Oncology fellowship

[lj_99]

Rising MS3 here — recently decided to pursue Urology. One big draw is the opportunity to follow / treat cancer patients as a part of my practice. I noticed that oncology fellowships out there seemed to have a mandatory research year, making them 2 years— do one year fellowships exist? The thought of 7 years of post graduate training gives me pause. I’ve always approached research as a means to an end and don’t have a passion for it.

What procedures does an oncology fellowship open up compared to a well trained PP general urologist? Are there other one-year clinical fellowships that could serve as alternatives to going the oncology fellowship route?

thanks for any guidance / clarification!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[DoctwoB]

Many oncology procedures can be done by a well trained general urologist including transurethral resection of bladder tumors, robotic prostatectomies, partial and radical nephrectomies, orchiectomies for testicular cancer, etc. Some will do cystectomies as well, though many choose not to as that patient population is very time intensive due to them being much sicker with a higher complication rate.

Fellowship training should give you a better experience in managing less common cancer surgeries, like rplnd for testicular cancer, ivc thrombectomies for advanced renal cancer, radical penectomy/inguinal lymph node dissections for penile cancer, etc. there are also one year clinical fellowships that are not accredited by the society for urologic oncology, these often focus on advanced robotic surgery for treatment of both benign and malignant conditions.

The short version: an oncology fellowship is not necessary for a urologist to treat cancer patients. It is necessary to be a Urologic cancer specialist In an academic setting.