I recently attended the 14th European Urology Residents Education Programme (EUREP) as a final-year resident on the advice of several colleagues who had enjoyed and benefitted from the programme in previous years. After five intensive days, I can confirm that this programme is a must for urology residents-in-training, and my high expectations were more than fulfilled!
In my opinion, EUREP offers a lot to participants. My highlights were: the well-organised updates on current urological practice, in many cases given by same the experts who write the EAU Guidelines, and provided glimpses of future updates; the hands-on training (HOT) sessions, which allowed individual training and tailored tips and tricks from highly skilled mentors; and the social interactions, which provided a casual atmosphere throughout the event and allowed me to foster new professional contacts and make new friends.
I found that the selection criteria based on EU-ACME credits (earned by answering questions based on European Urology articles) was a clever way to further promote professional and scientific development.
Moreover, online access to previous presentations even before EUREP begun enabled me to prepare for the sessions. It is well worth making the effort to access these in advance to make the most from each module.
The discussion of structured clinical cases with renowned specialists was another highlight that gave me – and, based on my conversations with fellow colleagues – other participants diverse perspectives on everyday practice from different centres and countries. These discussions also allowed us all to discuss views and experiences from our distinctive training programmes and backgrounds.
The coffee breaks provided an excellent opportunity to talk about the state-of-the-art procedures in urology. This year, the Olympus laparoscopy competition also provided the opportunity for us to exchange practical tricks – it was a great honour for me to win the first prize (and, if I may say, beat the EUREP all-time record)!
In summary, EUREP was a great opportunity and I encourage fellow urology residents to take part in this experience next year to benefit from this unique scientific, technical and social programme.
Photo above: I was honoured to receive the Olympus award from Vivian Besser and Hannah Wiemer (Olympus).
Dr. Nuno Miguel Pereira Azevedo
Centro Hospitalar do Porto
Dept. of Urology Porto (PT)
