Hyunwoong Harry Chae, Nicole Acupinpin, David-Dan Nguyen, Stacy de Lima, David Bouhadana, Katherine Anderson, Jason Y Lee, Dawn L MacLellan
Canadian urology education stakeholders endorsed CUSIG's national IG model and identified clear priorities, including increasing clinical and research exposure, facilitating mentorship, raising staff awareness, and delivering feasible, low-burden initiatives. These findings can guide CUSIG's development and collaborations with CanUUC and the CUA to address gaps in Canadian undergraduate urology curricula.
INTRODUCTION: Medical school interest groups (IGs) can provide exposure to specialties beyond formal curricula. The Canadian Urology Student Interest Group (CUSIG) is a novel, national model of IG aiming to advance Canadian urology education. To inform CUSIG's ongoing development and collaborations with the Canadian Undergraduate Urology Committee (CanUUC) and the Canadian Urological Association (CUA), Canadian urologists involved in education were surveyed on their perspectives on the role of urology/surgery IGs in undergraduate urology education.
METHODS: A survey assessing demographics, perceptions of IGs and CUSIG, and involvement with IGs was developed, reviewed by Canadian urology educators, and distributed to CanUUC members, urology program directors, and other staff urologists at Canadian medical schools. Data were summarized descriptively.
RESULTS: Forty-three urologists responded. Shadowing (37/43, 86.0%), mentorship (29/43, 67.4%), and research opportunities (25/43, 58.1%) were believed to be the most effective initiatives. While 28/43 (65.1%) respondents were not previously aware of CUSIG, they believed CUSIG could help advance Canadian urology education (3.69±0.80). Key priorities highlighted for CUSIG were increasing exposure (37/43, 86.0%), student-resident-staff collaborations (27/43, 62.8%), and access to research (23/43, 53.5%). Barriers to staff involvement with IGs and CUSIG were lack of awareness (22/43, 51.2%) and time (17/43, 39.5%).
CONCLUSIONS: Canadian urology education stakeholders endorsed CUSIG's national IG model and identified clear priorities, including increasing clinical and research exposure, facilitating mentorship, raising staff awareness, and delivering feasible, low-burden initiatives. These findings can guide CUSIG's development and collaborations with CanUUC and the CUA to address gaps in Canadian undergraduate urology curricula.