Endourology/Stone Surgery Fellowship
This one-year fellowship — accredited by the Endourological Society — provides training in endourology/stone surgery. Fellows will receive certification of fellowship training and will be prepared for a career in academic medicine.
Why Wake Forest?
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is a high-volume center and offers the opportunity for significant experience in a wide array of urologic conditions. The urology residency program is one of the leading programs nationwide for index cases in both adult and pediatric urology.
Wake Forest Baptist is considered one of the leading hospitals in North America for treatment of stone diseases with one the highest volumes of stone patients nationwide. The minimally invasive surgery team is made up of experienced experts who have performed many "world firsts" in the field.
The Wake Forest Baptist operating rooms are equipped with the latest technologies for endourology, including digital endoscopic equipment. Training includes animate, inanimate and cadaver facilities. Part of our unique learning environment is the 28,000-square-foot Applied Learning Center, which offers hands-on learning through a fully functional surgical simulation lab and mock operating room, as well as laparoscopic and endoscopic surgical skills training, an anatomical training center and standardized patient assessment examination rooms. The Surgical Skills Lab is designed as part of the National Referral Center for Continuing Education. The monitors, instruments and cameras are identical to the equipment used in the operating rooms at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
Clinical Experience
Clinically, fellows obtain advanced experience in all aspects of endourologic and laparoscopic surgery including:
- Endourologic surgery, including complex ureteroscopic and percutaneous renal procedures. Fellows are instructed in percutaneous access always performed by Urologist, percutaneous nephrostolithotomy, shock wave lithotripsy, ureteroscopic stone removal, antegrade and retrograde management of patients with ureteral strictures, ureteropelvic junction obstruction and tumors of the renal collecting system and ureter.
- Metabolic stone disease. The foundations of metabolic evaluation and medical therapy for the prevention of nephrolithiasis are taught.
- Laparoscopic transperitoneal and retroperitoneal surgery (single port / LESS / single-incision surgery for benign and malignant conditions).
Research Experience
A minimum of 25 percent of the fellow’s time will be devoted to research activities. Fellows participate in ongoing research projects or develop their own projects through the Department of Urology or the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, recognized internationally for engineering organs and for other novel research. The research experience will involve either clinical or basic science studies, and the fellow will be involved in the preparation of abstracts and manuscripts for submission and presentation at national or international meetings.
Learn from a Leader in the Field
Dr. Jorge Gutierrez, professor of urology, directs the program. Gutierrez heads the department’s endourology and stone disease program and is an internationally recognized expert endourology with more than 25 years of clinical experience performing endourological and minimally invasive surgery. He has been assistant editor of the Journal of Endourology and is editor of the Spanish edition of the AUA News. He is a member and honorary member of various urological associations, including the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons. He serves on the board of directors of the Endourological Society. He is General Secretary of the Confederacion Americana de Urologia, a Latin-American urological association with more than 12,000 members in 24 Spanish- and Portuguese speaking countries. He has trained and mentored several generations of young endourologists.
Accreditation
The fellowship is accredited by the Endourological Society.
Application Process
Candidates must have completed an ACGME-accredited urology residency in the United States or Canada and be board eligible. Fellows receive a junior faculty appointment at Wake Forest School of Medicine. One fellow is accepted each year. Prospective fellows must register through the Endourological Society and apply for the Match through AUA at https://internal.auanet.org/secured/endourology/applicant_RF.cfm.
After registration, application materials should be forwarded to:
Dr. Jorge Gutierrez
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Department of Urology
Medical Center Blvd.
Winston-Salem, NC 27157