A multi-institution, minimally invasive urological oncology fellowship: A critical assessment of the clinical training and academic benefits

Purpose: We evaluated the clinical training and academic productivity of a unique minimally invasive urological oncology fellowship performed in 3-month rotations at 4 institutions. Material and Methods: With Georgia Cancer Coalition grant funding and institutional support a faculty urologist (JAB) completed 3-month fellowships at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia in 2002, Indiana University, Indianapolis in 2003, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston in 2003 and Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit in 2004. Results: The trainee operated under the direction of 8 surgeons and assisted/observed another 5. Total operative experience was 355 cases, including 53 standard laparoscopic radical prostatectomies, 100 robotic assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomies, 30 standard (including 13 donor) and 22 hand assisted laparoscopic nephrectomies, 6 nephroureterectomies, 14 partial nephrectomies, 3 renal cyst decortications, 12 pyeloplasties, 5 adrenalectomies, 2 hand assisted laparoscopic ureterolysis procedures, 1 laparoscopic partial and I radical cystectomy, hand assisted laparoscopic cystectomy, robotic cystectomy, 26 open and 2 laparoscopic retroperitoneal lymph node dissections, 5 complex open bladder surgeries, 6 complex open renal surgeries and approximately 24 endoscopic laser upper tract tumor cases. Post-fellowship sequential initiation of laparoscopic renal cancer (April 2002), prostatectomy (July 2003) and donor nephrectomy (November 2003) programs was accomplished at the home institution. Academic projects were completed during each fellowship phase with 43 presented abstracts and 2 book chapters, 2 nonpeer reviewed articles and 12 peer reviewed articles published to date. Conclusions: A multi-institution fellowship allows serial acquisition and incorporation of a wide variety of cutting edge, minimally invasive and oncological procedures into an academic practice. It allows greater exposure to more high volume experts in varying oncological subspecialties. Clinical research and academic productivity are possible.