Urology

Urology, commonly referred to as genitourinary surgery, is a subspecialty of surgery and medicine that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders that affect the reproductive and urinary tract systems. The kidneys, adrenal glands, ureters, urinary bladder, and urethra are some of the organs that fall within the purview of urology. Urology also deals with the male reproductive system (testes, epididymis, vas deferens, seminal vesicles, prostate, and penis).

Because of their close proximity to one another, the urinary and reproductive systems are often affected when one of them is sick. Because of this, the majority of the illnesses that are treated by urologists fall within the category of genitourinary disorders. Urology combines the medical (i.e., non-surgical) management of conditions like urinary-tract infections and benign prostatic hyperplasia with the surgical management of conditions like bladder or prostate cancer, kidney stones, congenital abnormalities, traumatic injury, and stress incontinence. Urology is a branch of medicine that focuses on the urinary tract and male reproductive system.

Urological methods include laser-assisted operations, minimally invasive robotic and laparoscopic procedures, and other scope-guided treatments. Robotic and laparoscopic surgery are both minimally invasive. Urologists get training in both open and minimally invasive surgical procedures. They treat a variety of benign and malignant disorders using real-time ultrasound guidance, fiber-optic endoscopic equipment, and a variety of lasers. Urology is intimately connected to the fields of cancer, nephrology, gynaecology, andrology, paediatric surgery, colorectal surgery, gastroenterology, and endocrinology; also, urologists often interact with the practitioners of these other medical specialties.

In spite of the fact that urology is one of the most competitive and highly sought after surgical specialities for doctors, fewer than 1.5% of students who graduate from medical school in the United States each year choose to become urologists.

Urologists are medical professionals who have completed their general medical training and then gone on to specialise in the specialty of urology. After successfully completing a residency programme, many urologists opt to continue their education by enrolling in a fellowship that lasts between 12 and 36 more months and focuses on advanced study in a particular speciality area of specialisation. Urologic surgery, urologic oncology and urologic oncological surgery, endourology and endourologic surgery, urogynecology and urogynecologic surgery, reconstructive urologic surgery, minimally-invasive urologic surgery, paediatric urology and paediatric urologic surgery, transplant urology, voiding dysfunction, paruresis, neurourology, and androurology and sexual medicine are all examples of possible subspecialties in urology. In addition, some urologists continue their education after completing their fellowships by earning a master's degree in a relevant field (which can take anywhere from two to three years) or a doctorate degree (which can take anywhere from four to six years) in order to better prepare themselves for academic as well as specialised clinical employment.