Female Pelvic Floor Disorders (FPFD) are among the most prevalent diseases afflicting U.S. women. Despite their high frequency, there has been remarkably little basic science and clinical research on FPFD. A severe shortage of physician-scientists and academicians dealing with FPFD is partially responsible for this weakness in the scientific literature. In 2002, the American Boards of Urology and Obstetric/Gynecology established a joint commission to review and accredit fellowship programs in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPM&RS). This step, while exciting, is by itself insufficient to address the shortage of urologists investigating FPFD. During urology residency training, FPM&RS currently suffers by competition with other high-demand but more glamorous subspecialties, such as laparascopic urologic surgery and urologic oncology. FPM&RS must present itself as offering exciting clinical, surgical, and career opportunities, in order to attract the interests of potential physician-scientists to its many opportunities for clinical, basic, and translational research. We propose an educational program in FPM&RS to stimulate and encourage urology residents in the early phase of training to explore investigative and academic careers in FPM&RS. The proposal is motivated by the success of a pilot program held in April 2002, when 45 urology residents from programs across the U.S. attended a 4 day FPM&RS symposium. Their evaluations, and follow-ups with residency program directors, were highly favorable. Consequently, we request funds to assist with i) further curriculum development, particularly of those portions focusing on scientific foundations of therapy and evidencebased urological practice, ii) program delivery to 100 residents annually for five years, and iii) follow-up evaluation to assess short-term career impact. The revised program will include didactic lectures, live broadcast surgery, and group discussion sessions on clinical, surgical, and investigative issues related to FPFD, led by local and distinguished guest faculty who will interact with residents individually and in groups throughout the program, both in and outside of scheduled class time. Integration of clinical and scientific concepts, including those of research methodology, will be stressed. If the program is successful, it is likely to engage the commitment of a substantial number of urology residents to FPM&RS in general and, for a considerable subset of these, to a physician-scientist track, thereby helping to fill the shortage of clinician investigators as well as the developing shortage of clinical soecialists in this area.
| Daneshgari, Firouz; Novick, Andrew C (2005) National urology resident preceptorship program in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery. J Urol 174:1370-3 |
