources designed specifically for PGY-1 urology residents and determine the breadth of surgical exposure gained by urology interns in the United States.
Methods: A 12-question and a 14-question online survey was sent to program directors and urology interns, respectively, at all 120 urology residency programs in the United States during the 2019-2020 academic year, regarding their current practices in clinical training and their use of educational curricula.
Results: The survey response rates were 20% and 23% for program directors and PGY-1 urology residents, respectively. Residents spend an average of 4.7 (3 - 6) months rotating on urology during their intern year. Responses regarding clinical and surgical exposure were similar between program directors and PGY-1 residents, with the majority of interns reporting experience performing cystoscopy (94%), ureteroscopy (67%), open surgery (61%), and robotic bedside assistance (56%). Most interns were responsible for seeing urology consults and took overnight call an average of 1.4 (0 - 2) nights per week. Sixty-five percent of program directors reported having an educational curriculum in place designed specifically for PGY-1 residents; whereas, 32% of urology interns reported having such a curriculum available. Of those residents who reported having no curriculum, all (100%) desired to have a curriculum designed specifically for PGY-1 education, with the most favored resources being surgical simulation, scheduled didactic lectures, and access to question banks.
Conclusions: First year urology residents in the United States gain a broad exposure to urologic procedures and appear to be in compliance with ACGME guidelines. There are differing perceptions between program directors and interns regarding the availability of educational curricula, and there is strong interest among first year urology residents to have an organized curriculum including surgical simulation, didactics, and access to study questions. Source of
