Curriculum
In response to the evolving nature of residency
training, the Division of Urologic Surgery has
recently initiated a technology-centered educational
curriculum. The field of urology is heavily focused
on advanced imaging and surgical techniques including
complex extirpative and reconstructive laparoscopy
and robotics. Indeed, the vast majority of index
operative procedures performed by urology
residents at UTMCK are accomplished laparoscopically
or with use of the daVinci® robotic operataing
platform. This operative paradigm shift has not only
required urology faculty to modify and modernize
aspects of their operative instruction, but has also
engendered a change in the mindset of resident
education in general. Nowhere is this transition
more apparent than with the implementation of the
new American Urological Association Core
Curriculum. This online, dynamic teaching tool
essentially offers residents and practicing urologists
the opportunity to pull educational information
from established textbooks, guidelines panels,
etc...through a centralized web interface. Certainly,
the era of hard-backed textbooks and operative
observation suites is becoming obsolete at the
hands of these on-line educational resources,
digitalized surgical instruction, and virtual realitybased
simulation. To this end, the division has
recently purchased iPads for all urology residents as
well as a new 27 inch iMAC for the urology
resident office. Ultimately, all salient education
materials including the AUA Core Curriculum
And ACGME required documentation (duty work
hours, New Innovations resident and faculty surveys,
Core Competency Requirements, and case
log entry) will be run through the iMAC server
and thereafter to and from the resident iPads.
Laparoscopic and robotic surgeries performed at
UTMCK, the Cleveland Clinic, and other nationally
recognized centers of excellence will be centrally
stored on the aforementioned server in an
unedited, digitalized format. Residents will have
the opportunity to download these videos to
their iPads for home instruction and step-by-step
review. Journal Club articles, didactics, and landmark
studies will likewise be digitally catalogued
and distributed in a similar fashion. We anticipate
that this fiscal investment will greatly improve
the educational yield for our residents.
The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine
Department of Surgery
1924 Alcoa Highway, Box U-11
Knoxville, Tennessee 37920-6999
(865) 305-9230
(800) 596-7249
FAX (865) 305-8894