Urologists treat disease of the urinary tract in both sexes and the male reproductive system, which makes the field surgical and medical at once. Kidney stones, prostate cancer, incontinence, infection and male infertility are the core caseload. It was an early adopter of robotic and endoscopic surgery, so much of the operating is minimally invasive.

This guide covers careers in urology end to end, walking through all two accredited subspecialties, the years of training each one costs you, what the work earns and how competitive the path is.

Medical careers in urology

Every path below is a formal, ACGME-accredited subspecialty you enter through a fellowship after urology residency. Together they hold 79 physicians in training.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Physicians in training as of the 2024-2025 academic year, from the ACGME Data Resource Book. A larger number means a larger field, not an easier one.

How long does urology training take?

All of the careers in urology on this page run through the same first eight years, and separate afterwards. Residency length is taken from the ACGME Data Resource Book for the 2024-2025 academic year.

1. Bachelor's degree, four years. Any major works, as long as you finish the medical school prerequisites and sit the MCAT.
2. Medical school, four years. Two years mostly preclinical, two years mostly in the hospital, with USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 along the way.
3. Urology residency, five years. Five years of residency after medical school. Urology does not run through the main residency match; applications go through the American Urological Association match, which happens earlier in the year.
4. Fellowship, one to three years. Optional, and the route into the subspecialties listed below.

That is thirteen years from starting your bachelor's degree to practising independently, before any fellowship. How long medical school takes covers the middle four in detail.

How much do urologists earn?

BLS does not publish a separate wage for urologists. The closest official figure is its physicians, all other category, which had a median of $265,930 a year in 2025. Read it as the range the specialty sits inside rather than as its own number.

Figures from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, national estimates, 2025. Wages at the top of the scale are reported as equal to or greater than $239,200 in some categories, so a published median can sit below what practising physicians in the field report.

Earnings across careers in urology swing more on setting and geography than on the specialty itself. Academic posts sit below private practice, and rural positions often sit above urban ones for the same work.

How competitive is urology?

Urology does not run through the NRMP Main Residency Match, so it does not appear in the national match tables the other specialties are measured by. Applications go through the American Urological Association match instead, and results come out earlier in the year.

The practical consequence is a compressed timeline. You are building your application, gathering letters and doing away rotations a full cycle ahead of classmates applying through the main match, which means the decision to pursue urology has to come earlier than most.

How careers in urology compare with the other specialties

Training length. Urology residency runs five years. Of the nineteen specialties on this site, seventeen are shorter and one are the same length. The spread across all of them is two years to five.

Size of the field. BLS counts 342,720 people employed in the physicians, all other category. A larger field means more posts advertised and more geographic choice about where you practise.

None of these numbers should pick a specialty for you. They are the constraints you are choosing inside, and the choice itself comes down to whether the day-to-day work holds your attention for thirty years.

Skills and requirements for urology

Where the work happens. Operating rooms, ambulatory surgery centres and outpatient clinic, with a large office-procedure component.

Who it suits. People who want a surgical specialty with continuing outpatient relationships, who like technology and instrumentation, and who want a shorter path than general surgery subspecialisation.

How you get in. Five years of residency after medical school. Urology does not run through the main residency match; applications go through the American Urological Association match, which happens earlier in the year.

Before any of that, the requirements match every other route into medicine. You need a bachelor's degree, the prerequisite coursework, clinical and research experience, an MCAT score, and a complete medical school application.