UROLOGY TRAINING AT NATIONAL KIDNEY AND TRANSPLANT INSTITUTE

How time flies....It seems like only yesterday. On December 8, 2003, I received a call from Paz , the secretary of NKTI Urology Dept telling me to go to NKTI and start my pre-fellowship. I took care of everything that I had to before I left Davao. When I started on Dec 15, 2003, I was awed by everything that was in the institution. For a government hospital, it was really surprising. The whole hospital had centralized airconditioning and was so clean. The instruments in the operating room were complete, ask for it and they have it and everything was so well organized. The facilities were A1. The requests for laboratories, xrays and other ancillary procedures are done thru a click of a mouse! Each ward has a computer where the requests are sent and the results can be viewed and printed in the ward after 1 hour!Fantastic! Its something that even the expensive hospitals here in Davao City don't have.

I was used to the laid back life here in Davao and I asked myself, am I ready for the fast paced life in Manila? I know that the level of training there is really really different from what we have in other places. When I was in my first year, I had to be on my toes at all times, making follow ups on labs, xrays and OR schedules, making sure that every hole has been covered. With super strict seniors, we couldn't relax. As I climbed up the ladder annually, I became more strict each day that passes by because I didnt want mistakes that we did to be committed by our juniors. I became better each day at what I did, theoretically and technically. It was really tiring, physically and mentally, but it was all worth it. My day wouldnt be complete if I didnt do at least one surgery. I consider myself very lucky to be trained at NKTI and be mentored by a consultant staff considered to be the who's who in Philippine urology.

Well, training wise, we had more than enough teaching material. The Urology office library had a wide array of textbooks and journals as well as broadband internet access. Research work is one of the requirements in any training program. Material for research was more than adequate and we had the support and supervision to complete our researches.(Thanks to Dr Joben Abraham)

Our outpatient clinic is one of the busiest in the hospital since we see close to 80 patients per clinic day with a variety of urologic problems to challenge our neurons and decision making abilities.

Honing my surgical skills was not a problem since we had many cases to do. Not only was I trained in open surgery but I was also trained in endourology and minimally invasive urology as well as ESWL. (Thanks to Drs JB Mendoza & Joey Morales)

The creation of the prostate health clinic last 2005 allowed us to focus on the group of patients with prostate problems and helped us greatly in the diagnosis, medical and surgical treatment of such problems. We were also trained to perform transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy since the department has an own ultrasound machine in the operating room. We also have minimally invasive procedure for treament of prostate cancer, the HIFU (high intensity focused ultrasound), the first and only in Asia. (Thanks to Drs Dave Abraham & Genlinus Yusi)

I was also lucky to have been able to work with and be supervised by four pediatric urologists. Having a separate pediatric urology clinic helped us in handling genitourinary disorders in the pediatric age group. (Thanks to Drs Dante Dator, Mon Torres, Mike Gaston & Niko Magsanoc)

We also boast of urologic oncologists who provided us the knowlege in genitourinary cancers as well as tips and tricks in doing urologic cancer surgery. (Thanks to Drs Abe Prodigalidad, Rey dela Cruz & Jimmy Songco)

One advantage of our program is that NKTI is a transplant center so we have an extensive exposure and hands-on experience in performing kidney harvest for transplantation. (Thanks to Drs Genaro Yusi, Ed Rivera, Sonny Patron, Awe Lenon, Luis Florencio & Genlinus Yusi)

To highlight my training, our batch(NKTI Urology batch 2007) was the first among the training institutions to have laparoscopy integrated in the training curriculum. We held post graduate courses each year starting 2004. We also have an in-house animal workshop to practice our dexterity in performing the procedures. Then we started as assistant surgeons for laparoscopic procedures then eventually being the surgeon. It is one of the advancements in our training. I, together with my 2 batchmates are trained and qualified to perform laparoscopic procedures. (Thanks to Drs JV Prodigalidad and Jun Gerial)

My stay in NKTI is not only about the training, we all know that it is the best institute when it comes to Urology training. Its also about friendship and camarederie, problems and solutions, and a lot more lessons in life. I knew that my training would end on December 2007 and I had to start private practice on 2008 to carry on all the skills and knowledge that the best institution has imparted on me.

Sadly, I had to leave NKTI when I completed my training...even though I was done with my training, there's always a part of me that belongs to NKTI...

I knew I had to go, but I wanted to look for reasons to stay.

I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to train in NKTI and to work with and be supervised by the best urology consultant staff.

NKTI Website




NKTI Department of Urology Consultant and Fellow Staff 2006 (click on picture to enlarge)


NKTI Urology Fellows 2007


Operating Room Action - That's me performing my favorite surgery, Donor Nephrectomy (Kidney harvest for transplant)