Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship
The NYU Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship trains one fellow a year, built on volume and independence. In the 2025-2026 fellowship year, the operative volume was 750 cases across three hospitals (NYU Langone, Bellevue, and the Manhattan VA): 430 with robotic assistance and approximately 250 gender-affirming, and the two groups overlap.
The year covers the full field: anterior and posterior urethroplasty, upper tract and abdominal reconstruction, robotic intracorporeal urinary diversion, genitourinary trauma at Bellevue, a New York State designated Level I Adult Trauma Center, Peyronie’s disease, prosthetics, and primary and revision gender-affirming surgery in a multidisciplinary program with Plastic Surgery. Robotic surgery is not a rotation here. It is how the service runs, on multi-port and single-port platforms.
The fellow works as a junior faculty member, booking cases, making the clinical decisions, and taking attending call at roughly the same frequency as the fellowship director. Salary is equivalent to the PGY-6 level at NYU, with benefits. The fellow operates with the fellowship director, Lee C. Zhao, MD, across the full scope above, rather than rotating among a faculty roster.
Twelve fellows have completed the program. Alumni hold faculty and leadership positions at Henry Ford, OHSU, Case Western, UMass, WVU, and Mount Sinai, among others; the field’s full training lineage, this program included, is mapped at fellowshiptree.leezhaomd.org. The 2026-2027 fellow, Michael Scott, MD, trained in urology at Stanford.
Each fellow completes at least one original research project, presented at a national meeting or published.
This page is for applicants. It describes what the year looks like, what is expected of the fellow, and how to apply.
For applicants
- Who this fellowship is for
- The week
- Clinical services and case families
- Console and autonomy progression
- Documentation, coding, and case logging
- Research expectations
- Teaching and presentations
- Gender-affirming surgery specifics
- Mentorship, evaluation, and feedback
- Career development
- Resources
- Fellowship alumni
- Frequently asked questions
The essentials
- One fellow a year, August 1 through July 31.
- Eligibility: completion of an ACGME-accredited urology residency.
- Apply through the GURS match, administered by the AUA. One virtual formal interview per applicant.
- J-1 sponsorship through ECFMG. No H-1B sponsorship.
- Questions go to Lee C. Zhao directly. There is no program coordinator.
See the GURS applicant instructions for the current cycle's dates.
How to apply
The fellowship participates in the Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgery match, administered by the AUA. Register at medmatch.auanet.org, then send your registration form, CV, and three letters of recommendation to Lee C. Zhao, MD, at lee.zhao@nyulangone.org. Registering for the match does not contact programs on your behalf.
Program listings and match timelines are published by the Society of Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgeons.
Back to www.leezhaomd.org