Urology remains one of the faster-paced surgical specialities with rapid patient turn-over. There also appears to be constantly evolving patient management with many new drugs and trials appearing almost daily. In the modern world of internet access for all, it is vitally important that we can all keep up-to-date with new developments. Several urological websites aimed at professionals are reviewed.
www.baus.org.uk
The British Urological Society website has a very user-friendly layout allowing easy navigation. It is aimed at urologists although it has a link to allow members of the public to locate a urologist. The best aspect of this site is the link to many other related sites some of which are free, unlike this site which charges a significant joining fee. Unfortunately, without membership, this site has very limited content. The ‘procedure specific consent forms’ which unzipped to produce hundreds of unnamed files containing urology consent forms was especially disappointing.*
www.urotoday.com
This American site aimed at urologists provides some excellent resources for education and training. Although users need to register for full access to the site, this is free, quick and relatively painless. The home page provides links to British Journal of Urology articles, recent headlines/articles, conference reports and a free online CME course provided via Harvard Medical School. A particularly useful resource, for those who like to be contacted by phone, provides recent articles and conference reports directly to the member's mobile phone. Another valuable source of education is the slide library with PowerPoint presentations on various topics including step-by-step guides on some urological procedures. These slides may be downloaded free, but this may take some time. The other facilities provided include links to many urological topics from prostate cancer to robotics. Each of these topics has subsections on current guidelines, epidemiology, and uses articles to expand on the topic further. This is an excellent site, well worth a visit with easy-to-navigate pages.****
www.urosource.com
Another excellent educational resource for urologists. There is a ‘quick’ reference section on most urological topics. Within each topic, there are further subsections on guidelines, key articles, conference reports/interviews and expert reviews. The home page provides links to the American urological and European Association of Urology (EAU) meetings. It also has sections on education, key articles, conference reports and a video library. The EAU link provides current guidelines, up-coming meetings, and a facility enabling users to submit abstracts. There is a further link allowing users to use view abstracts from various meetings. There are various papers and journals that can be accessed from this site; however, this is limited to registered users (free). The best facility on this site is the education section, which has a link to European School of Urology (ESU) courses. This provides a variety of slide shows and articles on many topics useful for urologists and doctors or surgeons in general. Some of the topics covered include ‘how to write a paper for publication’, ‘ultrasound for urologists’, ‘laparoscopy for beginners’. These are all easy to read and very informative with excellent pictures and slides. This European site is a must see for all urologists; a one stop site.*****
www.uroweb.org
This site is run by the European Association of Urology. Apart from excellent guidelines that can be easily downloaded from the site there is very little content. The layout is bright and easy to navigate but very sparse. Despite this, a unique feature of the site is the research section that provides information on current projects and allows the user to join selected projects as an investigator. The other disadvantage of this site is the need for registration.*
http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/ http:www.niddk.nih.gov/health/kidney/nkudic.htm)
This American site, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has a simple layout providing an ‘A–Z’ of urological and renal diseases. It also provides useful statistics of these diseases but with an obvious American bias. Although aimed at professionals and patients, it is too basic for most professionals. However, it may be an excellent site to recommend to patients and their relatives.**
www.medscape.com
This is a general medical website aimed at the professional with a urology section. The site requests registration (free) before allowing access to any useful information. The urology home page provides expert viewpoints, various CME topics, excellent case reports, access to publications and news including that from industry. There are also easy-to-read reports on a number of topics and a link to journals and references. Last, there is a link to AUA conferences, guidelines, overview and news. This is a good site but the general layout is poor due to lack of pictures and colours. It feels like a dull textbook with answers that one is too disinterested to find. Many of the resources were better offered elsewhere.***
www.medmatrix.org/
This is another general medical website with a urology section. It is aimed mainly at professionals with a small subsection for patients. The home page has subsections on searches, news, full text/multimedia, journals, textbooks, procedures and patient education. The search function allows access to free articles via Medline on urological diseases and procedures. The full text/multimedia section is an excellent revision tool with tutorials, case reports, articles, X-rays and slide-shows on a variety of interesting topics. These, though aimed at professionals, may be more appropriate for junior doctors and medical students. The journal section provides links to the Journal of Urology and BMC Urology; registration is required for the Journal of Urology with a fee for full text. The best resource on this site is the procedure section that provides video and slide show pictures of radical prostatectomy and laparoscopic nephrectomy. This is a useful site for links to other urology sites with a few interesting and unique features.***