Residency Programs
The PGY-1 schedule consists of 13 blocks. Each block is four weeks in duration. The ACGME requires PGY-1 Urology interns to rotate on 3 months of general surgery, 3 months of additional non-urological surgery, 3 months of urology and 3 months determined by the program director. Our general surgery blocks consist of:
- Acute Care Surgery
- Colon and Rectal Surgery
- Surgical Oncology
- Surgery Night Float
The 3 blocks of non-urological surgery consist of:
- Burn Surgery
- Transplant
- SICU
In addition to the 7 blocks of surgery, our interns spend 4 blocks on Urology, 1 block on Urology/QI (where the intern develops a QI project in the ambulatory setting) and 1 block doing Urology procedures in the ambulatory setting.
The PGY-2 schedule includes 8 rotations, distributed evenly across the year, designed to build foundations urologic skills. These rotations are:
- Urologic Reconstruction
- General and Endourology
- Junior Flex x2
- Pediatric Urology x2
- Inpatient Consults
- Night Float
During the PGY-2 year, residents are expected to acquire an ability to perform a comprehensive urologic history and physical examination and design appropriate radiographic and laboratory studies for diagnostic purposes. The residents will begin their acquisition of core skills utilized in both the inpatient and ambulatory settings. This will include placement of catheters, understanding and performing endoscopy and learning urodynamic testing.
PGY-2 residents will serve as the junior resident on the benign urology services and begin working with urologic oncology faculty during their “Flex” rotations. With the addition of pediatric urology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, PGY-2 residents will get exposure to every urologic subspecialty in this first, formative year dedicated to urology.
The PGY-3 schedule includes rotations, distributed evenly across the year, which will begin to challenge residents to attain surgical autonomy and lead junior residents. These rotations are:
- Urologic Reconstruction
- General and Endourology x2
- Pediatric Urology
- Senior Flex
- Inpatient Consults
- Night Float
- Research
It is during this year, residents are given increasing responsibilities, particularly in more complex urologic procedures. PGY-3 residents will serve as chief of the General and Endourology rotation, thus picking the cases they will do. They will also be responsible for the rounding service and lead a junior resident. PGY-3 residents also have a dedicated research rotation during which time they will explore, formulate and lead research initiatives to bolster their applications for fellowship.
Continuity of care is assured because the resident spends their time with the attendings in the office and in the operating room. They will also participate in surgical cases of increasing complexity with the attending staff. PGY-3 year is the final year of primary in-house call for Ohio State residents.
The PGY-4 year begins the senior resident years at The Ohio State. The schedule includes rotations, distributed evenly across the year, which will prepare residents to be the primary surgeon as they near graduation. These rotations are:
- Oncology Apprenticeships x4
- Urologic Reconstruction
- Senior Flex
- Research
The senior resident years, beginning with PGY-4, put Ohio State residents in positions to lead. Residents will be given increasing responsibilities, particularly in the operating room. They will also be given increasing teaching responsibilities for the PGY-1, PGY-2 and PGY-3 level residents. PGY-4 residents take backup call and are expected to supervise junior residents taking primary call.
PGY-4 residents are responsible for reviewing the literature and choosing monthly Journal Club articles as well as designing the yearly academic calendar.
PGY-4 marks the beginning of apprenticeship rotations. During these 4 oncology rotations, PGY-4 residents will spend all of their time with 2-3 dedicated urologic oncologists with the goal of optimizing surgical autonomy and prioritizing surgical mentorship.
The PGY-5/Chief year at The Ohio State places an emphasis on team leadership and surgical autonomy. The schedule includes rotations, distributed evenly across the year, which will prepare residents to be the primary surgeon as they near graduation. These rotations are:
- Oncology Apprenticeships x4
- Urologic Reconstruction
- General and Endourology
The chief residents are the pride and backbone of our training program at The Ohio State University. There are substantial teaching responsibilities for the chief residents during their rotations, coordinating their junior residents and supervising the call pool. As the administrative chief resident, they are responsible for creating the call schedule.
As chief, the PGY-5 residents scrub on cases of highest complexity and function as teaching residents for junior level residents to help in their acquisition of surgical skills. Successful completion of this year of training will include acquisition of the surgical confidence and skill needed to excel in independent practice and impress during subsequent fellowship training.