PHOTO // Professional training in urology: resident physicians of Moldovan Medical University participate in European study programme

First-year resident physicians specializing in Urology have taken part in a professional training programme titled, ESU Boot Camp Moldova 2026, of the European School of Urology. The event was organized by the European Association of Urology, in partnership with the Department of Urology and Surgical Nephrology of Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy (USMF), Moldova’s Society of Urologists and the Timofei Mosneaga Republican Clinical Hospital (RCH).

The training was held at the Urology Clinic within the Timofei Mosneaga RCH, under the mentorship of Dragoș Laurian Bogdan, consultant urologist at Cambridge University Hospital of the United Kingdom, and Sérgio Pereira, urologist at Santa Maria Hospital, North Lisbon Hospital Center, Portugal.

According to Dragoș Laurian Bogdan, ESU Boot Camp is a programme launched by the European Association of Urology, implemented in Moldova as well, with prospects for continuity.

“These skills will be consolidated through an extensive theoretical programme, which will form the basis of the first International Conference on Endourology, due to be held in Chisinau on May 22–23, 2026,” the mentor specified.

The purpose of this Boot Camp is to provide urology residents with high-quality training within the European programme for standardization in surgical education (SISE), facilitating the development of technical skills and the getting of the competencies required to perform the most common urological procedures prior to actual clinical practice.

Thus, participants benefited from mentoring by experienced trainers, in an optimal training format with a 1:1 ratio between resident, trainer, and station, as well as individualized feedback and comprehensive evaluation.

The program was based on the hands-on training method and included one day of intensive instruction focused on the simulation of technical skills through standardized and validated modules, organized according to specific urological techniques. The training modules covered key such areas as laparoscopy, endoscopy of the upper and lower urinary tract, transurethral resection, surgical suturing techniques and circumcision.