In Taiwan, medical residents pursuing a career in urology can choose between two training pathways: a 4-year urology-focused program or a 5-year program that integrates general surgery training. The shorter pathway allows residents to specialize exclusively in urology, whereas the longer pathway provides a broader surgical foundation before subspecializing. This dual-pathway system raises questions about its impact on certification exam performance and the preparedness of urologists for clinical practice. We compared the certification pass rates of the two groups to evaluate the effectiveness of these training models.

Certification pass data were collected from the Taiwanese Urological Association from 2018 to 2024. Pass rates were compared using chi-square tests to identify significant differences between the two groups.

Data from 2018 to 2024 of the Taiwanese residency programs revealed no statistically significant differences in certification pass rates between the two groups. Both the 5-year and 4-year programs demonstrated comparable pass rates (73.68% vs 67.86% in 2018, 68.18% vs 77.14% in 2019, 77.78% vs 80% in 2020, 77.78% vs 87.10% in 2021, 87.50% vs 77.42% in 2022, 77.27% vs 80.65% in 2023, 81.25% vs 85.71% in 2024) without statistically significant differences (p=0.462 in 2018, p=0.327 in 2019, p=0.565 in 2020, p=0.32 in 2021, p=0.339 in 2022, p=0.513 in 2023, p=0.488 in 2024), suggesting that the additional surgical training in the 5-year program does not necessarily confer an advantage in terms of certification outcomes.

Both the 4-year and 5-year residency programs in Taiwan adequately prepare residents for urology certification, with no significant differences in pass rates. Future studies should focus on qualitative measures, such as clinical performance and career satisfaction, to further evaluate the long-term impacts of these training models.