Genitourinary Medicine

Are you considering a career in genitourinary (GU) medicine?... Great! Let us explore this further....

GU medicine (commonly known as Sexual health and HIV medicine) is an exciting and dynamic specialty which involves training doctors to manage both outpatients and inpatients with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. It is a very satisfying branch of medicine since most sexually transmitted infections can be cured or managed successfully. It is ideal for people who are non-judgemental and who have good personal and interpersonal skills. HIV medicine, in particular, can offer quite a challenge at times.

The training programme lasts 4 years, and is packed with enough material to keep you on your toes for its duration. There are a few exams to sit, which usually based on clinical situations encountered in standard clinical practice. There are a few attachments to do (gynaecology, microbiology and virology, urology, dermatology and sometimes infectious diseases and public health) - these can help you develop a special interest later on. Think of your training as a journey, starting out as a novice and ending up as an expert in the field. Throw a few generic and management skills in the mix, and you're all set to go.

Trainee testimonials

"I started out in dermato-venereology and was lucky enough to get into a GU medicine training programme after getting my MRCP. I like the fact that I am dealing with treatable and manageable conditions and I welcome the challenges associated with HIV management. There is no other specialty I'd rather be doing." - GS

"It has been an amazing journey for me- though initially trained in Gastroenterology, while in Liverpool I had the opportunity in the early 90s to use these skills and was hooked to the speciality -it really has everything to offer, tremendous job satisfaction a predominantly 9-5 job, minimal on call (if you have a young family and a medic for a husband), fast career progression (if you happen to be ambitious) and probably the most important aspect of the job is the- working environment most of your colleagues are like minded i.e. demonstrate empathy and  non-judgemental." - JD

So what are our patients like?

Though we see a vast cross section of patient groups most (80%)of our patients are young (less than 30 years old) and well. HIV patients, however, can sometimes be very ill and may present quite a challenge. For a better idea, see the video below about living with HIV, as featured on BBC midlands today.