As found in the Information for Applicants and Candidates handbook for certification, an applicant for certification by the American Board of Urology must:

• Be a graduate of a medical school approved by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) or a school of osteopathy approved by the Bureau of Professional Education of the American Osteopathic Association

• Complete a urology residency program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada [RCPS(C)]

The American Board of Urology mandates a minimum of 5 clinical years of postgraduate medical training. The training must include:

• 48 months in an ACGME-approved urology program, and

• 3 months of general surgery in an ACGME-approved surgical program, and

• 3 months of core surgical training (e.g. intensive care unit, trauma, vascular surgery, cardiac surgery, etc.) in an ACGME- approved surgical program, and

• 6 months of other rotations, not including dedicated research time, in an ACGME- or RCPS(C)-approved core surgery program

All rotations listed above that are not part of the core urology training must have been approved by the candidate’s program director. As part of the core urology training, the candidate must have completed at least 12 months as a chief resident in urology with the appropriate clinical responsibility and under supervision in institutions that are part of an ACGME-approved program.

Doctors who attended medical school in Canada and received all pre-urology and urology residency training in approved Canadian programs must satisfactorily complete the same training as listed above. Certification by the RPCS(C)  is not required for the Qualifying (Part 1) Examination, but is required to be admissible to the Certifying (Part 2) Examination.

Medical graduates from schools outside the United States or Canada who wish to apply for certification must:

• provide an equivalent medical background   

• complete an ACGME-approved urology residency in the United States

• have a a valid certificate from the Education Committee for Foreign

            Medical Graduates (ECFMG)

Internationally trained urologists in very specific educational roles and with exceptional clinical skills may apply to the American Board of Urology for a variance to enter the certification process. The ABU views this situation to be extraordinary and will approve or disallow the variance on a case-by-case basis. To be considered for such a variance , the applicant must have:

• Provide extraordinary clinical and educational full-time service for at least 7 years in an RRC-approved participating institution within an ACGME-approved urology residency program    

• Achieved the rank of full professor within that urology department/division through a credible university promotion process

• Received the written approval of the urology chair and the program director

• In the eyes of the Board demonstrated outstanding academic achievement in the field of urology and urologic education with the expectation for continued contributions

This variance is not intended as an alternative pathway to routine ABU certification.  It is intended as a very exceptional path for internationally trained urologists to bring extraordinary clinical skills and teaching talents to residency trained programs (GME) and to thereby advance urologic education.  The American Board of Urology reserves the right to alter or reverse this policy at any time.

A resident may only transfer once during the urology portion of training and the last two years of residency training must be spent in the same institution.  A resident who wishes to transfer must notify the ABU in writing six months in advance of the transfer and copy the current Program Director and DIO.  The Program Director from the recipient program must send a letter to the ABU verifying there is an appropriate residency slot in the program for the resident to fill.

Each program may provide sick leave and vacation leave for the resident in accordance with institutional policy.  However, a resident must work forty-six (46) weeks each year of residency; that is, one year of credit must include at least forty-six weeks of full-time urologic education. 

Vacation or leave time may not be accumulated to reduce the total training requirement.  If a circumstance occurs in which a resident does not work the required forty-six weeks in one year, the program director must submit a plan to the ABU for approval on how the training will be made up, which may require an extension of the residency.