Consistencies and Discrepancies Between the Expectations of Urology Trainees and the Experience of Practicing Urologists

Objective: To compare the expectations of urology trainees with the experience of practicing urologists. Methods: Residents, fellows, and practicing urologists were surveyed in 2018 regarding weekly work hours, number of hospitals covered, call nights per week, administrative workload relative to residency, annual net income, and time to pursue personal interests and hobbies. Urology trainees, defined as residents and fellows, were also surveyed regarding their expectations for clinical practice. The expectations of trainees were compared with the reported experience of practicing urologists using 1-tailed t test and chi-square analysis. Trainee expectations were also stratified by age, gender, training level, relationship status, and whether trainees had dependent children. Results: The expectations of 99 trainees were compared with the reported experience of 377 practicing urologists. Trainees expect to work more hours but less call nights per week than reported by practicing urologists while annual net income was either consistent or underestimated. Compared to practicing urologists, however, trainees appear to underestimate the administrative workload relative to residency and overestimate time to pursue personal interests and hobbies. Junior residents were more likely to underestimate administrative workload than senior residents and fellows. Conclusion: While the expectations of urology trainees for work hours and annual net income were fairly consistent with those reported by practicing urologists, trainees may underestimate administrative workload and overestimate time to pursue personal interests and hobbies.