Will India too face a shortage of Trainees in Urology in the Future?
Urology, also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the male and female urinary tract system and the male reproductive organs. Will India too face a shortage of Trainees in Urology in the Future? Maybe, this issue of lesser trainees for Urology in the Future has not crept into the Indian Scenario as yet. But it is likely to occur.
In India, Urology as a specialty commenced in 1965 with the first candidate Prof. C, Chinnaswami obtaining M Ch (Urology) in 1966. We had 4 centers as training centers in the early days but it increased as and when those having qualified could get the necessary teaching experience. The main problem faced during that time was the lack of approved centers and this was mainly not due to the non-availability of manpower but at many academic centers, there was disinterest to commence Urology Centers.
Even in India, there is a lack of interest among females to take up Urology as a specialty. The main problem Urology in Future is gonna face is teaching at both Undergraduate as well at MS General Surgery level. MCI in its wisdom has decided to offer limited training in Urology at this level. It is again for USI to take necessary steps with authorities and see that Urology training gets more time during their training curriculum.
Patient care has always been prioritized to teaching in times of public health crisis. As most of the elective services have been hit by the pandemic, urology being a predominantly elective field has been hit hard. Overall, most of the elective urological surgeries are deferred or delayed during the pandemic as priority is being given for emergency procedures and cancer surgeries. Hence, urology units will be expected to perform only emergent endourological procedures and select cancer services with senior urologists performing most of the procedures, considering the pandemic situation. Although a vast majority of the hospitals perform emergent endourological procedures (ureteroscopy, and cystoscopy, trans-urethral resection of bladder tumors) and other benign surgeries in which residents can participate, the numbers are less compared to the pre-COVID era
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