Impact of COVID-19 on Urology Practice in Saudi Arabia

Meshari A Al-Zahrani,1 Mohammad Alkhamees,1 Sulaiman Almutairi,1 Ahmed Aljuhayman,1 Sultan Alkhateeb2,3 1Department of Urology, College of Medicine, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Urology, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Meshari A Al-ZahraniTeaching Assistant, Department of Urology, College of Medicine, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, 11952, Saudi ArabiaTel +00966569990693Fax +00966164042500Email ma.alzahrani@mu.edu.saAbstract: From the moment the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic disease, COVID-19 began to affect the lives of many healthcare providers worldwide. In response to this pandemic, urology departments and training residency programs implemented urgent measures to reduce outpatient clinics, adopted the use of telemedicine, regulated emergency and outpatient urological procedures, promoted the use of operating theatres, and developed the use of sustainable e-learning alternatives to traditional urology educational activities. We reviewed the response of urologists in Saudi Arabia to the COVID-19 pandemic and how they react to the emerging pandemic both for patients and for healthcare of urologist personnel.Keywords: Saudi Arabia, urology, COVID-19, telemedicine, residency