Assessing the urologist workforce in British Columbia

Introduction: Urology is a surgical subspecialty with a wide scope of practice treating benign, malignant, and emergent disease processes involving the genitourinary system. Methods: We performed an anonymous survey of British Columbian (BC) urologists in 2022 exploring wait times, workload, and burnout. The survey was distributed via email to all urologists in the BC Urological Society. Results: There was a 92% completion rate. On average, urologists operate for 9.3 hours per week and 84% of urologists are also operating emergently at least once per week. A typical workday is 10 hours and most urologists spend at least 20% of their lives on call. When on call, urologists are woken up approximately 50% of the time. Burnout rates are over 60% and exceed the national average. Urologic patients are waiting an average of 8.7 months for non-urgent surgery or on waitlists of over 1000 people to see a surgeon. Conclusions: Urologists in BC have long wait times, high workloads, and are experiencing burnout at a high rate. Thus, there is a need for additional urologists within the province.