Male Urogenital Teaching

The examination of the male genitalia may be anxiety provoking to both the examiner and the patient. Our curriculum is designed to address this concern in different ways:

  1. Presenting information in a systematic manner. Students will have opportunities to observe complete examinations prior to their hands-on practice.
  2. Adults learn better from personal experience in actually “doing” the work. Our courses stress hands-on practice as well as verbalization of information.
  3. A calm, professional, and organized approach by the examiner inspires confidence and supports patient-comfort, physician-patient rapport, clear patient orientation and instruction, and patient education.
  4. Feedback will be constructive and focus on patient comfort as it relates to clinical skills that students have seldom had opportunities to hear.

Class Structure and Methodology

The program consists of a Teaching Associate who combines observation and hands-on experiential practice.

Two Teaching Associates will employ role modeling, hands-on practice and constructive patient feedback to conduct a workshop in the exam. In small groups, one Teaching Associate will first conduct a Genital Urinary, Reproductive organ, and Prostatic wellness examination on another Teaching Associate in front of students. This includes:

  • Kidneys
  • Bladder
  • Inguinal Lymph Nodes
  • Penis
  • Scrotum Inspection
  • Examination of Scrotal Contents
  • Perineum
  • Palpate the Prostate

Students will then take turns practicing on a Teaching Associate who will be acting both as teacher and patient.

In both learning modalities (observation and practice), the same curriculum is used to provide repetition of subject matter to reinforce learning.

Strengths of the Teaching Associates Program

Roles and expectations are clearly defined for Teaching Associates: an awareness of one’s anatomy, good understanding of the curriculum, the skills to provide constructive patient feedback to the students, and strict prohibition from giving diagnostic information to students. They are not a mere patient model, but someone who demonstrates professionalism, knowledge and genuine care and concern towards the students.