Home grown: the development and structure of urological training in the Caribbean

Abstract

Training in general surgery at the University of the West Indies commenced in Jamaica in 1972 and urology training followed just over a decade later. Since then, the ‘Doctor of Medicine’ diploma offered by the university has also expanded to include the Trinidadian campus. Most urologists in the English-speaking Caribbean are, in fact, graduates of this programme. Residents follow a two-part training plan and two years of core surgical training are followed by four years of urology training. Despite the tremendous regional impact of this training programme, there is a lack of awareness of its existence among the wider urology community. This article reviews the history, development and structure of urology training in the English-speaking Caribbean.