Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call for a National Video-Based Curriculum for Urology Residents

Abstract

\n The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created many unique challenges in urology resident training. Urologists are operating at a fraction of normal volume to conserve personal protective equipment and prevent viral spread. Many residency programs have organized rotating skeleton crews to perform clinical duties while a portion of residents work from home. In some regions, urology residents have been deployed to emergency rooms, intensive care units, and medical floors to care for COVID-19 patients. With these interruptions in urologic education, many questions remain about how residents will proceed with their clinical and didactic training. During these unprecedented times, many residencies have transitioned their didactic sessions to video-based platforms, allowing educators to reach larger numbers of learners. This perspective addresses how innovative virtual education programs created during the pandemic can be developed into a national video-based curriculum for urology residents, incorporating both didactics and surgical skill training.\n