just out of curiosity...

[gooze]

i wanted to see what medical students/residents/attendings thoughts are on the field of urology. it seems to be a very polarizing field (having a debate with a friend of mine), but i could be wrong. so if you could just say at what level of training you are and what you think about the field (and it could be anything...cool pple, very competitive, look at penises all day, boring, great money, etc. whatever)

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[ArcGurren]

i wanted to see what medical students/residents/attendings thoughts are on the field of urology. it seems to be a very polarizing field (having a debate with a friend of mine), but i could be wrong. so if you could just say at what level of training you are and what you think about the field (and it could be anything...cool pple, very competitive, look at penises all day, boring, great money, etc. whatever)

I rotated through urology on an elective when I thought I was interested in it (and it was probably the best of the surgical specialties I've done). There's a few things that I think should be made clear about it.

1. The idea that it is somehow a good mix of medicine and surgery is wrong. It is primarily a surgical subspecialty (and the residency reflects that). Many people especially when they grow older choose to do fewer surgeries and more clinic/diagnostic studies, but that doesn't mean it isn't a LOT of surgical stuff. The medicine in it as far as I've experienced is mostly prescribing Viagra and doing studies for incontinence. So please, please, do not go into it if you think "oh it's like surgery but with a lot of medical management mixed in!".

2. It makes a good deal of money... if you do a lot of procedures, just as with any other field.

3. It's very competitive and only getting more competitive. You can still match with a somewhat more "average" board score but you have to do a lot of research and your grades should reflect improvement if you want to match. And if you're a weaker applicant, you want to have a backup.

Otherwise, I've liked the urology residents more than residents in any other surgical field I've experienced, and the attendings have all been singularly nice and pleasant people. In terms of how you practice, well, that depends a lot on what you want out of it/how much money you want to make.