USA Health launches urology residency program
The Office of Graduate Medical Education recently received approval from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for the five-year residency program to begin in July.
By Carol McPhail
cmcphail@health.southalabama.edu
USA Health, in collaboration with the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine, has established a urology residency program to train physicians who diagnose and treat urologic disorders in men and women.
The Office of Graduate Medical Education recently received approval from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for the five-year residency program to begin in July. Two residents – a first-year resident and a second-year resident – have been accepted to the program.
Urology residents will undergo an intern year of residency, including general surgery training, followed by four years of urologic specialty training in general urology/surgery, robotics, pediatric urology, female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery, trauma and urologic oncology at USA Health facilities. Going forward, the program will accept one resident per year.
Christopher Keel, D.O., F.A.C.S., interim chair of the department of urology at the Whiddon College of Medicine, is director of the new residency program.
“Training the next generation of physicians is one of our responsibilities as the region’s only academic health system,” said John Marymont, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the Whiddon College of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs at the University of South Alabama. “This new residency program will enhance our ability to provide state-of-the-art comprehensive care to the people of Alabama and the upper Gulf Coast.”
Owen Bailey, M.S.H.A., FACHE, chief executive officer for USA Health, said the new program will help meet the growing healthcare needs of people in the region. “We now will be able to further expand our advanced urological services while carrying out our missions of research and education,” he said.
Nationally, the Urology Residency Match involves more than 500 highly competitive applicants who apply for about 350 positions. Urology residency programs, along with ophthalmology programs, participate in early matches, choosing their applicants prior to the national Match Day.
