Why do a urologic oncology fellowship?
This fellowship should offer good surgical training both in terms of open and laparascopic/robotic skills, typically with a lot of volume. It allows clinical and surgical subspecialization which can be narrowed down as much or as little as you want. Some may go into academics and become pure “prostatologists” or even testis specialists, while others may still practice relatively broad-based urologic oncology in the community. Of course, this training would still be well-utilized as a general urologist in the community. Additionally, for those interested in an academic research-oriented career, the lab year provides a potentially important launching point. Why not? As with any fellowship, the commitment of 1-2 years is significant and some may feel they do not need the extra clinical and surgical training. Many programs are very rigorous–some are harder than residency. You can’t ignore that many oncologic cases are very long and complex, so this needs to be considered as well. Finally,
