Division of Pediatric Urology Welcomes Michael C. Ost, MD, MBA
June 8, 2022
The Division of Pediatric Urology at UPMC Children’s welcomes Michael C. Ost, MD. Dr. Ost joined the Division in April 2022.
Dr. Ost is a professor of Urology in the Department of Urology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where he is also is assistant dean for Interprofessional Education and Technology. He also holds the director of Pediatric Surgical Outreach position at UPMC Children's.
Dr. Ost was formerly with UPMC Children’s and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine from 2007 to 2017, where he was division chief of pediatric urology and a vice-chair in the Department of Urology. He initially joined the Division during his first tenure after completing a fellowship in pediatric urology at UPMC Children’s.
Dr. Ost is dually-fellowship trained in endourology and pediatric urology and was the first surgeon in the United States to receive this dual training, which allows him to treat a broad and diverse mix of pediatric and adult urology patients.
Dr. Ost earned his medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, followed by his fellowship in endourology at Northwell Health System — also in New York — and subsequently his pediatric urology fellowship in Pittsburgh. In addition to his medical training, Dr. Ost earned an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Clinical and Research Emphasis
Dr. Ost treats the full spectrum of urologic conditions in children and adults using a variety of minimally invasive approaches — robotic-assisted surgery, laparoscopy, and endourologic techniques. Dr. Ost continues to specialize in treating kidney cancer, congenital renal anomalies, and complex stone disease in patients of all ages.
Leadership Positions
As assistant dean for Interprofessional Education and Technology at the Pitt School of Medicine, Dr. Ost is responsible for leading a team that actively collaborates to provide cross-disciplinary educational efforts for health care providers — medical students, residents, fellows, physicians, nurses, and others — about what each service line within the greater School of Medicine and UPMC health system entails and can offer in the realms of direct patient care, technological assets, research, and other opportunities.
The Interprofessional Education and Technology program within the School of Medicine was created by medical school dean Anantha Shekur, MD, PhD, who was one of the first in the country to recognize the importance and power of such an educational approach for health care providers and implemented such a program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine after becoming Dean in June 2020.
Dr. Ost and colleagues' work is designed to facilitate communication and educational efforts between disciplines and create an environment that fosters collaborative research or patient care opportunities and bridges the use of potentially overlapping resources, medical technologies, research protocols, and other system assets between disparate disciplines.
"In a way, it's really about communication — helping individuals and groups connect the dots between what they are working to achieve in their areas of patient care or research with potentially like-minded individuals or groups working in other areas that may have resources or expertise that can be adapted or applied in a cross-disciplinary manner. We have such a vast system with numerous resources and opportunities for collaboration but navigating that on one's own is challenging," says Dr. Ost. "Our work is designed to streamline those processes, standardize what our faculty and staff know about all the areas within the system, and facilitate the kinds of collaborations and partnerships that can change patient care for the better."
Dr. Ost's other leadership role within the UPMC system — director of Pediatric Surgical Outreach at UPMC Children's — will focus on facilitating and expanding pediatric surgical services to patients and families in distant areas of the state while uniformly coordinating this patient care across all surgical disciplines between the outlying UPMC hospitals in north and central/east-central Pennsylvania and UPMC Children's main facility in Pittsburgh.
