Urology (from Greek οὖρον ouron "urine" and -λογία -logia "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary system and the reproductive organs.
Urology combines the management of medical (i.e., non-surgical) conditions, such as urinary-tract infections and benign prostatic hyperplasia, with the management of surgical conditions such as bladder or prostate cancer, kidney stones, congenital abnormalities, traumatic injury, and stress incontinence.
Urologists receive training in open and minimally invasive surgical techniques, employing real-time ultrasound guidance, fiber-optic endoscopic equipment, and various lasers in the treatment of multiple benign and malignant conditions.
Urology is one of the most competitive and highly sought surgical specialties for physicians, with new urologists comprising less than 1.5% of United States medical-school graduates each year.
Upon successful completion of a residency program, many urologists choose to undergo further advanced training in a subspecialty area of expertise through a fellowship lasting an additional 12 to 36 months.
From the start these programs in 2009 up to 2019, a total of 23 urologists have been trained in Tikur Anbessa Tertioary Hospital.
All of the urologists who graduated from Tikur Anbessa Tertioary Hospital were as of 2020 working in different parts of the country.
[18] As a medical discipline that involves the care of many organs and physiological systems, urology can be broken down into several subdisciplines.
At many larger academic centers and university hospitals that excel in patient care and clinical research, urologists often specialize in a particular sub discipline.
As opposed to open surgery, endourology is performed using small cameras and instruments inserted into the urinary tract.
Laparoscopy is a rapidly evolving branch of urology and has replaced some open surgical procedures.
Moreover, current (2011) market situation for robotic equipment is a de facto monopoly of one publicly held corporation[20] which further fuels the cost-effectiveness controversy.
Less marked neurological abnormalities can cause urological disorders as well—for example, abnormalities of the sensory nervous system are thought by many researchers to play a role in disorders of painful or frequent urination (e.g. painful bladder syndrome also known as interstitial cystitis).
), disease, obstructions, blockages (e.g., urethral strictures), and occasionally, childbirth, can necessitate reconstructive surgery.
[21] Thorough knowledge of the female pelvic floor together with intimate understanding of the physiology and pathology of voiding are necessary to diagnose and treat these disorders.
Their field of practice heavily overlaps with that of urogynecologists, physicians in a sub-discipline of gynecology, who have done a three-year fellowship after a four-year OBGYN residency.