Urologists
You might be surprised to read about organ transplants like heart, liver, or lung transplants, and you might be even more amazed to learn that uterus, intestine, face, and hand transplants are performed too. But one of the strangest organ transplants your mind might struggle to believe happened in South Africa in 2014, when a team of doctors performed the world's first penis transplant on a 21-year-old man whose penis had been damaged by a botched circumcision. The operation was a stunning success — so much so that the young man's wife became pregnant a few months later. The success of that operation is owed to the sheer skill of the urologists who carried out an extremely delicate surgery that changed that young man's life. Any procedure related to the male reproductive system is performed by these doctors. A urologist is responsible for diagnosing and treating all diseases of the urinary system in men, women, and children, and also specializes in anything related to the male reproductive organs.
Meet the Writer: Waleed Abo Omiraa
What You'll Actually Do
The core tasks and responsibilities that fill a typical day.
- Teach or train medical and clinical staff.
- Document or review patients' histories.
- Provide urology consultation to physicians or other health care professionals.
- Refer patients to specialists when condition exceeds experience, expertise, or scope of practice.
- Direct the work of nurses, residents, or other staff to provide patient care.
- Treat urologic disorders using alternatives to traditional surgery such as extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, laparoscopy, or laser techniques.
- Treat lower urinary tract dysfunctions using equipment such as diathermy machines, catheters, cystoscopes, or radium emanation tubes.
- Prescribe or administer antibiotics, antiseptics, or compresses to treat infection or injury.
- Prescribe medications to treat patients with erectile dysfunction (ED), infertility, or ejaculation problems.
- Perform abdominal, pelvic, or retroperitoneal surgeries.
- Perform brachytherapy, cryotherapy, high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), or photodynamic therapy to treat prostate or other cancers.
- Order and interpret the results of diagnostic tests, such as prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening, to detect prostate cancer.
- Examine patients using equipment, such as radiograph (x-ray) machines or fluoroscopes, to determine the nature and extent of disorder or injury.
- Diagnose or treat diseases or disorders of genitourinary organs and tracts including erectile dysfunction (ED), infertility, incontinence, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, urethral stones, or premature ejaculation.