Urology residency is rigorous, often involving long hours in a single hospital setting with limited exposure to diverse healthcare practices. To broaden their skills and global understanding, our residency program offers a unique annual global health trip for fourth-year residents, allowing them to experience and contribute to urologic care in a developing country. Through philanthropic funding, residents travel to Africa, where travel, lodging, and medical supplies are covered. The week-long trip includes daily work in clinics and operating theatres, exposing residents to various procedures, such as endoscopic and open prostate surgeries, lower urinary tract reconstructions, and diagnostic radiology tests.
Residents are responsible for critical aspects of care, including scheduling, performing surgeries, and managing post-operative care. To assess the trip’s impact, each resident completes a pre- and post-trip surgical skill self-assessment. The results reveal substantial improvements across skill areas, particularly in confidence with open urologic procedures and independence in planning and executing surgeries. Scores show a mean increase of 1.45 for confidence in open procedures and 1.19 in surgical independence (on a 1-5 scale). Overall, each resident’s post-trip self-assessment improved by an average of 6.5 points (ranging from 2 to 15 points).
These global health trips provide residents with invaluable opportunities to hone their surgical skills, resilience, and clinical judgment in challenging environments. Beyond skill development, the trips deliver essential training and medical resources to local communities, supporting sustainable, high-quality urologic care. This initiative exemplifies the mutual benefits of global health experiences for both medical professionals and underserved communities, highlighting the role of philanthropy in medical education.
