What is a urologist and how do you become one?

The public, my patients, and even some colleagues ask what a urologist does.

Here is some general information regarding the speciality of urology, including some material gleaned from the American Urological Association (AUA) and the American Board of Urology (ABU) websites:

What is urology?

Urology is a surgical specialty that deals with diseases of the male and female urinary tract and the male reproductive organs.  This includes organs such as the kidneys, bladder, and prostate gland.  In addition to surgical knowledge, urologists also must be familiar with specialties such as internal medicine, pediatrics, and gynecology to care for the broad spectrum of problems that affect these systems. 

What is particularly enjoyable about this specialty is that we can care for patients of all ages.   Many medical students are drawn to urology because of our stereotypical easy demeanor and our facility with both the medical and surgical treatment of genitourinary diseases.

How does someone become train to become urologist?

Urologists complete at least 4 years of medical school after college to obtain a MD. Thereafter, urologic graduate medical education occurs at training hospitals.  This consists of 1 to 2 years of general surgery followed by urologic training for a total of 5 to 6 years after medical school.  Some urologists do fellowships ranging from 1 to 3 additional years of training to further subspecialize.

 

The AUA has identified seven subspecialty areas within urology:

• Pediatric Urology
• Urologic cancer such as prostate, kidney, bladder, and testicular cancer
• Kidney Transplantation
• Male Infertility
• Stone disease of the urinary tract
• Female Urology 
• Neurourology

How is a urologist certified? 

In America, board certification is done by the American Board of Urology.  There are generally correlate bodies in other countries of the world.

The certification process consists of two parts:

1. First part - qualifying written examination as well as a review of credentials, education, and training.
2. Second part - After passage of part one and a minimum of 16 months of practice, candidates can then submit a practice log and undergo peer review and review by the board.  If the candidate is qualified, he or she can take the second oral certifying exam.

Beginning in 2007, ABU has initiated a maintenance of certification process for those who become certified or recertified.

Here are the reference links:

American Board of Urology

American Urological Association - What is urology?

We’re quite enthusiastic about our craft and enjoy discussing it with any interested party. So please talk to one of us for further information!

Describing your urinary symptoms to your doctor

The urologic system can be quite a mystery to many people.  When you see your doctor for urinary issues, it can be difficult to find the right words to describe your symptoms.

In this post, I'll review some symptom terminology so that you can communicate more effectively with your healthcare provider.

"Urias":

• dysuria - pain with urination
• hematuria - blood in the urine
• nocturia - night time urination
• pneumaturia - passage of air with urination

Leakage:

• urge incontinence - urinary leakage due to feeling like you need to urinate and not making it to the bathroom in time
• stress incontinence - urinary leakage due to coughing, straining, laughing, or other strenuous activities

Symptoms:

• frequency - how often you urinate
• urgency - how rushed you feel when you feel the need to urinate
• hesitancy - a difficult to start urinary stream
• intermittency - starting and stopping stream
• retention - sense of incomplete emptying after urination

Knowing a few buzz words can really expedite your visit and let your doctor know how empowered you are about your urologic health!

What exactly is the prostate anyway?

Let's start with basics:

The prostate is a sexual gland located between a man's bladder and penis.  It is located in the pelvis behind the pubic bone (bone you can feel just above the penis) and in front of the rectum.

Check out the figure below:

Source: Wikimedia Commons and NCI

This shows a cutaway side view or "sagittal" view of the male pelvic area.  The prostate is located in the boxed area.










This is a closer view of the prostate and the seminal vesicles which store the semen created by the prostate.








The main purpose of the prostate is to create semen.  Semen is the vehicle for sperm transport to the female reproductive system. The semen is also critical in helping the sperm become active within the female reproductive tract, a process called capacitation.

So hopefully this post has shed some light on what it is and where it is.  I'll do another post next on how the prostate is examined.

First Post

Hello, world!

I've created this blog to educate the public regarding urology and male health as well as share with you my exploits.

First of all, who am I?  I'm a urologist in Concord, NH with a clinical and research interest in male health and mobile apps.

Here is my LinkedIn profile - this will give you more details:
My profile

The blog is called Prostate Pals because I think it has a nice ring to it and because it is also the title of the free urologic health app (no ads too) I created for Apple and Android devices.  Here are some links to the apps:

Prostate Pal for Apple Devices

Prostate Pal for Android

There is a unisex app called Bladder Pal also for Apple and Android:

Bladder Pal for Apple Devices

Bladder Pal for Android

If you are reading, please comment...and send over any request you have for topics.

I hope to start generating further content real soon, so stay tuned!