Why Did You Choose Urology ?

A love for both medicine and surgery is what characterizes Urologists - their personalities are probably a mashup of the internists and the surgeons :-). Urologists in America enjoy a great income, low malpractice rates, good work hours and balanced lifestyles.

Check out why some of the Urologists selected Urology as a career and use these scripts to formulate your residency interview answer based on what applies to you !


"I chose urology because it involves a wide array of surgical problems while allowing me to maintain long-term relationships with patients. I get great satisfaction helping my patients understand their problems. It is important to be able to discuss and offer all treatment options available, both surgical and nonsurgical. If surgery is necessary, I offer the latest, least invasive techniques to return you to your normal life more quickly"

Source: Dr.Joseph Steinberg

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"I choose urology for several reasons:

a) Urology is one of the rare specialties of medicine that has a good balance of both in office medical patient care as well as surgical procedures. Urology is a field that generally requires the patients to be followed over a long term. This was appealing to me because I wanted to develop a relationship with my patients.

b) Urology has a wide variety of surgical procedures. There are the simple in office cystoscopies and vasectomies to procedures in the operating room. The operating room has a wide variety of procedures including the traditional open procedures to laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures. I am a "hands on" type of person and therefore I wanted a variety of procedures.

c) Another major reason of why I chose urology was the major need for women in urology. I was the 2nd woman to graduate from my urology residency program in 2001. Women in general prefer to see women physicians. I knew that there was a definite need for women in urology. Serving on the Board of Women in Urology I can tell you that more and more women are entering urology residencies and almost 1/3 of current urology residents are women. In the next 10 years there it will not be so unusual to see a woman urologist.

d) The last reason I chose urology was because it still allows me to have a family and yet be a surgeon. There are few urological emergencies that cannot wait until the morning. This allows for more time at home with my family."

- and as she says it : "most people believe that urologists treat only male patients. What people forget is that women have kidney's and bladders as well" - LOL

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"It allows you to have a versatile practice. Malpractice is not nearly as bad as some of the other specialties, like ob/gyn," she said. "The off-hour requirements are less. There seems to be a little more balance. You can have contained work hours and be able to enjoy things outside of work."

Source: Dr. Jennifer Taylor

(Note - USe the above practical aspects as the other reasons AFTER talking about the specifics of the specialty that interest you )

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"Contrary to popular belief, urologists do not solely deal with one certain organ. I chose the field for multiple reasons including the wide variety of surgical procedures and the ability to treat patients with both medical and surgical problems."

Source: Dr. Jessica Mandeville



Also See:

- Urologist Salaries in USA
- Being a Urologist (DVD)
- 'Urologist Only' Parking Sign



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