General Requirements
Applicants must be a graduate of a medical school approved by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) or a school of osteopathy approved by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation of the American Osteopathic Association and have completed a urology residency program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada [RCPS(C)]. ACGME training programs in urology are described in the American Medical Association Graduate Medical Education Directory Section II “Essentials of Accredited Residencies in Graduate Medical Education: Institutional and Program Requirements.”
Postgraduate training requirements: The American Board of Urology mandates a minimum of 5 clinical years of postgraduate medical training. Training must include:
A PGY1 (URO 1) year in an ACGME or RCPS(C) approved surgical or urology program including the following rotations:
- 3 months of general surgery
- 3 months of additional surgical training. Recommended rotations include surgical critical care trauma colorectal surgery transplantation plastic/reconstructive surgery. Alternate rotations may be accepted on a case-by-case basis based on educational value.
- Minimum 3 months of urology
- 3 months of other rotations not including dedicated scholarly activity. This time may include additional urology other surgical rotations or appropriate nonsurgical rotations such as interventional radiology nephrology and anesthesiology.
- 4 years in an ACGME or RCPS(C) approved urology program including at least 12 months as a chief resident in urology with the appropriate clinical responsibility and under supervision during the last two years of training. The resident must have a minimum total of 48 months dedicated to urology training. Up to 3 months of urology in the PGY1 year may be counted toward the 48 months.
For the above requirements a month is defined as a calendar month. Up to 3 months of scholarly activity is allowed excluding the PGY1 and chief years.
For residents who completed 3 months of urology in the PGY1 year up to 6 months of dedicated scholarly activity is allowed excluding the PGY1 and chief year.
A resident who has completed a PGY-1 year in a ACGME-approved general surgery program that included 3 months of general surgery and 3 months of additional surgical training as described above prior to entering urology residency training has fulfilled the general surgery requirements. A minimum of 48 months of clinical urology training must be completed in the urology residency.
All rotations must have been approved by the candidate’s program director.
Research rotations cannot interfere with the mandated 12 months of general surgery or the 48 months of clinical urology.
Residents must comply with the guidelines in place at the time he/she enrolled in the program.
All rotations listed above that are not part of the core urology training must have been approved by the candidate’s program director. As part of the core urology training the candidate must have completed at least 12 months as a chief resident in urology with the appropriate clinical responsibility and under supervision during the last two years of training in an ACGME- approved program.
Canadian Medical School Graduates
International Medical Graduates (IMG)
- Those who have completed an ACGME-approved urology residency and the prerequisite ACGME-approved pre-urology training in the United States may qualify for examination or
- Those who have completed a RCPS(C)-approved urology residency in Canada will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. All such applicants must have a valid certificate from the Education Committee for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG).
IMG Alternative Pathway to Certification
Entrance into the certification process differs for individuals who completed a urology residency program not approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC). For these International Medical Graduates (IMG), an alternate pathway into the certification process is available. The requirements for application and entrance into the certification process are listed below. The ABU reserves the right to approve or disallow the variance for certification and subspecialty certification on a case-by-case basis.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
- Currently employed in the US at an academic center on the faculty of a urology residency program approved by the ACGME.
- At least 7 years of full-time faculty position experience within a urology residency program accredited by the ACGME or the Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Canada (RCPS-C) providing outstanding clinical and educational service in such a program, along with meaningful scholarship productivity. This service could have been accumulated at more than one such program, including those in Canada.
- Subspecialty Application: An applicant who has achieved ABU certification through the Alternate Pathway, who continues to meet the criteria above and who has at least 75% subspecialty immersion in either pediatric urology or Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery (URPS) may apply for subspecialty certification in the appropriate subspecialty.
APPLICATION COMPONENTS
- Completed application form.
- Cover letter from the applicant detailing his/her contributions to urology in the areas of clinical practice, scholarship, and resident education.
- Updated CV
- Six letters of recommendation from academic urologists in active practice attesting to the applicant’s contributions in the areas of residency/fellow education, scholarship, and patient care. These letters must include those from the following individuals: Department Chair or Division Chief; The residency program director at each institution where you practice; Chair or senior faculty member at the international academic institution worked at least one year before relocating to the U.S.; and two ABU certified senior faculty members at institutions other than where employed. These letters should be sent directly to the ABU from the letter writer. No additionally submitted letters will be included with the final application.
- Note: Other materials submitted such as patient testimonials, media reports or similar documents are not requested and will not be included in the application.
- Fee of $1,000 must accompany the application.
APPROVAL PROCESS
- Application, letters of recommendation, and the application fee must all be received by June 1 for consideration at the meeting of the Trustees in August. Applicants will then be notified of the results of the approval process by September 15th, and, if approved, will be eligible to apply for the Qualifying Examination offered the following Summer.
- To document the applicant’s status in the medical community, the Board will request completion of confidential peer review questionnaires from the Chiefs of Staff, Urology and/or Surgery, and Anesthesiology, and, where applicable, the Chief of Pediatrics or Obstetrics/Gynecology for each facility in which the applicant performs at least 50 cases annually. Greater than 50% response rate is acceptable for the applicant to proceed with the process.
- The applicant must sign a waiver authorizing any and all third parties contacted by the Board to furnish to the Board such records and information, including confidential information related to the applicant’s abilities and reputation as a urologist, as the Board (in its sole discretion) may deem necessary or advisable. Under no circumstances will these reviews and documents be revealed to any person other than Trustees and Staff of the Board.
- The Board of Trustees will consider each individual application in its entirety and reach a final decision at its discretion.
Transferring Between Programs
A resident may only transfer once during the urology portion of training and the last two years of residency training must be spent in the same institution. A resident who wishes to transfer must notify the ABU in writing six months in advance of the transfer and copy the current Program Director and Designated Institutional Officer. The Program Director from the recipient program must send a letter to the ABU verifying there is an appropriate residency slot in the program for the resident to fill.
Leaves of Absence
Leaves of absence and vacation may be granted to residents at the discretion of the Program Director consistent with local institutional policy and applicable laws. Each program may provide vacation leave and family leave (any leave required to care for a family member) for the resident in accordance with institutional policy. The ABU requires 46 weeks of full-time clinical activity in each of the five years of residency. However the 46 weeks may be averaged over the first 3 years of residency for a total of 138 weeks required in the first 3 years and over the last 2 years a total of 92 weeks is required.
Vacation or various other leave may not be accumulated to reduce the total training requirement. Should circumstances occur which keep a resident from working the required 138 weeks the first 3 years and 92 weeks the last 2 years the Program Director must submit a request to the ABU for a variance of the current policy or a plan outlining how the training deficit will be rectified. In certain cases an extension of the residency training may be required.
This policy is not retroactive and does not apply to leave taken prior to the 2021-2022 academic year.
Ninety-two (92) weeks of training is required for two-year fellowships without the need to request a variance or submit a plan for making up a training deficit.
Leave for educational/scientific conferences are at the discretion of the Program Director.
