The Department of Urology is within the Directorate of Urology and Nephrology at Dartford & Gravesham NHS Trust and provides training, educational and academic opportunities to enable knowledge and skills to be developed in line with curricula. Education is valued by the department and trainees are supported by the multi-professional teams led by Professor Sriprasad.
The Department deals with acute and elective urological cases on wards and day care. The Stone Department has a Tertiary Care reputation and patients come from the neighbouring hospitals for treatment. There is a ‘one-stop-shop’ for urology and nephrology with clinics, flexible cystoscopy, TRUS biopsies and hyperthermia and BCG treatment to the bladder.
The five Consultants are on call a week at a time. The On-call Registrar is on call from 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday with the on call 5pm to 8am covered by different night Registrars. The week end is covered by the weekend Registrar.
The Handbook provides up-to-date information on the training available at the Trust as well as useful information on accommodation and the local area.
Posts and Rotations
Core trainees are appointed as part of the HEKSS’s Core Surgical Training Programme and are in post at DAG for one year. The four-month Urology post is part of the ST1 training year and links to a four-month post in General Surgery and a four-month post in Trauma and Orthopaedics.
Click here to download a sample Core Surgical Training Programme at Darent Valley Hospital:
Apart from the teaching in the ward rounds, formal teaching is held between 08:45 and 09:45hrs every Friday. Trainees are expected to actively participate in this teaching and are encouraged to present cases for discussion. Trainees are expected to attend the Departmental Meeting which takes place on the last Friday of each month and Surgical Audit. In addition there is access to Leadership forums and Simulation teaching events.
e-Portfolio
Trainees are required to keep their e-Portfolios up to date; this is regularly monitored by the Clinical Education Department and support provided as required. The portfolios are regularly assessed at the Local Faculty Group Meetings with trainees being provided rapid supportive feedback.
The Local Faculty Group (LFG) consists of the college tutor, medical education department, clinical and educational supervisors and allied healthcare professionals in the department.
LFG meetings take place every 4 months at the end of each rotation. This allows for feedback from both training and non-training grade doctors, and the opportunity to review highlights and areas of improvement/concerns. Trainee teaching attendance and e-portfolio progress are also discussed, to identify any factors contributing to limited educational opportunities and any further support required.
Following the LFG, feedback is presented to the Local Education Board (LEB) by each department for review.
Related Items
Surgery within HEKSS
To find out more about recruitment, policy & regional events please click here.
Royal College of Surgeons of England
Click on the link for details of curriculum, e-portfolio, and assessments.
The Royal College of Surgeons of England website has detailed information on curricula, assessments and requirements for successful completion of training.
