PROVIDING THE SPRINGBOARD FOR MEANINGFUL CAREERS

One of the nation’s first urology residency programs, Northwestern Medicine Urology has been training and graduating extraordinary surgeons for close to 80 years. Educating residents in the most advanced patient care and surgical techniques in every area of urology, we encourage trainees to pursue any path and serve any community they choose.

“Our program offers a comprehensive and diverse training environment that exposes residents to every aspect of the specialty, from pediatric urology to reconstructive surgery,” says Nelson Bennett, Jr., MD, program director of the Northwestern Medicine Urology residency program. “Benefitting from a complete clinical and research training experience of the highest caliber, our residents have the opportunity to discover their true passions and go after them.”

Our graduates are well prepared to embark on myriad careers or vie for competitive fellowships as soon as they complete our program. From academic medicine to private practice, our alumni are forging their own paths confident in the exceptional skills they acquired during residency training and thankful for the lifelong relationships they made at Northwestern Medicine Urology.

These former Urology residents are just a few of our alumni forging their careers with the help of the world-class training and experience they received at Northwestern Medicine.

Joceline Fuchs, MD
Reconstructive Urologist, MidLantic Urology
Class of 2017

When looking at residency programs, Dr. Fuchs took note of Northwestern Medicine Urology’s focus on “Developing you into the urologist you want to be.” To hone in on her interests, she took advantage of electives in and outside of urology, from urogynecology to nephrology, as well as international uterine fistula work in Rwanda. She also conducted basic science research looking at stem cells and their utility in urethral reconstruction. Her many enriching experiences at Northwestern Medicine Urology led Joceline to pursue a fellowship in male reconstruction and prosthetics at her first choice of programs: University of Texas Southwestern. She currently practices general urology and provides subspecialty expertise in reconstructive urology with MidLantic Urology, one of the largest groups of urology specialists in the country. The group’s affiliation with Jefferson Health’s Abington Hospital in Philadelphia — one of the busiest clinical rotations available to urology residents at Einstein Healthcare Network — gives Dr. Fuchs the opportunity to mentor and teach. “I get to enjoy the best of both worlds: private practice and academia,” she says.

Adarsh Manjunath, MD
Urologist at Wellstar Urology
Class of 2021

Medical school at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine gave Dr. Manjunath an early look into Northwestern Medicine Urology, where he came to appreciate the department’s culture of comradery and respect during his clinical rotations. As a resident, he immersed himself in the broad subspecialty exposure the program distinctly offers and found his niche in general urology and robotic surgery. Choosing to immediately enter private practice, he joined Atlanta-based Wellstar — one of the largest health systems in Georgia — where he is one of 20 urologists. His residency has helped him take the lead on introducing first-time robotic surgery to rural communities of Georgia. “My training has given me the skills and confidence to be successful,” Dr. Manjunath says. “The knowledge I gained from every person involved in my training — whether it was surgical technique or how to treat patients with compassion — has stayed with me. Now in the real world, I call upon all that I have learned to provide patients with the care they deserve. For that, I am grateful.”

Richard “Rich” Matulewicz, MD
Urologic Oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Class of 2018

Treating patients with often curable cancer appealed to Dr. Matulewicz early in his training at Northwestern Medicine Urology—the highest ranked urology and cancer program in Illinois. Exposure to the wide variety of surgical techniques available for treating genitourinary cancers allowed him to hone his skills and set him up to become a successful urologic oncologist. After his residency, he went on to a clinical fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as well as a health service research fellowship at New York University. Now a National Cancer Institute-funded surgeon scientist at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Dr. Matulewicz conducts implementation science work on integrating evidenced-based smoking cessation practices into oncology care. He credits role models at Northwestern Medicine for inspiring his career choice. “I witnessed surgeon scientists like Ted Schaeffer and Joshua Meeks balancing and fitting in innovative research and outstanding clinical work into their day-to-day practice,” he explains. “Seeing people doing academic medicine really well showed me what was possible.”

Christopher “Chris” Morrison, MD
Assistant Chief of Urology, Kaiser Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group
Class of 2019

Dr. Morrison believed Northwestern Medicine Urology would give him the best diversity of surgical experience — from private to county and Veteran’s Administration hospital settings — to find his place in the specialty. Always supported by faculty but given the autonomy to operate as the primary surgeon like all of his fellow trainees, Dr. Morrison felt confident in his abilities as a surgeon by the time he graduated. He joined Kaiser’s Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, where he now serves as assistant chief of Urology for the Washington, D.C., and south Maryland region. His clinical practice focuses on urologic cancers, prostate enlargement, stone disease and robotic/minimally invasive surgery. “Because of the outstanding surgical training I received at Northwestern, I left my residency fully able to operate on my own on just about any case,” Dr. Morrison says.

Rotimi Sewedo Nettey, MD
Assistant Professor of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine
Class of 2020

The cycle of life care and impact of this care on patient quality drew Dr. Nettey to urology. During her training, she found her calling in the area of urogynecology. Mentorship from a renowned expert in the field, Stephanie Kielb, MD, of Northwestern Medicine Urology, and exposure to patients with spina bifida and spinal cord injury through the department’s longstanding partnership with Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, sealed the deal. After graduating, she went on to a two-year female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery fellowship at UCLA Medical Center. In September 2022, she joined the faculty at Baylor College of Medicine as an assistant professor of Urology and now practices urogynecology as well as transitional urology. “Having a great role model who I still call for advice and seeing the clinical opportunities in this area because of the strength of Northwestern’s program were key factors in my career choice,” says Dr. Nettey. “Coming from Northwestern, I feel well prepared to care for any patient who walks into my office.”