The University at Buffalo Department of Urology is offering a 1-year unpaid mentored research position targeted toward the graduated fourth year medical student who wants to pursue an intensive year of research before applying/reapplying to the urology residency match.   The position is overseen by Dr. Danforth, Program Director of the urology residency fellowship.   A faculty mentor will be assigned for both clinical and/or basic science research depending on the applicant’s research interests.

The program is intended to enhance and/or expand the research portfolio of a urology applicant upon entering the urology match.

Basic science research projects will be designed/developed with the aid of the research mentor depending on the focus of the lab.

Fellows will also have the opportunity to get involved with clinical projects in areas such as oncology, stone disease, andrology, female and pelvic medicine, global health, pediatric urology, and other urologic subspecialties. The majority of the clinical projects are epidemiologic-based outcomes studies. Fellows will assist with all aspects of the research process, from idea generation, IRB approval, data acquisition and analysis, and manuscript preparation.

The research fellow will be assigned a mentor for both clinical and basic science focuses depending on the fellow’s interests.   These mentors will guide the fellow to developing research ideas into projects as well as finding current projects for the fellow to participate in.  

The faculty and residents are committed to assisting the research fellow toward a successful match into a urology residency position. We will assist with review of the fellow’s application, decisions about where to apply, mock interviews and interview, review of rank list, and letters of support.

The fellow’s responsibilities are project-dependent and include but are not exclusive of the following:

• Attend basic science, research conference, journal club and grand rounds conferences
• Submission of IRB applications
• Assist in grant writing
• Participate in basic science projects in the lab (specific duties dependent on project and lab)
• Monitoring clinical studies in progress
• Data management and analysis
• Manuscript preparation and submission
• Quarterly updates of progress on all projects at Research Meetings (1^st Monday of each month)
• Presentation of the data at regional and national meetings.

Fellows will attend the Northeastern Section of the AUA conference, the AUA Annual Meeting and other subspecialty meetings that are specific to their research projects if submissions are accepted.

Fellows will have the opportunity to help define their own individual goals for the year at the fellowship’s outset. Regular meetings will be set with research mentors to assess progress of defined projects.

In addition to research opportunities, University at Buffalo Clinical Translational Science Institute (CTSI) offers a Core Competency Workshop Series aimed at increasing the clinical and translational knowledge base of trainees.  The fellow will be encouraged to enhance their skill set with these offerings.