Survey of Informed Consent Procedures in Urology: Disclosing Resident Participation to Patients.

AbstractThe American Urological Association (AUA) and American College of Surgeons (ACS) codes of professionalism require surgeons to disclose the specific roles and responsibilities of trainees to patients during the informed consent process. The objective of this study is to analyze how these requirements are met by urology training programs. An anonymous electronic survey was distributed to the program directors (PDs) of the 143 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education urology residency programs in the United States in 2021. Information was collected regarding program demographics, aspects of the program's consent process, and the disclosure to patients of the role and participation of residents in their surgery. There were 49 responses to the survey (34.3% response rate). Nearly 70 percent of PDs reported that attending physicians lead the consent process. The topics covered during consent discussion include possible complications (25%), expected recovery time (23%), length of the surgery (22%), the people involved (18%), and their specific roles (7%). Many PDs do not explicitly discuss trainee involvement (48.8%) or when a resident is to perform the majority of the case (87.8%). The majority of PDs (78.8%) communicate medical student involvement, but 73.2 percent reported having a patient decline participation of a trainee after describing their role. Despite the AUA and ACS codes of professionalism, many urologists do not disclose resident involvement in surgery to patients. Further discussions are needed to explore how to better balance resident education and patient autonomy.

Characteristics of Medical Schools in the United States Associated With Successful Match into Urology Residency Programs: Analysis of the 2016-2021 Urology Resident Cohort.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the characteristics of US medical schools associated with successful urology match applicants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using publicly available data, demographics and bibliometrics were collected for 1814 current urology residents who attend a US-based Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Accredited program, reflecting matched applicants over a 6-year period from 2016-2021. A generated list of US feeder medical schools for urology was analyzed for correlative and predictive factors. Statistical analyses to characterize these factors included Pearson's Correlation Coefficient (PCC) and univariable and multivariable linear regression, respectively, as needed. RESULTS: There were 516 (28.45%) female residents and 58 (3.20%) international medical graduates. The mean number of published papers and abstracts ± SD pre-residency was 5.54 ± 7.20 with a mean h-index of 1.97 ± 2.24. The Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine had the highest percentage of successful matches into urology (n = 7, 3.65%), while the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine produced the highest absolute number (n = 41, 3.30%). The presence of a home urology program and pre-residency h-index had the strongest correlation with producing urology residents (PCC = 0.5769 and 0.3709, respectively, P<.0001). CONCLUSION: Understanding the characteristics of a successful urology match applicant and the medical schools that produce them will be vital as USMLE Step 1 exam becomes pass/fail. Further research into these schools' curricula is required to better understand the effect of early exposure to urology on matching into urology.

Single-Port Robotic Radical Prostatectomy: Short-Term Outcomes and Learning Curve.

Introduction and Objective: In 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the da Vinci single-port (SP) system, in which four instruments are still utilized, but enter through a single-site access trocar. Herein, we report the largest case series for SP robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) to date. Our primary aim is to analyze the perioperative and short-term outcomes of this procedure. Our secondary aim is an assessment of the learning curve with this new platform. Methods: A total of 157 patients underwent SP RARP by two surgeons who have completed >3000 multiport robotic surgeries collectively. Institutional Review Board-approved prospectively collected data were used. Basic demographic preoperative variables and perioperative outcomes were analyzed. Results: Median patient age and prostate-specific antigen was 63 years and 6.3 ng/mL before treatment (interquartile range [IQR] 4.7-8.2 ng/mL). Average prostate weight was 47 g. The median operating time was 195 minutes (IQR 165-221.25 minutes) with a median estimated blood loss of 100 mL (IQR 100-200 mL). Surgeon 1's operating time stabilized around case #56, and Surgeon 2 around case #26. Surgeon 2 used the transperitoneal approach for the first 7 cases. There were no intraoperative complications. There were six total postoperative complications (3.8%) and four (2.5%) were Clavien-Dindo scale ≥IIIa. One hundred ten patients went home same day, 45 stayed 1 night at the hospital, with only 2 patients requiring stay in the hospital for more than 1 night (70%, 29%, and 1% respectively). With the median follow-up period of 9 months, rates of biochemical recurrence, pad-free, and potency preservation were 8.3%, 82.5%, and 64.4%, respectively. Conclusions: This case series confirms the safety and efficacy of SP RARP with acceptable short-term outcomes. There is a significant learning curve for this new modality. Shorter hospital stay appears to be an early benefit of the SP platform.

Impact of medical school responses during the COVID-19 pandemic on student satisfaction: a nationwide survey of US medical students.

PURPOSE: Medical schools have faced various challenges in preparing their clinical students for the frontlines of a pandemic. This study investigated medical students' satisfaction with their institutions during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with the intention of guiding educators in future public health crises. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study surveying students in clinical rotations, the primary outcome was overall satisfaction regarding medical schools' responses to the pandemic, and the four secondary outcomes were school communication, exposure to COVID-19, availability of personal protective equipment, and access to COVID-19 testing. RESULTS: The survey was distributed to ten medical schools, of which 430 students responded for a response rate of 13.0%. While most students were satisfied (61.9%, n=266) with their schools' response, more than one in five (21.9%, n=94) were dissatisfied. Among the four secondary outcomes, communication with students was most predictive of overall satisfaction. CONCLUSION: In future crises, schools can best improve student satisfaction by prioritizing timely communication.

Dissecting the role of lymphadenectomy in the management of renal cell carcinoma: past, present, and future.

Lymph node involvement in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) portends a poor prognosis. However, the role of lymph node dissection (LND) at the time of tumor resection is not fully understood. Conflicting data have been published regarding the survival implications of LND during RCC surgery, and the optimal patient population for which LND might be beneficial has yet to be identified. Based on recent data characterizing the outcomes of node-positive RCC, some have advocated for revising the current staging guidelines to better reflect these findings. Given the paucity of high-quality evidence supporting or refuting the routine use of LND in RCC, further research is needed to shed light on this important topic. There are a number of ongoing clinical trials evaluating the role of perioperative (neoadjuvant and adjuvant) systemic therapy, which include patients with node-positive RCC, and will serve to guide changes in treatment practices for this patient population moving forward.