Academic urology training program in crisis

Academic urology training program in crisis
The current system of Graduate Medical Education funding is not adequate in funding urology residency programs and may lead to a significant shortage of urologists in the United States, according to research published in the March issue of Urology.

(HealthDay)—The current system of Graduate Medical Education (GME) funding is not adequate in funding urology residency programs and may lead to a significant shortage of urologists in the United States, according to research published in the March issue of Urology.

Chris M. Gonzalez, M.D., M.B.A., of Northwestern University in Chicago, and Patrick McKenna, M.D., of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, sent a 32-question survey to members of the Society of University Urologists to identify the most pressing issues facing academic urology training centers.

According to the researchers, for the 143 members who responded, a lack of funding was identified as the main barrier in adding new residency positions (65 percent of ), followed by lack of funding to recruit new faculty (60 percent of respondents). Clinical or hospital dollars were often required to fund residency programs (40 percent of respondents) not funded by GME. Research rotations and surgical skills laboratories were also mostly funded by clinical and hospital dollars.

"The current system of GME funding for urology residency programs requires as its impact has contributed to a significant shortage in the supply of in the United States," the authors write. "The quality of urology and overall patient access to urologic care are at stake."

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