Urology Fellowship
Training the Next Generation of Leaders in Pediatric Urology
Urology Fellowship
Nationwide Children’s Hospital offers a comprehensive, individualized and dynamic educational program in order to produce highly skilled, thoughtful and well-rounded pediatric urologists who are academically minded.
Our ACGME-accredited fellowship consists of 12 months of clinical pediatric urology as well as 12 months of clinical and basic research to meet the training requirements for the Pediatric Urology Certificate of Added Qualification (CAQ) as governed by the American Board of Urology. Our program has a unique schedule to maximize fellows’ clinical experience and academic productivity during their training. A 1st year fellow starts with 6 months (July – December) of protected research time without clinical work expectations to initiate their ongoing research projects. For the following 12 months overlapping parts of the 1st and 2nd year, the fellow is immersed in clinical pediatric urology and runs a very busy inpatient service as well as participates in outpatient clinics. Their duties also include on-call shifts to provide backup to Urology Nurse Practitioners. In the final 6 months of the 2nd year, fellows will complete their research projects without clinical responsibilities. They may scrub in on special cases as the need arises for 2-year ACGME case log. During research months, fellows also work with Urology faculty in the Myelomeningocele Clinic to learn about the longitudinal care of these complex patients.
What You Need to Know
What to Expect
Fellows will work directly with ten fellowship-trained, full time academic pediatric urologists and a team of specialized health care providers, residents, nurse practitioners and researchers in pediatric medical and surgical fields. They have unique opportunities to work in multidisciplinary teams at the intersection of specialties.
The fellowship covers all aspects of inpatient and outpatient pediatric urology - open, laparoscopic, robotic, ESWL and endourologic techniques. Nationwide Children’s Urology has large volume patient programs in robotic surgery, reconstructive bladder surgery, colorectal and anorectal malformations, and sacral neuromodulation, amongst others. The ambulatory clinic experiences include multidisciplinary clinics in spina bifida, differences in sexual development, and joint uro-nephrology care. These outpatient clinics also include interpretation of radiologic and urodynamic studies. During research months, fellows are exposed to a variety of research opportunities in pediatric urology, e.g., processes, pathophysiology, and/or treatment. They select projects of special interest to them. By doing so, they can quickly start work on their projects at the beginning of the first year and continue these projects to completion by the end of their two years of training. A Urology Research Coordinator assists fellows with formulation of projects, IRB approval completion, data collection, statistical support and manuscript writing. Faculty at the Research Institute and Pediatric Urology jointly supervise research activities to meet and exceed the Individual Scholarly Activity Plan (ISAP) requirements for fellowship completion and eligibility for the CAQ.
Program Goals
- Ensure the fellow develops the cognitive and technical skills necessary to assess children suspected of having a pediatric urological disease.
- Accurately, and with the least invasion, diagnose and develop a treatment plan for children with urological disease.
- Implement diagnostic studies and operative or non-operative therapy using the most contemporary radiological and technical tools.
Experience
The fellow will receive broad surgical experience in all aspects of Pediatric Urology such as:
- Bladder Augmentation/ Reconstruction
- Cystoscopy
- ESWL
- Female Incontinence
- Hydrocelectomy/Herniorrhaphy
- Hypospadias/Epispadias/Exstrophy
- Orchiopexy
- Robotic Reconstruction
- Percutaneous Renal Surgery
- Pyeloplasty
- Renal Surgery
- Scrotal Surgery
- Ureteroneocystostomy
- Ureteroscopy
- Urethroplasty/Urethral Surgery
- Urinary Diversion
The pediatric urology department at Nationwide Children's offers fellows extensive training in minimally invasive surgery. Fellows receive training in robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery using the dual console DaVinci Si system. Fellows will have advanced training in robotic renal procedures such as pyeloplasty, nephrectomy, hemi-nephrectomy and ureteroureterostomy. They will also receive extensive experience in ureteral reimplantation as well as appendicovesicostomy. Simulation systems are available and are incorporated into the curriculum to allow maintenance of surgical skills. In addition to robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery, fellows also receive training in pure laparoscopic reconstructive surgery. Fellows furthermore gain experience with pediatric endoscopic stone surgery performing ureteroscopy and percutaneous nephrolithotomy. They often serve as teaching assistants with these latter procedures training residents on safe, effective technique.
Sample Schedule
The fellow spends approximately 80% of the time (4 days of the work week) in the OR and approximately 1 day seeing patients in outpatient clinic. That day of clinic is not set in stone from week to week and the fellow decides which clinic(s) to attend based on the weekly OR schedule.
Below is a sample weekly schedule for the ACGME Pediatric Urology Fellowship Program at Nationwide Children's Hospital. This schedule gives a brief overview of the average week for our pediatric fellows.
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays – Surgery
Wednesdays
- 7:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. – Schedule Varies Week to Week (see table below)
- The rest of the day will include surgery and time in clinic. The exact times will vary according to the OR schedule.
| Week 1 | 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. | Radiology |
| 8:15 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. | Nephrology-Urology Research Conference | |
| Week 2 | 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. | Surgery Grand Rounds |
| 8:15 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. | Urodynamics Conference | |
| Week 3 | 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. | Journal Club |
| 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. | Research Conference | |
| Week 4 | 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. | Surgery Grand Rounds |
| 8:15 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. | Campbell's Club or Resident Talk | |
| Week 5 | 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. | Professional Development; Misc. (Guest Speakers, Billing and Coding, Faculty Development Topics, etc.) |
| 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. | Pathology |
Faculty, Alumni, and Fellows
Hear from Our Fellows
“I am so grateful for my training at Nationwide. The diversity of cases prepared me well for clinical practice and the unique CCPR and spina bifida clinic experiences prepared me to lead similar clinics in my own practice. The collaboration of staff created a fun and supportive learning environment.”
Alex Rehfuss
“Nationwide Children's pediatric urology fellowship prepared me by providing the skills and knowledge to care for pediatric urology patients in and out of the operating room. I felt prepared from day 1, when I was a new, fresh-out-of-fellowship attending. In addition, the research experience allowed me the opportunity to explore clinical and translational questions. The fellowship experience provided me with the foundation for the rest of my urologic career.”
Doug Storm
“The clinical training at Nationwide Children’s was outstanding. There is a high volume of the full spectrum of pediatric urology cases, from straightforward to highly complex. In addition, I was very satisfied with the level of autonomy I had during training, both clinically and operatively. I was able and prepared for solo pediatric urology practice straight out of training, which I did for two years before returning to academic medicine. In an era where some pediatric urology fellows are not graduating with full confidence in their skills, this will not happen if you graduate from this program; you will certainly be prepared for independent practice.”
Kristin Ebert
“Choosing where to do fellowship is an important decision that can have a long-lasting impact on future practice dynamics and career trajectory. The best thing I can say about training at Nationwide Children's Hospital is that they cared deeply about me and my career goals. The fellowship is so robust that it can be easily tailored to help launch your career in many different directions within pediatric urology. There were opportunities for research and complex surgical care of patients spanning the full breadth of pediatric urology. All of this with a supportive faculty that were respectful of trainees and each other; I don't think there is a better place to train.”
Mike Ernst
Research
Research education and training are vital to the mission of Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital. As a top-ten free-standing pediatric research center and an academic affiliate of The Ohio State University, The Research Institute has an outstanding faculty, dedicated to training and mentoring the next generation of scientists in pediatric research.
Research at Nationwide Children's Hospital
Advocacy
Advocacy training fosters and encourages interest in child advocacy by early involvement and exposure to its many aspects such as addressing social determinants of health, community collaboration, health finance, health policy and legislative advocacy.
Application and Selection
The Department of Pediatric Urology, Nationwide Children's Hospital participates in the Pediatric Urology Fellowship Match, sponsored jointly by the AUA and The Society for Pediatric Urology. All pertinent information regarding the pediatric urology match can be found at The Society for Pediatric Urology website including participating programs, their contact information and the universal application form.
Applicants are requested to complete and submit the pediatric urology application. As indicated in your application, three letters of recommendation are needed to complete your file. Please email all documents to:
Seth A. Alpert, MD
Program Director, Department of Pediatric Urology
Nationwide Children's Hospital, FOB Suite 6A.1
700 Children's Drive
Columbus, OH 43205-2696
We schedule several interview dates in the springtime where candidates have the option of either meeting our faculty and fellows in-person or virtually, depending on the preference of each individual applicant. No preference is given to either interview format in terms of assessing candidates for the Match.
Contact
Seth A. Alpert, MD
Program Director
Seth.Alpert@NationwideChildrens.org
Litsa Myers
Program Coordinator
Litsa.Myers@NationwideChildrens.org
Office Phone: (614) 722-3128
Office Fax: (614) 722-6627
