Get all the laughs out now, Chuckles. There are many details of human anatomy to come. (Source)

There are certain things about the human body that most of us would rather not know. You probably don't share that sentiment, though, if you're thinking urologist might be the career for you. A urologist is a physician who specializes in the female and male urinary tract, as well as the male reproductive organs. Basically, a urologist deals with everything "down there." But let's be professional about this—you can't giggle every time someone says "bladder irrigation." Pull yourself together (source).

People may laugh at you when you tell them what you do for a living, but you'll be able to hand them your last pay stub and that'll shut them right up. You'll be making anywhere from $187,000-$619,000 a year. 

That's over half a million dollars. So, yeah, you'll have to deal with the less glamorous areas of the human body, but it's amazing how easily you can forget those things when enjoying one of your many vacations on your own private yacht (source). 

 

Whatever you do, please don't bring your work-talk to the dinner table, okay? (Source)

There is one minor caveat to go with your buckets of money: you'll have long, erratic hours. It comes with the territory as a doctor. There'll be some late nights, as well as weekends or holidays where you'll have to drop the turkey baster and help Sal out with his prostate emergency.

You may be thinking that, with only a relatively small region to look after, urology would be one of the easy specialties as a doctor. But you'd be wrong. Believe it or not, a lot of serious stuff goes on down there, like cancer throughout the urinary tract. You'll need to be on call for your patients all the time.

But enough bumming you out. Urologists treat other, non-life threatening conditions as well. Like a doctor of anything, you diagnose and treat patients. 

You'll be there when someone needs to pass kidney stones, to fix urinary tract infections (UTI's), interstitial cystitis (painful bladder syndrome), prostate swelling, and your run of the mill incontinence. You'll also deal with the less bathroom-centric parts of the human body, like infertility and sexual dysfunction.

And that's not all. If you want to specialize even further and become a pediatric urologist, you'll deal with birth defects and developmental issues with the urinary tract. It's a mixed bag.

If you have a desire to expand the field of urology and do research projects to that end, there'll also be plenty of time and funding for that. You can work as a researcher and get access to labs and everything else you'll need to perform all of your cool experiments.

Becoming a doctor is no picnic. Of course, there's high demand for doctors, especially with all of these Baby Boomers getting older—and incontinenter—but you have to go through the headache of actually becoming a doctor before people demand you.

You'll have to do really well in college and on the MCAT before you can even think about going to medical school. You'll be busy and stressed for years before making it to the doctor level.

Once you're there, though, you're pretty much set for life unless you have a malpractice suit, or if by some chance it turns out that you're a totally terrible doctor. But that latter part probably only happens if you cheat your way through college and the MCATs and then medical school.

We're confident that won't happen in your case, ever-studious Shmooper. Study hard, do your job as well as you can, try not to kill any patients, and you'll be fine. That's what we call the "aspiring doctor's credo." 

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