If you manage to find a job in a private hospital, you can start earning as much as Rs1 lakh per month. The earnings rise sharply with experience and expertise, as in any other branch of surgery. In a government hospital, the starting salary is around Rs50,000 at the post of an assistant professor, which increases to R75,000 for associate professors. As a professor, you can earn as much as R1 lakh per month. Urologists earn the maximum through private practice. However, setting up a private practice requires a lot of investment and experience.

• You must have an inclination for medicine and surgery 
• You ought to be tech-savvy as this branch of surgery (like many others) is technology-driven. For example, robot-assisted surgeries are being performed in some hospitals 
• Calm and collected, ability to handle complicated surgeries
• There should be a genuine interest in alleviating the suffering of the people

• Minimally-invasive surgery is a highly rewarding branch of surgery
• With rising cases of stone and erectile dysfunction, demand for urologists is expected to increase
• The competition is tough. There are only 150 seats for this specialisation throughout India and the number of applicants is quite high
• Involves hard work and leaves you with little family time

After completing Class 12 in the science stream with physics, chemistry and biology, interested candidates should first concentrate on earning their MBBS. This should be followed up with MS degrees before  they start preparing for the MCh entrance test.

All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi        
Sanjay Gandhi PG Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow        
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh    
Jawaharlal Institute of PG Medical Education and Research     
Christian Medical College, Vellore  
Kasturba Medical College, Manipal