Urology Residency
Build your career with a program tailored to your goals.
About us
The Geisinger urology residency program is small by design. If you’re chosen as one of the two residents we accept every year, you’ll discover why our model is so successful — both for our outstanding residents and the patients we serve.
Our faculty and department are committed to training compassionate surgeons who are prepared to deliver urologic care in a continuously evolving healthcare environment. Here, you’ll train in an integrated healthcare environment with a hugely diverse patient population from central and northeastern Pennsylvania. Whether your goal is to build a private practice or an academic career, you’ll encounter cases that will expand your knowledge while developing your empathy and understanding.
You’ll be supported every step of the way. Our faculty includes a group with fellowship training in oncology, minimally invasive surgery, endourology, genitourinary reconstruction and pediatrics, and our purposefully small program size allows for one-on-one mentoring and training in the clinic and operating room. The program is based on graded clinical and administrative responsibilities, culminating in the chief year.
This approach has been wildly successful: Our urology residents graduate above the 90th percentile for transurethral, endourological, male reconstructive, retroperitoneal, major pediatrics and laparoscopic procedures. We have a 100% board passage rate and excellent success matching our graduates into competitive fellowship programs.
Of course, there is more to life besides training — and Danville, Pa., where Geisinger’s flagship hospital is located, is a wonderful place to live it fully. Opportunities for outdoor recreation are endless, the cost of living is low and traffic is almost nonexistent. Family-friendly outdoor activities include rambling through Geisinger’s Stewardship Forest, hitting amusement parks such as Knoebels, hiking the Ricketts Glen State Park, and boating or kayaking the Susquehanna River. Plus, many major cities are just a ride away, including Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh.
If you’re interested in training dedicated to your skills and the community you serve, I encourage you to learn more about the Geisinger urology residency program. Feel free to contact me or residency administrator Tiffany Buckley with any questions — we’re happy to answer.
Matthew Meissner, MD
Director, Urology Residency Program
Geisinger Medical Center
Program overview
The urology residency is a five-year Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited program. The program currently accepts two residents per year.
Program information
- Original accreditation date: March 6, 1972
- Full accreditation effective: Dec. 2, 2011
- Complement increase to two residents per year approved: April 29, 2019
- Self-study date: Dec. 1, 2021
- Current status: Continued accreditation
The urology staff includes 10 full-time faculty members with fellowship training in the following specialties:
- Urologic oncology
- Endourology/minimally invasive surgery
- Pediatric urology
- Genitourinary reconstructive surgery
As a resident, your training will include a varied and balanced experience of surgical cases with a broad educational curriculum. You will have the opportunity to train in new minimally invasive procedures, laparoscopic surgery, robotic procedures, microsurgery, brachytherapy and cryoablation.
The clinical caseload is divided among various rotations. Residents are assigned to oncology, endourology, ambulatory, pediatric urology and male reconstruction rotations.
Didactic curriculum and clinical conferences
- Journal club
- MEND lecture series
- Quality improvement conference
- Imaging conference
- Patient management conference
- Oral board review conference
- Campbell chapters/self-directed learning
- Multidisciplinary oncology conference
- Multidisciplinary pediatric tumor board
- Resident research curriculum
- General surgery grand rounds
- Robotic simulation curriculum
- Laparoscopic simulation training
- Microsurgery training
- Suture lab
- Standardized patient experiences
Continuity of care is an important aspect of our program. You will spend dedicated time in the clinic to ensure longitudinal care of surgical patients and to gain proficiency in managing clinic patients and office-based procedures.
Upon completion of the urology residency program, graduating chiefs are qualified to practice the full spectrum of urology and have an excellent operative experience and knowledge base to qualify for certification examination by the American Board of Urology.