Modernising Medical Careers: a urological workforce perspective

Abstract

The training of junior doctors in the UK is undergoing an evolution to ensure that those concerned are adequately trained and specialised for current and future consultant practice.The implementation of this training evolution is currently widespread at the foundation level (SHO-equivalent) and will expand to specialty training programmes as foundation programme trainees complete their training in 2007. Urology has led the change to the specialty training, with three-year trainees having entered the specialty in 2005. The emergence of urology as the lead specialty for change originated in part from a meeting in 1998 that addressed the future of urology and training, the summary of which was published later that year. The urology consultant workload is undoubtedly changing with the expansion of diagnostic services and the decrease in surgical in favour of medical treatments. The proportion of patients currently referred for surgery after an outpatient consultation has decreased and trainees are exposed to 50% of the operative experience of a decade ago.