Overview
The American Urological Association defines urology as a specialty that deals with diseases of the male and female urinary tract (kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra). It also deals with the male reproductive organs (penis, testes, scrotum, prostate, etc.).
Urology is a surgical specialty. Besides surgery, a urologist is a doctor with wisdom of internal medicine, pediatrics, gynecology and other parts of health care. This is because a urologist encounters a wide range of clinical problems. The scope of urology is big and the American Urological Association has named seven sub-specialty parts:
- Pediatric Urology (children’s urology)
- Urologic Oncology (urologic cancers)
- Renal (kidney) Transplant
- Male Infertility
- Calculi (urinary tract stones)
- Female Urology
- Neurourology (nervous system control of genitourinary organs)
Rotation sites
UW Medical Center - Montlake Campus
The academic, tertiary care center for UW Medicine. This hospital has several subspecialty clinics, including the Prostate Oncology, Urogynecology and Men’s Health Clinics. Each clinic combines cutting edge research with state of the art technology to achieve superior patient care. The surgical volume is high and diverse, providing medical students with exceptional exposure and skill development.
Harborview Medical Center
The Level I adult and pediatric trauma center & regional burn center for Pacific Northwest. This is a trauma and reconstruction rotation focus on providing tertiary care for acute injuries and genitourinary reconstructive surgery across the region, as well as primary care to local populations including the indigent, uninsured and underserved.
UW Meical Center - Northwest Campus
The first comprehensive center for the treatment and prevention of kidney stones in the Puget Sound region. The multidisciplinary team includes experts in urology, nephrology and nutrition and cares for patients suffering from acute or recurrent kidney stones. The team treats kidney stones using the latest minimally invasive surgical and nonsurgical procedures. This site also now includes one of our largest clinics with dedicated space for general urology, female pelvic and reconstructive medicine, and transgender care.
Seattle Children's Hospital
Perpetually ranked among the nation's best children's hospitals – for over 26 years in a row. The hospital received national rankings in all 10 specialty areas evaluated. Seattle Children's Hospital is a teaching hospital and a regional referral center for differences of sex development, spina bifida, pediatric kidney stones, robotic surgery, and pediatric reconstructive surgery.
VA Puget Sound
A tertiary care center for the VA system. In addition to state-of-the-art medical facilities, the VA PSHCS is the regional referral center for all robotic surgery. The Urology service has a very busy surgical service, and has cases which range from “bread and butter” to complex oncology and kidney stone management.
WWAMI Sites
- Spokane, WA
- Meridian, ID
- Bozeman, MT
- Billings, MT
Courses
The department offers 2 and/or 4 week clerkship rotations in Seattle at Harborview, UWMC, VA Puget Sound, Northwest Hospital and Seattle Children’s Hospital. There are also several sites in the WWAMI region.
For a complete listing of sites and E-Value availability, please visit the University of Washington’s School of Medicine’s Catalog. For questions, please contact the clerkship administrator at uroclerk@uw.edu.
Credentialing
All courses have site-specific credentialing. You should receive information 6 weeks prior to your start date. Please note the following sites have extensive credentialing requirements
UW Meical Center - Northwest Campus
Northwest Medical Staff Office
nw-medstaffoffice@uw.edu
Please contact uroclerk@uw.edu if you have questions or do not receive credentialing information at least 6 weeks prior to your start date.
Suggested Reading List
- General Urology by Donald R. Smith, Lange Medical Publications, (14th Edition). A limited number of books are on reserve in the Health Sciences Library.
- AUA Medical Student Curriculum: Core Content
Campbell-Walsh Urology
- Calculi
- Genitourinary Tract
- Trauma
- Tumors of the Urinary Tract
- Urinary Obstructions
- Urinary Tract Infections
Conferences
The Department Grand Rounds are typically held on Wednesdays at 6:30 AM and Didactics on Fridays at 6:30 AM.
Click here for more information about Urology at American Urological Association
For Visiting Students
Find out more about our visiting student program:
For more information, contact the Clerkship Administrator at uroclerk@uw.edu
UW SOM Clerkship Policies
- Academic policies and procedures
- School of Medicine grade review, challenge and appeal process
- School of Medicine Clinical Clerkship Absentee Policy
Student Health Related Information
The UWSOM supports students’ access to healthcare and strongly encourages them to obtain and maintain health insurance while enrolled at the UWSOM. The consolidated content on the links below has been created by collaboration between students and the UWSOM student affairs to ease of referencing for student related health information. All three sources will be updated centrally by student affairs and the Student Committee on Healthcare Access (SCoHA). If you have questions regarding the content, please reach out to adminsa@uw.edu.
- Student Health Insurance
- Healthcare Access for Medical Students
- SOM-Telehealth Program for Medical Students
To Report Mistreatment or a Serious Concern
Students who wish to report mistreatment or a serious concern that doesn’t require immediate response are encouraged to use the Learning Environment Feedback Tool. In this tool, you will be able to provide a description of your concern and indicate your follow-up preference and how you would like your feedback shared. You will have the option of reporting completely anonymously and indicating how you want your identity and the identity of anyone else involved in the situation to be shared.
UW Religious Accommodations Policy
Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request Form.
In order to plan accommodations that will avoid possible delays in course/clerkship end dates, UW SOM recommends students complete the Religious Accommodation Request Form in advance of the start date of their course or clerkship.