I have been in practice for 15 years. This is a fantastic field for many reasons. Diversity: see male & female patients, newborn to elderly, pregnant, mentally challenged, spinal cord injury, etc. The anatomy is fairly straightforward compared to neuro or ENT. There is little monotony: office practice, outpatient surgery, lithotripsy, major open or robotic surgery, lasers, microsurgery. You are all over the place, but always focused on the urinary tract. Fascinating imaging (X-rays). Need to deal with bowel in surgery only sporadically, but it is part of the job description. Hours of practice are favorable-you are rarely (never) up all nite, unlike general surgeons, orthopods, ER, etc. Training is tolerable, 5 or 6 year residency programs, but some w/2 yrs general surgery. Look for programs that allow call from home in the final 2-3 years. Most of all, many patients come with a surgically correctable problem (cancer or stone), and post treatment they heal and do very well. Curing patients of disease was always important for me, unlike so many non-surgical specialties. Urology is one of the best kept secrets of medical specialties, but you do need competitive grades and scores and recommendations.
