Trainees' Forum
Planning and doing a fellowship: advice during the COVID-19 era
To paraphrase Shakespeare, to do, or not to do a fellowship, that is the question. That may be your question; whether or not to pursue a fellowship, even more so due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are...
Challenges in urology during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: a trainee perspective
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected urological practice in many ways and at all levels. Social media has been set alight with the hashtag #NoTrainingTodayNoSurgeonsTomorrow highlighting the undesired consequences of the reduction in training opportunities. The impact has been considered by...
The Kennedy Report
Context The death of George Floyd at the hands of racist driven police brutality in May 2020 shook the world into a period of civil unrest and active demonstration against unacceptable discrimination displayed by people of authority. The Black Lives...
JCST, GMC, HEE and SACs: how this alphabet soup translates into a seven-year urology training programme
As many trainees will know, and I count myself among them, there are a plethora of organisations involved in our training. Most of us will be familiar with our deaneries, the haven we return to once a month for our...
My UK reconstructive urology fellowship experience
Surgical training is a long and hard pathway. Having completed medical school, I undertook my internship at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. The Alfred Hospital is a leading tertiary teaching hospital in Australia’s second largest city. Prior to commencing my...
Initial impressions of urology in the UK from overseas trainees
Readers of Urology News will be familiar with descriptions of overseas visits by UK-based urological trainees, but it is sometimes beneficial to reflect on the experience of international medical graduates (IMGs) who elect to come to work and train in...
Should it be a mandatory requirement for medical students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to attend clinical attachments?
The vast majority of medical students have positive attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine for themselves and patients, however, what about the small inevitable minority who resist it? Should they be prevented from attending clinical attachments in the NHS? It is...
Students for Urology: a new national society aimed at improving undergraduate exposure
As medical students, we were surprised at just how little urological content was taught at medical school. We received a basic education on how to manage urological infections, renal stones and urinary retention but nothing particularly inspiring was shared, nothing...
Burnout in surgery
When I was pregnant with my first child, I went to a talk on how to achieve work-life balance and avoid burnout. It was given by a highly respected Australian surgeon and I was eager to hear the secrets that...
SMILE: sustaining medical education in a lockdown environment
2020 posed challenges to medical education like never seen before. In an effort to contain and slow the spread of coronavirus all UK medical schools ceased or reduced face-to-face contact. This sudden, and for many, unexpected change resulted in pressures...
Mentorship and its role in surgical training
Is there a principle which could help address multiple challenges in surgical training? One which has potential to improve recruitment and retention of staff to our specialty, quality of patient care and surgeon morale? The author discusses the past present...
The effect of COVID-19 on urology training
COVID-19 has affected all aspects of medicine. Urologists have been called upon to work in vastly different working environments including acute pan-surgical teams, intensive care and medical wards. The strategies put in place by hospital management teams vary significantly across...
