Mission

Train skilled, competent and safe military urologists.

Vision

Graduate urologists that are capable of skilled independent practice in garrison or deployed that can serve as future leaders both in and out of the military.

Aims

• Create and foster a positive, diverse, equitable, and inclusive educational environment.
• Engage residents and faculty in clinical care and research.
• Adhere to National Capital Consortium, Defense Health Agency, and ACGME policies and practices.
• Train professional and competent urologists and military officers.

Didactics include:

• Weekly pre-operative surgery conference
• American Urological Association (AUA) University Academic Curriculum
• Scheduled weekly didactic rotations of:
  • Journal club
  • Morbidity & Mortality Conference
  • Research conference
  • Radiology conference
  • Simulation curriculum conference
  • Tumor Board
  • AUA Update Curriculum
  • Oral Board Review Preparation
  • VIP Lectures

The program does not currently offer elective rotations.

All urology call is At-Home Call. All residents are paired with an on-call senior resident and staff faculty. Call frequency depends on location and time of year, all residents get at least half the month off call.

On every 5th Friday of the Month, the entire urology department participates in military unique curriculum (“MUC” Days) outside of the hospital to improve military understanding, teamwork, resiliency, and camaraderie. Such exercises include the shooting range, military incentive helicopter rides, paintball, military museums, calvary and horse-back training, Escape Room team building exercises, and other various outdoor team activities.

American Urologic Association Basic Science Course, American Urologic Association Board Review Course, Society of Government Service Urologists Mock Oral Board Review Course, Basic Life Saving Course. Optional course also include Advanced Trauma Life Support and Advanced Cardiac Life Support training.

There is a defined monthly simulation curriculum incorporated into the academic schedule which includes robotics and laparoscopic surgery fundamentals, surgical steps, robotic exercise curriculum, suture and knot tying for medical students and junior residents, retroperitoneal and pelvic cadaver labs, robotic and open surgery labs, and robotic surgical video review.

All residents attend the academic leadership course prior to their chief resident year. Residency is a 5-year long “leadership laboratory” where mentoring and teaching junior trainees is encouraged.

It is an expectation that every resident participates in research via presentations, publications, or quality improvement projects. All residents will have opportunities to attend national urology conferences to present their research. There are vast amount of research opportunities with all our engaged faculty as well as through Uniformed Services University, the Center for Prostate Disease Research (unique in the DOD), the Testicular cancer Enterprise for Survivorship, Treatment, and Investigational Sciences (TESTIS) Program (unique in the DOD), the Murtha Cancer Center (unique in the DOD), the National Cancer Institute at NIH, Virginia Hospital Center, and Children’s National Medical Center.

Opportunities include engagement and leading the service Morbidity & Mortality Monthly Conference, Ureteral Stent Surveillance, and hospital-wide QI projects on preventing Urinary Tract Infections, Deep Vein Thrombosis, Post-Operative Catheter Care, and Urosepsis.

Several resources are available to residents in addition to Captains Career Course such as our academic leadership course, anatomy and cadavers teaching skills course, and didactics on urologic teaching, feedback, time management, resiliency, sleep hygiene, how to communicate medical errors, coding and business management for the everyday urologist, and education on the roles of mentor and mentoree relationships.

• WRNMMC General Surgery
• WRNMMC Urology
• Baltimore Shock Trauma
• AT Augusta Military Medical Center General Surgery
• Virginia Hospital Center
• Children’s National Medical Center
• Virginia Hospital Center/Kaiser
• National Cancer Institute at NIH

All 4th year medical students interested in applying for Urology will have an interview with our residency program leadership as well as most faculty members. Virtual interviews are available as well. Please contact dha.ncr.walter-reed-med-ctr.list.ncc-uro@health.mil for more information.

Come prepared with questions. You are interviewing the program just as much as the program is interviewing you! Make sure you see yourself not only fitting in at a program but also fitting in at the location where you will be living. Engagement in research also is nice to supplement the package since urology is a very competitive specialty.

Program graduates take the American Board of Urology (ABU) exams. The Board Certification is part I Qualifying Examination (Written Boards) given annually every July directly after residency graduation and part II Certifying Examination (Oral Boards) given annually in February/March, 18 Months after graduation. You must collect cases for the ABU to qualify to sit for the Oral Boards. This is all explained and immense preparation is conducted during residency for successful completion of both exams. Passage of both exams must occur within 5 years of residency. These examinations are not conducted while in residency or fellowship.

There are extensive teaching opportunities with the rotating medical students, Physician Assistant students, and fellow interns and residents on service. Education is conducted in the hospitals as well as USUHS (lecture halls, cadaver labs, MDLs).

• Urologic Oncology (including robotics)
• Andrology and Infertility
• Endourology
• Female and Male Trauma and Reconstruction
• Pediatric Urology

Each resident is assigned a mentor through residency. Of course, mentors can be changed at the discretion of the trainee.

Resident/Staff resiliency time quarterly for ½ day, semi-annual resiliency and well-being lectures and Military Unique Curriculum Day.