Urology Residency

25

Active Clinical Trials

153

Peer-Reviewed Publications in Past 5 Years

24

Credentialed Expert Physicians/Researchers

19

Urology Residents/Fellows

About Our Residency

 

The Department of Urology at Houston Methodist Hospital places a strong emphasis on academic excellence. Urology is one of the top 10 specialties at Houston Methodist Hospital. Houston Methodist directs millions of dollars into research allowing us to ensure we can offer the latest innovations in medical, surgical, and diagnostic techniques to our patients.

Our academic affiliations with the Weill Cornell Medical College and Texas A&M College of Medicine anchor our department to our educational mission, training the next generation of urologic surgeons. For more than 50 years, Houston Methodist has been an institution advancing the frontiers of surgical care drawing patients and trainees from around the world.

Our five-year urology residency program trains future urologists to integrate research and innovative technology into the delivery of the highest level of patient care. Our nationally renowned, full-time teaching faculty provide residents with the best clinical experience, taking advantage of our institution's abundant resources while emphasizing on each residents' personal professional development as a urologic surgeon. Our department also offers an ACGME accredited Urogynecology and Reconstructive Surgery (URPS) Fellowship and a Robotic Oncology Fellowship. 
Message From Our Program Director

Welcome to the Urology Residency program at Houston Methodist Hospital (HMH)! Thank you for taking an interest into our program. Our goal is to train the next generation of Urologists who provide the highest standard of patient care while incorporating research and education.

Although our AGME-accredited Urology residency program began in Summer of 2016, our staff has accumulated over 40 years of experience in training and educating residents. Located in the heart of the world’s largest medical center, you can expect innovation and cross-institutional collaboration here at Houston Methodist Hospital. Every year we welcome 3 new residents into our program. Residents rotate at four sites that are close to each other: Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston Pediatric Urology, Houston Metro Urology Ambulatory Surgery Center, and Houston Methodist West.

One of the truly unique aspects of our program is that we have a very strong representation of expertise in every urological subspecialty such as urologic oncology, endourology, andrology, urogynecology, voiding dysfunction, and even neurourology and transitional urology. Our biggest strength as a department and program is the diversity in our staff and residents. Every individual within our department comes from a different background and shares different interests but we all come together to create one united and resilient community. We care about our residents and strive to create a nurturing experience by prioritizing wellness within our program.

As the program director, my mission is to provide our residents with the best clinical experience possible with an abundance of resources for research/education and an emphasis on their personal development as urologic surgeons. I can assure you that our staff is dedicated to teaching, training, and mentorship for your future. Through our commitment to providing unparalleled quality and safety, we stay true to our promise of leading medicine (urology).


Rose Khavari, MD
Ben and Wendy Moreland Distinguished Chair in Urology, Department of Urology
Professor of Urology, Academic Institute
Residency Program Director, Department of Urology
Houston Methodist Hospital
Houston Methodist
Weill Cornell Medical College

Our Team

Department Chair
Kathleen Kobashi, MD, MBA, FACS, FPMRS

Department Vice Chair
Brian Miles, MD

Program Director
Rose Khavari, MD

Associate Program Director
Monty Aghazadeh, MD

Full Faculty List

Andrology
Nathan Starke, MD
Akhil Muthigi, MD

 

Oncology
Brian Miles, MD
Raj Satkunasivam, MD
Michael A. Brooks, MD
Dharam Kaushik, MD

 

Endourology
Monica Morgan, MD
Monty A. Aghazadeh, MD

 

Neurourology, Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery, Female Urology
 Kathleen Kobashi, MD, MBA, FACS, FPMRS
Rose Khavari, MD
Julie Stewart, MD
Ricardo Gonzalez, MD

 

General Urology
 Felipe N. Flores-Sandoval, MD
Wesley O. Ekeruo, MD, FACS
David F. Mobley, MD, FACS

 

Pediatric Urology at UT Houston
Eric A. Jones, MD
Lawrence Cisek, MD
Jason Au, MD

 

Transplant Surgery
A. Osama Gaber, MD, FACS, FAST
Richard J. Knight, MD, FACS
Mark Joseph Hobeika, MD, FACS
Stephanie Yi, MD, MPH, FACS

 

Houston Metro Urology Site Director
Mark Sutton, MD

 

Houston Metro Urology
 Richard A. Goldfarb, MD
Stephen L. Lapin, MD
Michael Lewitton, MD
Mark A. Sutton, MD, FACS
David Goldfarb, MD
Lara Matheson, MD
Victor Lizarraga, MD
Michael Mineo, MD


Research
 Betsy Salazar, PhD
Keith Syson Chan, PhD

 

Affiliate Faculty
Richard Link Jr., MD (Baylor College of Medicine)
Wesley Mayer, MD (Baylor College of Medicine)

Eligibility and Application

Important Dates
  • Virtual Open House Date: Wednesday, September 11th, 2024.
  • Interview Dates: Friday, December 6th, 2024 & Saturday, December 7th, 2024.

Application Information

Houston Methodist Urology Residency Program participates in the American Urological Association (AUA) and Society of Academic Urologists (SAU) Urology Match. More information regarding the urology match and timeline can be found here. We will continue to use preference signaling according to the SAU/AUA guidelines.

Houston Methodist is committed to improving the health of our patients, employees, and communities around us. As a health care provider, it’s our responsibility to promote a healthier environment for our employees.


Responsibility
  • Drug and Tobacco Screening- Job seekers will be tested for nicotine and drug usage during the post-offer physical. If a job seeker tests positive for nicotine use, including nicotine gum and patches, the offer will be rescinded, and individuals will be given the opportunity to participate in a free Houston Methodist-provided tobacco cessation program. Job seekers wishing to reapply after testing positive for nicotine may do so 90 days after the date the initial offer was rescinded. If the job seeker tests positive for drug use, the offer will be rescinded. Job seekers wishing to reapply after the drug screening is positive may do so one year after the date the initial offer was rescinded.
  • Background Check - Prior to employment start date, job seekers must complete a criminal background check.

Applicants must have graduated from medical school within four years of application and meet the following criteria:


Requirements
  • Must complete the AUA & ERAS application and include a personal statement.
    • Addendum to your personal statement: What is the reason you wish to do residency training at Houston Methodist? What can you provide as something essential for us to know about you as a Urology residency applicant to our program? This is an opportunity to personalize your personal statement to our program.
  • Must have a dean’s letter and three letters of recommendation; all LORs should be current
  • Must have taken and passed USMLE Step 1


Interview Day

This year's interviews will allow applicants to pick between virtual or in-person hybrid sessions offered on the two following dates:
  • Friday, December 6th, 2024
  • Saturday, December 7th, 2024
Interviews will commence according to the schedule sent out in the weeks prior to interview days. If you have any questions regarding our interview process, reach out to our program coordinator, Gina Collier (information below).

Our Residents
Emily Huang - PGY5
Hometown: Plano, TX
Undergraduate: Rice University
Medical School: UT Southwestern
Academic Interest: oncology, device innovation, global health
Hobbies: eating, painting, dance, Pokemon Go!
Favorite Thing About Houston: "So much good food and that there is boba place right next to the hospital!"
Laura (Nikki) Thompson - PGY5
Hometown: Houston, TX
Undergraduate: Saint Louis University
Medical School: Texas A&M COM
Academic Interest: oncology, men's health, MIS
Hobbies: spending time with my kiddos, gaming with my husband, traveling, singing, baking
Favorite Thing About Houston: "My hometown so not biased at all but the best city in Texas. Food!!! So much diversity and so many things to do."
Zachary Kahlenberg - PGY4
Hometown: San Antonio, TX
Undergraduate: UT Austin
Medical School: UT Health Science Center at San Antonio
Academic Interest: men's health and reconstructive urology
Hobbies: basketball, golfing, and automotive detailing and tuning.
Favorite Thing About Houston: "THE FOOD!!!"
Johnny Su - PGY4
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Undergraduate: University of Pennsylvania
Medical School: Case Western Reserve University
Academic Interest: endourology, voiding dysfunction and neurogenic bladder
Hobbies: cooking, national parks, yoga
Favorite Thing About Houston: "The cultural diversity, Tex-Mex, and BBQ."
Nivetha Chandrasekaran - PGY3
Hometown: Houston, TX
Undergraduate: Texas A&M
Medical School: Texas A&M COM
Academic Interest: female pelvic reconstruction, endourology
Hobbies: outdoor activity especially being in or near a body of water, raising two crazy dogs
Favorite Thing About Houston: "The food and warm weather."
Kuemin (Jefferson) Hwang - PGY3
Hometown: Queens, NY
Undergraduate: CUNY Hunter College
Medical School: Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
Academic Interest: FPMRS
Hobbies: tennis, karaoke, and watching Premier League Soccer
Favorite Thing About Houston: "The food and diversity."
Andrew Gardeck - PGY3
Hometown: Crystal Lake, IL
Undergraduate: University of Minnesota
Medical School: University of Minnesota
Academic Interest: endourology and robotic
Hobbies: outdoors & Bernese Mountain Dogs
Favorite Thing About Houston: "The activities, weather, and culture."
Melody Ong - PGY2
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
Undergraduate: University of Western Ontario
Medical School: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Academic Interest: robotics, endourology, FPMRS
Hobbies: eating, traveling, sleeping
Favorite Thing About Houston: "The food, diversity, and low cost of living."
Tatyana Yatsenko - PGY2
Hometown: Houston, TX
Undergraduate: University of Pittsburgh
Medical School: State University of New York Downstate College of Medicine
Academic Interest: reconstructive urology
Hobbies: ballroom dance, ice skating, and tennis
Favorite Thing About Houston: "The foodie scene and variety of fun activities."
Carlos Riveros - PGY2
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Undergraduate: National University of Colombia
Medical School: National University of Colombia
Academic Interest: urologic oncology
Hobbies: Mountain biking and video games
Favorite Thing About Houston: "Home to the world’s largest medical center."
Efemona Famati - PGY1
Hometown: Saint Paul, MN
Undergraduate: University of Minnesota
Medical School: University of Minnesota
Academic Interest: Andrology, GURS, Endo
Hobbies: Brunch!
Favorite Thing About Houston: Diversity
Sanjana Ranganathan - PGY1
Hometown: Houston , TX
Undergraduate: Rice University
Medical School: Texas A&M EnMed
Academic Interest: Oncology, device development
Hobbies: Yoga, making miniatures
Favorite Thing About Houston: Food and diversity!
Isadora Deal - PGY1
Hometown: Greenville, SC
Undergraduate: Clemson University
Medical School: University of South Carolina SOM
Academic Interest: Endourology, Robotics, and URPS.
Hobbies: Food and traveling
Favorite Thing About Houston: "The restaurant scene, cultural diversity, and warm weather."
Our Program Alumni
Hannah Pham, MD - 2024
Current Institution: Houston Metro Urology in Houston, TX
Fellowship or Private Practice: Private Practice
Experience at HMH: "I couldn’t imagine training anywhere else. You get to train at a premier, cutting-edge hospital, learn from highly trained, supportive faculty, and work alongside a hardworking, yet fun group of residents. I felt very comfortable going directly out into practice because the program exposed me to all of urology and at exceptional volume. Whether you want to pursue a fellowship or go directly into practice, I believe this program will set you up for success."
Thaiphi Luu, MD - 2024
Current Institution: Kaiser Permanente Manteca
Fellowship or Private Practice: Private Practice
Experience at HMH: "Residency at Houston Methodist was a privilege. I really enjoyed my time there and it starts at the top. There is great leadership that is constantly striving to improve the training and experience. The attendings are world class and wholly committed to teaching; they are truly invested in our improvement and well-being. Importantly, the surgical training is diverse, on the forefront, and high volume which together provides excellent preparation for independent practice."
Paola Bustillos, MD - 2023
Current Institution: Rio Grande Urology in El Paso, TX
Fellowship or Private Practice: Private Practice
Your Experience at HMH: "My training at Houston Methodist Hospital in Urology was an invaluable chapter in my life. The exposure to cutting-edge technologies, and mentorship from renowned urologists laid a strong foundation for my career. It instilled in me a commitment to excellence in patient care, and the rigorous training equipped me with the skills and expertise needed to offer the highest quality urological care in my private practice. My time at Houston Methodist Hospital not only shaped my clinical acumen but also fostered a deep passion for delivering compassionate, patient-centered care that continues to define my practice today."
Logan Hubbard, MD - 2023
Current Institution: Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI
Fellowship or Private Practice: Men’s Health/Andrology and Reconstructive Fellowship
Your Experience at HMH: "Excellent surgical training with faculty that truly care, not just for your surgical development, but your well being as a person. I am currently completing my andrology fellowship and planning to remain in academics in the North Central or Northeast regions with a focus on infertility, sexual medicine and reconstructive urology."
Kenan Celtik, MD - 2022
Current Institution: Crane Center for Transgender Surgery in San Francisco, CA
Fellowship or Private Practice: Reconstructive Urology Fellowship
Your Experience at HMH: "My training at Methodist exposed me to every subspecialty and gave me the surgical and clinical skillset needed to practice independently. Nonetheless, my mentors helped me build my academic resume and land a top fellowship."
Alexander Mackay, MD - 2022
Current Institution: Urology Partners of North Texas in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
Fellowship or Private Practice: Private Practice
Your Experience at HMH: "I had an excellent experience in residency. The culture and work environment from top to bottom, including the residents, attendings, and entire hospital staff make the day-to-day much more enjoyable. The surgical training was high in both volume and complexity, as well as covering all the different aspects of urology that made me feel confident in my abilities to go out into private practice without doing a fellowship."
Christopher Tallman, MD - 2021
Current Institution: Urology Medical Specialists in Delray Beach, FL
Fellowship or Private Practice: Private Practice
Your Experience at HMH: "Training as a resident in Urology at Houston Methodist Hospital was truly a remarkable experience for me. As a foreign medical graduate, I would have been happy to have a urology residency at any program, but I could not have imagined have the opportunity to train with such a prestigious group of faculty. What is truly unique about the program at Methodist, is not only the exceptional academic experience of the facility, but their unique and personal traits that make them great educators. While my focus starting residency was on robotics and prostate cancer, I was able to diversify and excel within multiple areas I was not previously as interested in. This has proven to be invaluable as a new private practice physician in a busy community setting. Now, as a new urologist in the region, I am able to offer more advanced surgical treatment options, minimally invasive approaches including robotics as well as cutting edge therapies to a larger community that was typically sent to a tertiary referral center. My training at Houston Methodist was remarkable on every front, and is the greatest thing that I miss now having left the Houston area."
Natalia Hernandez, MD - 2021
Current Institution: DHR Health Urology Institute in Rio Grande Valley, TX
Fellowship or Private Practice: FPMRS Fellowship
Your Experience at HMH: "Urology residency at Houston Methodist Hospital was a fantastic experience. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to train at a high surgical volume program covering all urological subspecialties. I would also highlight the excellent, constant mentorship and nurturing culture."

Curriculum

Click here for current resident rotation schedule.

Primary Site

Houston Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center located in Houston, Texas is the primary site location. Both out and inpatient clinic and procedures will be at the primary site.

Off-Campus Rotations

Houston Metro Urology: This is a 6 month rotation at an ambulatory surgery center separated into two 3-month blocks during PGY-2 year. Residents develop the skills to perform office-based procedures (e.g. vasectomy, prostate biopsy) and outpatient endoscopic and open surgeries. HMU is the largest urology group in Houston consisting of almost 20 staff and its own imaging/radiation center, providing our trainees an in-depth private practice experience.

4.5 miles (~12 minutes) from Houston Methodist Hospital

Link to HMU website

Pediatric Urology: This is a 4 month rotation in partnership with UT Houston pediatric urology department during PGY-3 year. Residents will work intimately with three academic pediatric urologists and cover clinic, operative cases, fetal consults, and emergency department, providing a comprehensive learning experience. The best part of this rotation is that there are no fellows to compete with resident learning so residents are first assisting in major cases such as appendicovesicostomy creation, bladder exstrophy repair, etc.

Multiple clinical/OR sites - furthest is 1.5 miles (~5 minutes) from Houston Methodist Hospital

Link to Peds Urology website

HMH-West: This is a 1-2 month(s) rotation during PGY-5 year where residents will work with urologists at the Houston Methodist West hospital campus, such as Dr. Monty Aghazadeh (Associate Program Director), Dr. Wesley Ekeruo (Site director), and Drs. David Mobley and Michael Brooks. At this site, they will get plenty of experience with the spectrum of urology from bread-and-butter urologic cases to complex reconstruction cases such as ureteroplasty.

24 miles (~35 minutes) from Houston Methodist Hospital

Transplant: Third year residents spend 2 months with the Houston Methodist Transplant center, working specifically on the Kidney/Pancreas transplant service. Residents will learn about basic transplant immunology and have the opportunity to participate in living and deceased donor transplantations. This rotation will allow you to really hone in on your laparoscopic and open surgical skills. Residents will also have the exciting and humbling experience of going on organ procurements.

General Surgery: First year residents spend 6 months of their intern year with the Department of Surgery at Houston Methodist. Rotations have changed based on yearly resident evaluation but in recent years have included:

  • 2 months of general surgery
  • 2 months of surgical critical care
  • 1 month of vascular surgery
  • 1 month of night float
Call Schedule

PGY

Call

1

q4-5

2

q4-5 + 1 weekend/month

3

q5 + 1 weekend/month

4

Back-up call: q3-4 + 1-2 weekend/month

5

Back-up call: q3-4 + 1 weekend/month

*All urology inpatient calls are at home and cover only Houston Methodist Hospital at the Medical Center (no satellite sites) from 6pm-6am.

Get In Touch

Program Contact

Gina Collier
Department of Urology
6560 Fannin St., Scurlock Tower 2100
Houston, TX 77030
Tel: 713.441.5861
Email: vmcollier@houstonmethodist.org

Program Director

Rose Khavari, MD
Department of Urology
6560 Fannin St., Scurlock Tower 2100
Houston, TX 77030
Fax: 713.441.6463
Email: urologyacademic@houstonmethodist.org

Upcoming Academic Events

Grand rounds, tumor boards, regularly scheduled series and case presentations are offered in multiple clinical disciplines and Houston Methodist locations.
Fundamentals of Responsible Conduct of Research
Houston Methodist Research Institute

Feb 17 @ 11AM

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Intro to NIH Grant Components

Dorothy E. Lewis, PhD, Faculty Development Manager, Houston Methodist

Feb 18 @ 11AM

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55

Grand Rounds conducted in 2023
These educational events are held according to varying schedules by departments and divisions within the Houston Methodist Academic Institute

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