Clinical Education

The UConn Program in Urology strives to create an educational environment that allows residents to attain the technical and intellectual skills necessary to become proficient urologists. The program provides residents with a core knowledge base in each domain of urology: andrology, male infertility, impotence, calculus disease, urinary obstruction, endourology, neuro-urology, urodynamics, female urology, pediatric urology, infectious diseases, transplantation, adrenal disorders, trauma, and oncology. This includes training in endoscopic surgery, open pelvic surgery, flank surgery, and laparoscopic/robotic surgery.

The long-term goal of the program is to prepare individuals to be competent and compassionate urologists who can compete successfully for fellowship training or pursue practice in a community setting. Through journal clubs, grand round presentations, and topic-specific seminars, all residents have the opportunity for critical engagement with the scientific literature. They are equipped with the educational skills for a career of lifelong learning and continuous self-improvement. The program also provides exposure to the research environment allowing residents to easily enter the field of academic urology, if desired, and encourages those entering clinical practice to participate in clinical research. Mentorship, statistics support, and funding for travel is available for interested residents.

Clinical Rotations

Our program is fortunate to offer clinical experiences at four different hospitals, which represent the full spectrum of urologic practice from community care to academic medicine. These sites include UConn Health John Dempsey Hospital (JDH), Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC), Hartford Hospital (HH), and St. Francis Hospital (SFH). Each of the hospital rotations has specific goals and objectives that reflect their unique contribution to the program. All prioritize hands-on operative experience, and exposure to diverse patients and pathology. More details about faculty from each site can be found on the Faculty Page.

The urology education program is divided into segments: junior rotations (PGY-2 and PGY-3), and senior rotations (PGY-4 and PGY-5). Both junior and senior residents rotate through five 10-week blocks per year: one rotation per year at each CCMC, JDH, and SFH and two rotations per year at HH. Example schedules from the 2024-2025 academic year are show below.

		Block I	Block II	Block III	Block IV	Block V
Junior	PGY-2	SFH	CCMC	HH	JDH	HH
	PGY-3	HH	SFH	HH	CCMC	JDH
Senior	PGY-4	JDH	HH	CCMC	HH	SFH
	PGY-5	HH	SFH	HH	JDH	CCMC

Intern Year

Intern year is a total of approximately thirteen 4-week blocks. Each urology intern spends about half the year “on service” with urology, and half “off service” with general surgery. These rotations are interspersed, and the experience of each intern will vary. The general surgery experience typically includes Plastic Surgery, Pediatric Surgery, the Surgical ICU, and Trauma Surgery. It may also include exposure to breast, vascular, thoracic, or emergency general surgical services. An example schedule is shown below.

BLOCK	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Hospital Rotation	HH EGS	CCMC Uro	HH Plastics	JDH Uro	HH Uro	HH ICU	HH Uro	SFH Uro	JDH GS	SFH Uro	HH Uro	CCMC Peds	SFH Trauma

The intern experience is designed to build comfort, and ease for new residents. Regardless of where interns rotate, they will develop confidence and skill in the management of inpatients, including pre-operative evaluation, post-operative management, and acute care. Basic surgical techniques/skills, including suturing, wound care, endoscopy, and bed-side procedures are emphasized throughout. Equally important is the opportunity to learn about the four hospitals in the UConn Residency system, and the chance to develop relationships with surgical colleagues.

Time on urology is dedicated to understanding all aspects of the urologic service, including care for admitted patients, common consults, and the fundamentals of urologic surgery. By the end of the academic year interns are prepared to function as full members of the urologic team and take solo call at the beginning of their second year.

Interns break away from clinical responsibilities to join the urology residents for weekly educational conferences in which they have an entire morning of protected time for learning. This allows them to get involved urology specific education early and stay connected with fellow residents throughout the year.

Years 2 - 5

During the first two years of training the urology resident is expected to demonstrate comprehensive familiarity with common urological problems, procedures, and diagnostic studies. They should be well-versed in managing common urological problems in both outpatient and inpatient settings, including urologic trauma and emergencies. In the ambulatory environment, residents should develop expertise in outpatient procedures like transrectal ultrasound and biopsy, cystoscopy, and bladder scan. Additionally, residents should be familiar with a range of urologic procedures, including scrotal surgery and hydrocelectomy, circumcision, transurethral surgery, and ureteral endoscopy and lithotripsy.

As a senior each resident will serve as the chief at all 4 participating hospitals. During this phase of training, they are expected to master the surgical and cognitive skills required for independent practice. Residents are expected to become proficient in open, laparoscopic and robotic techniques. At the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, the chief resident participates in nuanced reconstructive surgeries, and more complex outpatient management procedures. At the remaining three sites, seniors will build proficiency in flank procedures, such as nephrectomy and partial nephrectomy, in addition to pelvic surgery, including cystectomy and prostatectomy. They will continue to perfect endoscopic techniques such as percutaneous nephrolithotomy, and advanced transurethral procedures like HoLEP. In the outpatient setting the chief resident is expected to demonstrate proficiency in transrectal ultrasonography, prostate biopsy, and vasectomy. They will also hone basic organizational and management skills, such as making call and vacation schedules, picking grand rounds topics, selecting journal club articles, and gathering complications for morbidity and mortality conference.

All residents participate in teaching and mentoring interns and medical students who rotate with our service.

Call Schedule

Urology is a home call service. Call responsibilities are divided as follows:

• Call responsibilities are shared between the residents assigned to JDH and SFH. All members of this call pool cover approximately one night during the week. Junior residents are responsible for three weekend calls, and senior residents cover two per 10-week block.
• Two residents are typically assigned to CCMC per block – one junior, and one senior. They split weeknight call coverage.
• All residents rotating at HH take one night of weekday call. Given that is our busiest site – HH has provided PA coverage from 4pm to midnight on weekdays during which time the resident operates as backup and covers any operative cases.
• Weekend coverage is shared between HH and CCMC. Two residents work each weekend; they are on call at each hospital for approximately one day and swap the hospital they are covering at 6 pm on Saturday. For example, if a resident begins the weekend covering CCMC on Friday night and Saturday during the day, they will cover HH Saturday night through Monday morning.
• Interns take “buddy call” with senior residents one weeknight per week (approximately four nights per block), and two weekends per month of each urology rotation.

Didactic Teaching

Thursday morning is protected time for classroom-based learning. Each session consists of three one-hour core conferences. The first hour is dedicated to grand rounds, and the second offers faculty-lead, topic-specific seminars. The morning concludes with resident-driven teaching and board questions from the urology core curriculum. During the summer months residents receive intensive instruction in radiology, pathology, technical skills courses, statistics, and epidemiology in lieu of grand round conferences. One evening per month is devoted to journal club which focuses on basic statistical and epidemiologic concepts. Please see Conference and Schedules for upcoming journal club and education topics. Please email Debbie Savino at savino@uchc.edu if you’d like to join us for journal club via Zoom or in person.

Resident Clinics

Our residents spend one half-day per week in clinic. We are privileged to offer a unique resident clinic experience at three rotation sites – JDH, HH, and SFH. These clinics are staffed by a fellow (HH) or attending (JDH and SFH). They offer residents the chance hone their skill with clinical decision-making and office-based procedures in a supportive atmosphere.