Clinical Facilities

The Urology program at the University of Washington consists of five different hospitals in its consortium. Each hospital has its own unique flavor, as characterized by its patient population, physician staff members, and associated ancillary services.

The University of Washington Medical Center is the academic, tertiary care center for the University. This hospital has several subspecialty clinics, including the Prostate Center and the Urogynecology, Male Fertility and Endourology Clinics. Each clinic combines cutting edge research with state of the art technology to achieve superior patient care. The surgical volume is high and diverse, leaving residents with exceptional skills by graduation.

Harborview Medical Center is one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers and the only Level I adult and pediatric trauma and burn center serving Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. The 413 bed hospital is owned by King County, governed by a board of trustees appointed by the county and managed by the University of Washington. In addition to providing nationally-acclaimed specialty care in a number of areas, including neurosurgery, rehabilitation medicine and orthopedics, Harborview has a specific mission to care for the community's most vulnerable patients. It also is the Disaster Control Hospital for Seattle and King County.

The Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System is a tertiary care center for the VA system, offering medical care for retired or separated military personnel. In addition to state-of-the-art medical facilities, a substantial amount of research is carried out at the Seattle campus, including a multidisciplinary urologic oncology research group. With a primarily male population base, the Urology service is one of the busiest surgical services in the medical center, ranging from “bread and butter” urologic cases, to complex oncology and kidney stone management.

The Seattle Children’s Hospital was recently ranked one of the best Children’s Hospitals in the country by US News and World Report and Child magazines. This state-of-the-art, 250-bed pediatric hospital is the referral center for Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and Montana, provides excellent patient care and conducts cutting edge pediatric research.

Virginia Mason Medical Center is an awarding-winning private, not-for-profit organization offering a network of primary and specialty care clinics throughout the Puget Sound region. The Section of Urology and Renal Transplantation has been an important part of Virginia Mason for over 80 years. Each of our physicians, in addition to providing general urologic care, has specific areas of expertise to ensure that the most complex problems are managed appropriately. All of the urologists at Virginia Mason are actively involved in the education and training of the urology residents from the University of Washington.

Educating residents at each of the 5 institutions is accomplished most effectively by having a designated faculty member (program delegate) overseeing the residency education at each of the hospitals. The Faculty Delegates have many roles, including auditing resident hours, education and teaching, problem solving, and documentation of such tasks.