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Medical Student Education

The Department of Urology offers medical students and visiting medical students a wide range of clinical learning experiences in adult and pediatric urology. Our selective two-week clerkship is consistently ranked among the top surgical clerkships at the University of Iowa.

Although urology is classified as a surgical specialty, you will see a broad expanse of urologic conditions. You’ll have the opportunity to develop your technical and diagnostic skills along with your interview, examination, and referral skills. You’ll also gain knowledge in internal medicine, pediatrics, and gynecology.

You will work alongside our facultyresident physicians, and advanced practice providers on diagnosis, nonoperative management, surgical treatment, and postoperative care, and you’ll routinely participate in endoscopic, laparoscopic, oncologic, and reconstructive adult and pediatric surgery.

Urology: Where medicine, surgery, and cutting-edge technology meet

Urology uniquely combines medicine, surgery, and the latest advances in technology. Urologists have developed some of the most exciting new minimally invasive techniques, and the field allows physicians to take advances in the lab straight to the clinic, with an immediate impact on patients.

See what experienced urologists love about their field in this brief video prepared by the American Urological Association.

Urology Selective Clerkship

The Department of Urology selective clerkship is a two-week rotation consisting of outpatient clinics, surgical OR cases, writing patient notes, presenting a 10-minute seminar, and attending didactic conferences.

Urology Advanced Elective Clerkships

If you want to pursue urology as a career, we recommend an advanced clerkship in urology. Available two-week or four-week advanced clerkships include general urology, pediatric urology, urologic oncology, and independent research. Our advanced clerkships allow for immersive training in urology, including the option to work closely with faculty in your specific interest areas, pediatrics, and oncology.

Our four-week clerkships are open to visiting students who plan to become career urologists. For a full description of advanced elective clerkships, please review the Carver College of Medicine Advanced Curriculum.

Electives for Visiting Students

The Department of Urology offers four-week electives from July through October to fourth-year visiting medical students who are enrolled in an LCME-accredited medical school. These rotations in Advanced General Urology (URO:8401), Pediatric Urology (URO:8402), and Urologic Oncology (URO: 8403) are approved and arranged by the department. We cannot accept applications from students in osteopathic medicine programs.