Education News Stories

Society of Urologic Oncology Fellowship

The Division of Urology at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital now offers a Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) Fellowship. The fellowship is designed to train fellows to be successful urologic oncologists by providing a broad clinical and research experience at a major tertiary care facility with a high performing ranking from U.S. News & World Report.

Faculty in urologic surgery treat the most complex of urologic cancer cases, including post-chemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, renal cell carcinoma with IVC thrombus, post-radiation therapy bladder and prostate cancer cases, and locally invasive pelvic and retroperitoneal tumors. Fellows will work with a variety of faculty within the Division of Urologic Surgery as well as collaborators in medical oncology, radiation oncology and radiology.

“This SUO fellowship provides an excellent opportunity for a fellow to learn the surgical and medical approaches to a variety of urologic tumors. The fellow will learn open and minimally invasive techniques for management of oncologic malignancies from our expert faculty,” states Program Director Zachary Smith, MD. “An important part of the experience is learning the appropriate selection of patients for the optimal therapy, individualizing care to each patient’s unique situation. An SUO fellowship-trained surgeon knows how to select patients for open, laparoscopic, robotic, endoscopic, or percutaneous surgical approaches. We feel that a primary goal of the fellowship is to understand not just how to operate, but when to operate.”

The SUO, founded in 1984, enables qualified members to meet for the purpose of discussion, development and implementation of ideas to improve care for patients with genitourinary (GU) malignancies.

SUO fellowships “specifically provide a multidisciplinary exposure to Urologic Oncology and provide an opportunity to spend an extended period of time devoted to the care of patients with GU malignancies and urologic oncology research in order to prepare the fellow for a productive career in Urologic Oncology.”

The SUO’s objectives are to stimulate research and teaching; disseminate the principles of urologic oncology; bring together urologists working entirely or primarily in malignant disease; be the most qualified organization on urologic oncology; and standardize fellowship training in urologic oncology.

The highly competitive, two-year fellowship will have one available position per year. This allows for ample clinical and research opportunities with distinguished Washington University School of Medicine faculty, including Division Chief Gerald Andriole, MD, the Robert K. Royce Distinguished Professor of Urologic Surgery. Andriole—the recipient of the 2020 Washington University School of Medicine Distinguished Clinician Award—is an internationally known expert on prostate cancer whose innovations in screening and clinical care have improved the lives of countless patients.

In addition to clinical training, the fellow will have 12 consecutive months of research time, uninterrupted by clinical responsibilities. The fellow begins with 8 months of clinical time, followed by the 12 months of research time, and finishing with the remaining 4 months of clinical time. This format places the senior fellow on research time during the abstract submission deadlines for major conferences and during the period when most are interviewing for jobs. This format also allows the fellow to finish with 4 months of clinical time in preparation for practice. Fellows will have research opportunities with the labs of Nupam Mahajan, PhD, in Urology; Aadel Chaudhuri, MD, PhD, in Radiation Oncology; and Vivek Arora, MD, PhD, in Medical Oncology.

Applicants will apply for the fellowship through the SUO match program. This will include submission of a curriculum vitae, an essay describing their reasons for pursuing a career in urologic oncology and three letters of recommendation. Applications will be reviewed, and selected applicants will be invited for interviews. A rank list will be submitted, and selection will be performed through the SUO match program. There will be one position available each year.

The fellow must be a board certified or board eligible urologist who will have completed an accredited residency program and is eligible for licensure in the state of Missouri.

The Department of Surgery is committed to its academic mission to impart knowledge by having our teachers provide the best educational experiences possible for our medical students, residents and fellows.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital ranks nationally in 10 adult specialties. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital received the highest possible rating—exceptional—by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Siteman, the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Missouri and Southern Illinois, has a longstanding history of excellence, including an exceptional rating in 2015, when it was last reviewed by the NCI. SUO fellows at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will receive training in a nationally ranked clinical, research and academic medical setting.

To learn more about the SUO Fellowship, contact Residency and Fellowship Coordinator Kellie Hunter at kelliehunter@wustl.edu.