Residency Program

Postgraduate Training Program in Urology

The UBC Department of Urologic Sciences residency program is one of the top Urologic training programs in Canada, offering an unprecedented opportunity for students to be trained in a high intensity, high volume, academic environment rich with interesting and complex clinical cases meshed closely with a world class Urologic research environment at the forefront of discovery. Under the direction of Program Director, Dr. Chris Nguan, the residency program offers an exceptional training experience aimed at producing best-in-class graduates who launch successful careers in academia or independent practice. The residency program is a five-year commitment, comprised of two years of core surgical training followed by three years of specialized training. The Program has converted to Competency Based, and follows the standard Transition to Discipline, Urology Foundations / Surgical Foundations, Urology Core and Transition to Practice phases within a 5 year target time horizon.

 

Surgical Foundations and Urology Foundations occupy the majority of the first 24 months of training and includes rotations in urology, as well as allied specialties such as general and vascular surgery, intensive care and radiology. PGY2 trainees are required to write the Royal College Principles of Surgery and the LMCC II qualifying examination. The Urology Foundations program is structured so as to allow the trainee to meet eligibility requirements for American Board of Urology certification following graduation, should the trainee so desire.

 

In Urology Core and Transition to Practice phases, the trainee will circulate amongst our 5 major teaching hospitals, with exposure to the complete range of Urologic subspecialty areas including: Minimally Invasive Surgery / Robotics, Transplantation, Oncology, Endourology and Stone Disease, Neurourology, Reconstruction, Gender Affirmation Surgery, Pediatrics, and Infertility/Andrology/Mens Health. Community rotations, selectives, electives, QA/QI and scholary pursuit rotations are all offered during these phases as well.  A wide variety of subspecialty clinics and ORs are available for trainees to attend with world class faculty supervising. After completing the minimum requirements for training and meeting all mandated EPAs, trainees are required to sit the Royal College certifying examination, which includes a comprehensive multiple choice and OSCE examination required for certification as a urological surgeon.

 

Education is paramount in this Resident-centric training program, and teaching comes in the form of clinical point-of-care feedback in the clinics and the OR as well as more formal teaching in weekly half-day of structured class time, city-wide grand rounds, case-based and indication rounds, and critical inquiry research projects under the preceptorship of one of our faculty urologists.

 

UBC DUS residency students have a very high pass rate on the Royal College examinations, and approximately 50% of UBC graduates choose to pursue further fellowship postgraduate training in a variety of subspecialties including oncology, pediatrics, transplantation, andrology, and minimally invasive surgery.

 

Trainees are encouraged to pursue scholarly activities throughout their training under mentorship of either Urologic faculty or the wide range of key opinion leaders within the UBC Faculty of Medicine. Topics range from oncology, transplantation, pediatrics, endourology, robotics, reconstruction, medical education, basic sciences, health economics and translational medicine. While the Program encourages scholarly activity and productivity is a requirement of the EPAs, trainees are encouraged to pursue interests which align with a successful career in Urology including patient advocacy, leadership, entrepreneurship, etc.  UBC has a formal Clinician Investigator Program, a 2 year commitment, fully funded for those trainees interested in dedicated research time within the training Program.  

 

Trainees are funded to attend regular meetings and courses including AUA Review Course, McGill oncology course, Northwest Urological Society meeting, AUA annual meeting, Canadian Urological Association meeting, Western Section of the AUA meeting, the EAU exchange, and QUEST.  Residents receive a print copy of Campbell’s Urology and a subscription to the AUA Update series on admission to the Program. Loupes are also purchased for Residents to promote their use during radical prostatectomy, transplantation and pediatrics cases, amongst others.

 

Despite being a world class, high volume Urologic center, there are relatively few fellows circulating through the Department. Two oncology fellows are the standard, and intermittent Endourology, Pediatric, and Andrology fellows may appear as well. The Program is recognized for its Resident-focussed educational program.

 

Workload for trainees is variable and service commitments can be intermittently demanding, however call schedules target 1 in 4, and Urology call is taken from home. There is ample support while on call and on service from peers in your training cohort as well as senior residents.  The Program Director is very accessible and maintains an open door policy as well as having created a single point of online access to the Department of Urologic Sciences (DUS) Office of Education (OOE) so as to facilitate resident reporting of evaluations, but also to serve as an anonymous reporting tool for and outstanding resident issues. The DUS OOE has a principle mandate to provide a superior educational experience to its trainees, but following very closely is the second principle of providing this experience in the context of a safe environment, promoting resident wellness throughout.

 

Evaluations are collected through the Entrada platform as administered by the UBC PGME office, and DUS OOE also requires mid rotation and end of rotation CanMeds oriented ITERS to be completed. A Resident Report Card is available for formative faculty feedback as a debriefing methodology post procedure.  Quarterly PD check-in ITERS are also issued to trainees so as to maintain a strong connection with the Program Director.

 

 

ABOUT VANCOUVER

 

 Vancouver is consistently ranked one the world’s most livable cities. The bustling downtown core is just minutes from world-renowned ski resorts, pristine beaches and natural forest.

Vancouver is called “Hollywood North” because of the large number of movies and TV shows filmed in and around the city. These have included The X-Files, Mission Impossible, Twilight, X-Men, and Fifty Shades of Grey. Visit Tourism Vancouver’s new film portal for more information.

In January 2018 Vancouver was named among the best cities to live and work as a movie maker by Movie Maker Magazine.

Vancouver has produced top artists, actors and musicians including Michael Bublé, Sarah McLachlan, Wanting Qu, Michael J. Fox, Ryan Reynolds, Seth Rogan, Jeff Wall, Douglas Coupland, and Jason Wu.

Hootsuite, Flickr, Lululemon, Plenty of Fish, and Lions Gate Films are all companies that were founded in Vancouver. Non-profit environmental organizations Greenpeace and Adbusters also started here.

In an age of instant global communication, Vancouver is fortunate to be in a time zone that allows access to all three centres of world commerce (London, New York, Hong Kong) in a single working day.

Vancouver’s award-winning airport (ranked best in North America for the tenth consecutive year) is less than half an hour from downtown and is connected by a light rail train called the Canada Line that was built for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Vancouver has hosted major international events including Expo ’86, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the HSBC Canada Ruby Sevens, ISU World Figure Skating Championships, the World Junior Hockey Championships.

The City of Vancouver has set the ambitious goal of becoming the world’s greenest city by 2020.

Vancouver is well-known for urban planning and design. In fact, “Vancouverism” has become global shorthand for sustainable urban development.

Vancouverites’ enjoyment of the mountains and ocean has spurred development of a performance and technical apparel industry that is conquering world markets (notable companies include Lululemon, Arc’Teryx, Hershel, Native and RYU).

Vancouver embodies multiculturalism not as a slogan but as part of everyday life. The city is renowned for world-class cuisine that fuses cultural ingredients and influences with local sourcing and sustainable practices.

 

 

A SAMPLING OF RANKINGS

  • Capital of Food: Vancouver – The Economist’s1843 (2018)
  • Best Places to Live and Work – Movie Maker Magazine (2018)
  • 2nd Best Country Globally: Canada – US News & World Report (2017)
  • #1 Highest-Rated Destination Site for a Business Meeting – STR’s DestinationMAP (2017)
  • Best in Destinations Canada – Travel Weekly Readers’ Choice Awards (2017)
  • 2017 Destination of the Year: Canada – Travel + Leisure (2017)
  • Best Cities in the World – Conde Nast Traveler (2017)
  • #1 Startup City in the World – PeoplePerHour Startup City Index (2017)
  • 3rd Most Liveable City in the World – Global Liveablity Report (2017)
  • Favourite Canadian City – Travel Press Agents’ Choice Awards (2017)
  • One of the World’s Best City Beaches: English Bay – The Guardian (2016)
  • Best Destination in Canada – Travel Weekly Readers’ Choice Awards (2014, 2015)
  • Top 10 cities in the USA and Canada – Travel + Leisure (2013)
  • Best quality of living in North America, fifth best quality of living in the world – Mercer (2012)
  • Best Airport in North America – The World Airport Awards (2011)
  • World’s most livable city – Economist Intelligence Unit (2010)

 

 

INNOVATIVE COMPANIES BORN IN VANCOUVER

  • Hootsuite – social media management system with more than seven million users in 175 countries.
  • Arc’Teryx – technical outdoor apparel company
  • Lululemon – yoga wear company
  • Herschel Supply Co. – trendy backpacks and duffel bags (sales soared by 900 percent between 2010 and 2011)
  • Flickr – image and video hosting website
  • Slack – productivity and communication platform for organizations
  • Plenty of Fish – free online dating website employing 66 people in Vancouver
  • Mountain Equipment Co-Op – outdoor recreation apparel cooperative founded in 1971, now across Canada
  • Lions Gate Films – one of the most successful film distributors in the world, founded here in 1997
  • Greenpeace – international environmental organization, founded here in 1972
  • Indochino – online menswear company
  • Native – purveyors of foam form shoes.
  • Six Hundred Four – a boutique shoe gallery with shoes designed by local artists. A chunk of the proceeds go to charity

 

 

VANCOUVER BY NUMBERS

  • PlentyOfFish employs over 75 staff in Vancouver, and deals with the romance of 60 million users
  • HootSuite has close to 1,000 staff located in Vancouver and worldwide, and more than 15 million users in more than 175 countries
  • Vancouver boasts more than 1,500 yoga classes a week—not bad for a city of only 600,000
  • Amazon has 50,000 square feet of office space set to open by 2020, and aims to add 1,000 tech jobs
  • Going local: 49% new local food and green jobs have been introduced since 2010
  • By 2020 the city will require all new buildings to be constructed with carbon neutral operations. Since 2007, there has been a 43% decrease in greenhouse gases (per square mile) from new buildings.

 

For Prospective Trainees

Urology Residency Rotations and Objectives

On the UBC Postgraduate Dean’s website you will find information on residency issues and various administrative forms (reimbursement, prescription writing, etc.).

The Department of Urologic Sciences uses a web-based evaluation system, that is One45 software.  To use the One45 website, you will need your username and password to access the system. If you need a reminder of your password, please contact Timea Oroszi   (Timea.Oroszi@ubc.ca) in the Department of Urologic Sciences Office of Education.

 

Current Urology Residents

UBC Urology Alumni

Academic Half-Day Schedule 2023-2024

Grand Rounds schedule 2023-2024 

UBC Urology Resident Graduation Day

Residency Requirements for Certification at the American Board of Urology