Urology Fellowships

Our minimally invasive uro-oncology team is approved by the Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) to train one Urologic Oncology fellow per year with a two-year commitment. Both clinical and bench research are required for certification.

Goals and Objectives:

Training includes all aspects of urologic oncology, laparoscopy and robotic surgery. More specifically, the fellow will be exposed to the following procedures:

• Robotic radical prostatectomy
• Robotic radical cystoprostatectomy
• Laparoscopic radical nephrectomy
• Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy
• Laparoscopic renal tumor ablation (RFA, cryotherapy)
• Laparoscopic nephroureterectomy
• Laparoscopic pyeloplasty
• Laparoscopic adrenalectomy
• Open radical cystectomy with neo-bladder reconstruction
• Open retroperitoneal lymph node dissection
• Open radical prostatectomy
• Open radical/partial nephrectomy
• Complex urologic oncology reconstruction

Clinical Expectation and Surgical Volume:

Clinical responsibilities include perioperative patient management, data collection, analysis and presentation. Clinic will take place 1 day/week. Aside from research projects, a significant component of daily activity will include operative experience. The fellow will be involved in a large volume of surgeries. Yearly case volumes include:

We have developed the largest Robotic daVinci Prostatectomy experience in the state of Illinois and are the 6th and 7th largest volume program in the USA and world, respectively. At present, five robots are being used. These include:

• 5 XI daVinci system with dual console and Trumpf table (UChicago, clinical)
• 1 X daVinci system with dual console (UChicago, clinical)
• 1 SP daVinci system
• SI HD 4 arm daVinci system (UChicago, research and simulation)

Application deadline is March 31, 2024

Prerequisites:

The candidate must

• Have completed an ACGME-accredited or foreign urology training program
• Have a valid license to practice medicine in the State of Illinois
• Be fluent in English

Previous laparoscopic skills and experience with manuscript writing and publication, as well as statistical analysis, is highly suggested.

Interested candidates must apply at Society for Urologic Oncology website. Candidates may contact the fellowship directors or coordinator with questions.

Interviews:

This year, the Urologic Oncology Fellowship interviews will be held on April 9, 2024 and April 16, 2024. 

Interviews are conducted in the early spring and match is completed by early summer for the following year’s placement and start-date. Fellowship start date is July 1.

The urologic oncology fellowship research experience can focus on clinical outcomes, laboratory-based investigation, or procedural research in the large animal lab. Fellows are enrolled in the Clinical Research Training Program (CTRP), a training program focusing on study design, implementation of clinical research, and statistics/epidemiology.

The Section of Urology maintains multiple large volume databases of patients treated for urologic cancers and serves as the foundation for clinical outcomes research. We presently collaborate with faculty members of the Department of Epidemiology and Health Economics. We currently have IRB-approved, prospectively collected databases for all patients undergoing prostatectomy, nephrectomy and cystectomy as well as a bio-repository of urologic cancer tissue and blood. All study ideas and design are regularly presented and discussed at a bi-weekly research meeting.

Multiple laboratory-based research opportunities exist under the guidance and mentorship of funded faculty members. Fellows have identified opportunities within the Section and in other Departments, such as Oncology, and The Human Genome Program, depending on their research interests and career goals. Previous projects have included siRNA and urothelial cancer, metastases research, stem cells and prostate cancer, and investigation of a novel protein identified in kidney cancer.

A large animal lab (canine and porcine) is equipped with a DaVinci robot and ancillary staff/equipment to ensure meaningful and innovative studies. Research focuses on development of new procedures and devices for minimally invasive surgery.

A clinical trials office is maintained in conjunction with the Department of Hematology-Oncology and coordinates over 20 active clinical trials. Opportunities are available to design and implement investigator-initiated, funded, hypothesis-based clinical trials.

Regular meetings regarding urologic research include a weekly clinical trials conference and bi-weekly Clinical Outcomes and Translational Research conference. Both meetings are mandatory for research fellows.

The SUO fellows will assist in the collection of clinical data along with research fellows and residents to produce outcomes and translational research studies for both national/international presentation (AUA, WCE, North-Central Section-AUA, SUO, ASCO) and manuscript publication. A laptop computer will be provided to each fellow as well as personal office space. At least 3-5 peer-reviewed publications per year are expected.

With large surgical volumes, prospective databases, animal and translational labs and outcomes research support, the EndoUrological Society (EUS) fellowship at the Section of Urology at the University of Chicago is a two-year program including major experience with Robotic/laparoscopic Urologic Oncology and minor experiences with Robotic/laparoscopic Pediatric Urology and Reconstructive Urology. Graduation will be conditional based on achievement of clinical autonomy and authorship of a minimum of four papers. Currently, two fellows are trained annually with large surgical volume, animal-based research, and prospective clinical database outcomes research. The current fellowship is a two-year commitment to be receive certification from the Endourological Society.

Clinical Expectation and Surgical Volume:

Clinical responsibilities include perioperative patient management, data collection for analysis and presentation. Clinic will take place 1 day/week. Aside from research projects, a significant component of daily activities will include operative experience. The fellow will be involved in a high number of surgeries. The fellow will not be expected to cover call, except on rare occasions. The resident team will specifically be responsible for patient rounding.

Our institution owns seven clinical robotic systems (5 XI, 1 X and 1 SP) and one-research SI.

Yearly case volumes include:

Note: The Endourology Fellowship is not matching a fellow for 2024 and not accepting applications at this time.

Prerequisite:

The candidate must have completed an ACGME-accredited or foreign urologic training program. Three recommendation letters from previous mentors are required. A valid license to practice medicine in the State of Illinois is essential. The candidate must also be fluent in reading, writing, and conversing in English. Previous robotic/laparoscopic skills and experience with manuscript writing and publication, as well as statistical analysis is advantageous.

Applying:

Applicants must have completed a nationally approved and accredited residency program in urology.

The Endourology Fellowship match is run in partnership with the AUA. After registering and applying through the AUA match link, all applicants are required to send a copy of their application, 3 letters of recommendation and CV via e-mail to our program as well as Debra Caridi, Endourological Society Fellowship Coordinator, debra@endourologysociety.com.

Timelines can be found here.

Research during the two year EUS fellowship will be tailored to the fellow’s interests - robotic animal or simulation lab, translational or outcomes research, and more. Research planning will start immediately after the match. Fellows will participate and present their work in national and international meetings.

Apply to the Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship via this link.