Department of Urology

Clinical Sites

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC

In 2009, Children's opened a new state-of-the-art facility in Lawrenceville, just minutes from the Oakland and Shadyside campuses. Over the past few years, CHP has been consistently ranked among the top ten Children’s hospitals and was recently voted as one of the top 20 most beautiful hospitals in the country.

As the primary regional children's hospital, patients and their families come from western and northwestern Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and northern West Virginia. However, our pediatric urology faculty draws patients from anywhere in the country. Advanced experience in pediatric endoscopy and laparoscopy/robotics, available in only a few locations in the world, is an integrated part of the rotation. Resident education is highly prioritized at this location. Each week, residents participate in a pediatric Campbell’s Club and a preoperative planning conference. One week a month, the team gets together for an engaging journal club at one of the many trendy dining establishments in the area.

Local site director:

Francis X. Schneck, MD

Magee-Women’s Hospital of UPMC

The disciplines of andrology, female urology, reconstruction, and neurourology are concentrated at the Magee-Women’s campus. Magee is the major women's hospital in the area and exclusive UPMC provider of prenatal and obstetric services. This hospital performs nearly half of all deliveries in Allegheny County.  The resident’s operative experience at Magee is focused on male infertility, penile implantation, microsurgery, and urologic conditions in pregnancy. Additionally, this site is where residents receive the vast majority of their experience in female urology and reconstructive pelvic surgery: including anti-incontinence procedures, vaginal prolapse repair, urogenital fistula, female disorders of sexual development, and female urethral conditions. A newly developed Female and Reconstructive Urology curriculum has been instituted. Highlights of this program include: resident evaluation, diagnosis and management of lower urinary tract dysfunction in men and men, as well as diverse exposure to male and female reconstructive surgical techniques.

Local site director:

Christopher J Chermansky, MD

UPMC Mercy

UPMC Mercy is located in uptown Pittsburgh, within two miles of UPMC Presbyterian. The Mercy urology rotation provides a broad exposure to general urology, endourology, urologic oncology, and male reconstruction. It is on this campus that residents have their most concentrated experience with male urethral and reconstructive surgery including urethroplasty, urethral slings, and artificial urinary sphincter placement. While on rotation, residents have the opportunity to participate in the Mercy Health Clinic, a resident-run clinic providing services to Pittsburgh’s underserved. This affords a great opportunity for continuity of care. Residents also attend a weekly preoperative planning and resident education conference. This is a more focused preoperative conference, with one-on-one interaction with faculty, and educational sessions directed by the chief resident.

Local site director: 

Ronald M. Benoit, MD

UPMC Presbyterian and UPMC Montefiore

The UPMC main campus encompasses UPMC Presbyterian and UPMC Montefiore hospitals.  UPMC Presbyterian is the major trauma center in the region and has the largest concentration of inpatients in the system, providing substantial exposure to emergent and general urological conditions. UPMC Montefiore is the primary site of the Kidney/Pancreas transplant program. Overall, the consult service at this clinical site exposes residents to a wide variety of urologic conditions; from acute trauma, to the care of patients at all stages of the transplantation process. Junior residents also become proficient in the management of patients with benign urologic conditions, both on medical services and in the perioperative period.

The operative experience at this site is comprised of endourology, urologic oncology, and urologic trauma. The endourology curriculum is based at this campus with dedicated endoscopy and laparoscopy suites, in addition to a multidisciplinary kidney stone clinic. The Kaufmann Medical Building is also on this campus and is the primary educational site for the program. This space features completely redesigned central academic offices, including a large conference center and resident room. The resident's office is directly across from the conference center, allowing a centralized location for resident study and education. Finally, a dedicated robotics simulation room, integral to completing the newly instituted robotics curriculum, is housed on the Montefiore campus.

Local site director: 

Stephen V. Jackman, MD

UPMC Shadyside and Hillman Cancer Center

UPMC Shadyside is 1.2 miles from UPMC Presbyterian. It is physically connected to Hillman Cancer Center, the clinical and research center for UPMC's cancer care activities in the region. This rotation provides a broad and significant exposure to urological oncology; including open and laparoscopic/robotic surgery, interdisciplinary patient management, and tumor board conferences.
Urologic oncology laboratories are on this campus, as well as a busy urology clinic. Unique to this site is the opportunity to participate in MRI/Ultrasound fusion guided biopsies for the work up and treatment of prostate cancer and various weekly research conferences. This setting offers ample resident/faculty interaction in an environment where both patient care and academic/educational pursuits are largely interchangeable.

Local site director:

Bruce L. Jacobs, MD, MPH

VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS)

VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System is within 0.5 miles of UPMC Presbyterian. It is the primary regional referral site for veterans in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and northern West Virginia. It is also a tertiary site for more complex urological conditions, one of only 13 VA transplant programs, and one of the select VA hospitals with an operative robotic. Drawing from a largely male and aging population, the rotation is an ideal place for education in clinical and operative general urology as well as oncology, neurourology, endoscopy, reconstruction, infertility, and laparoscopy/robotics. Over 600 urologic cases are performed at VAPHS each year. All urologists at VAPHS are also members of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Urology faculty.  

Local site director:

Joel Bigley, MD