Skills acquisition for trainee urologists: are the Federal Medical Centers in Nigeria suitable?

Abstract

Background: Surgical training involves acquisition of knowledge and skills. The district hospitals are known to play complementary role in surgical training in many parts of the world; it is time to evaluate for the possible role Federal Medical Centers (FMC) in Nigeria can play to complement the training of urologists. Against this background, we retrospectively reviewed the relative frequency of urologic procedures performed in one of the FMC as a case study.

Materials and methods: Hospital data were retrospectively reviewed from January 2007 to June 2010 and records of urologic procedures were extracted for analysis. The total numbers of operations done within same period were also recorded.

Result: Urological procedures formed 24.6% of the surgical operation in the hospital during the study period. Uncomplicated prepuce, bladder outflow obstruction, uro-oncology and congenital urological lesion topped the list and accounted for 31.3%, 22.7%, 11.9%, and 11.0% of the cases, respectively. The most frequently performed urological operation in the center was circumcision. Nephrectomy, ureteroneocystostomy, pyeloplasty, cystectomy, and urinary diversion were other procedures performed.

Conclusion: The varieties and volume of urologic cases recorded in this centre is comparable with those documented in other established training institutions and thus, it is recommended that the trainees should find time to visit some of these centers and acquaint themselves with hands-on surgical exposure.