UCSF Urology Sub-internship Program

Program Overview

Rotation Structure

The rotation is designed for senior medical students pursuing a career in urology and participating in the urology match and provides intensive exposure to academic urology within a high-volume, multisite department. 

The 4-week rotation is structured across multiple clinical environments, including one week at Moffitt Hospital, two weeks at Mission Bay Medical Center (adult oncology and pediatric urology), and one week at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Students are expected to engage actively as members of the care team. A single night of call round with the team on one weekend day while on the Moffitt rotation.

Goals and Objectives

The goal of this rotation is to prepare senior medical students for residency training in urology through active participation in academic urologic practice across multiple clinical settings. By the end of the rotation, students should demonstrate the ability to apply core urologic knowledge to clinical decision-making and function effectively as sub-intern-level members of a urology care team.
Students are expected to develop clinical reasoning skills in the evaluation and management of common and complex urologic conditions in inpatient, operative, and outpatient settings, and to gain familiarity with perioperative care, including preoperative assessment, postoperative management, and recognition of common complications appropriate to their level of training.

The rotation emphasizes professionalism, communication, and teamwork within a multidisciplinary academic environment. Students should demonstrate reliability, initiative, and effective communication with patients, residents, faculty, and allied health staff, and should actively engage in feedback and self-improvement.

Students are expected to gain exposure to operative workflow and surgical decision-making across urologic subspecialties through active participation. By the end of the rotation, students should be able to clearly present patient cases and deliver a structured end-of-rotation presentation that reflects preparation, clinical insight, and engagement with the specialty.

Available Rotation Dates

The UCSF Urology Sub-Internship program only accepts visiting students during the months of June, July, August, and September. 

Program Highlights

Students on this rotation function as sub-intern-level members of the urology service with graduated responsibility in inpatient, operative, and outpatient settings. Students participate in daily rounds, operative cases, and specialty clinics, and work closely with residents and faculty across urologic subspecialties, including urologic oncology, pediatric urology, reconstructive urology, stone disease, andrology, and neurourology. Operative experience includes scrubbing into assigned cases, with opportunities for supervised participation based on case availability and clinical appropriateness.

eaching includes faculty-led educational sessions, participation in site-specific case conferences, and a required end-of-rotation presentation. Student performance is evaluated based on clinical engagement, professionalism, teamwork, operative participation, and overall contribution to the service, with feedback from both residents and faculty.

A departmental letter of recommendation is available for students who complete the rotation; students who complete the rotation in September must request the letter at start of rotation due to application timeline constraints.