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Vice Chair of Education Residency Program Director Professor of Urology


Dr. Wallen received his medical degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and completed his residency in urologic surgery at Stanford University. After residency, Dr. Wallen served as Assistant Professor of Urology in the Department of Surgery at Dartmouth Medical School. He joined the Division of Urology at UNC in 2003 and was appointed Urology Program Director in 2011. He is now a professor in the UNC Department of Urology and continues in his role as program director.

Dr. Wallen is committed to providing patient centered, safe, cutting-edge care to his patients and has been named to America’s Best Doctors multiple times. He specializes in urologic oncology and robotic surgery and is a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He was instrumental in bringing robotic surgery to UNC and in the subsequent development of the robust robotic surgical programs across several UNC surgical subspecialties. He is a founding member of the UNC Computer and Robotic Enhanced Surgery Center (CARES) Advisory Board.

As the Department of Urology’s Residency Program Director, Dr. Wallen oversees the training of the Department’s resident physicians. He has a close mentoring relationship with the residents and believes it is crucial that residents work with educators who display integrity, compassion, and professionalism. In 2012 Dr. Wallen received the American Urological Association (AUA) Teacher of the Year award which is presented annually to recognize an outstanding urology educator who has dedicated a portion of his or her career to teaching residents and advancing urology graduate medical education. Dr. Wallen also developed the UNC Department of Urology’s mentoring program for residents and faculty.

These educational achievements led to Dr. Wallen’s election to the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Urology Residency Review Committee in 2017. Further recognition of his dedication to education followed in 2019 when was appointed to the ACGME Milestones 2.0 project in 2019 to update the standard assessment for urology residents, and to the. AUA Education Council to evaluate Lifelong Learning opportunities for urologists in practice.

Based on his experiences with prostate cancer patients, Dr. Wallen obtained philanthropic support to establish the UNC Men’s Health Program and serves as the Executive Director of this collaborative multi-departmental effort across UNC’s Medical School, School of Public Health, Athletic Department, and North Carolina Translational and Clinical Institute (NC TraCS). This burgeoning program seeks to improve the health behaviors of men of all ages to improve wellness and support families via research, community outreach, and clinical care.

Dr. Wallen’s interest in global health has taken him to Cuba and China on multiple visiting professorships, and to develop UNC Project Malawi to establish an elective rotation for urology residents to experience health care delivery in Malawi. UNC residents began rotating in Malawi in 2017.

In addition to his clinical and educational roles, Dr. Wallen’s research interests include robotic surgery, outcomes, and translational research.

Specialties

Urologic Oncology
Urology and Urologic Surgery
Men’s Health

Board Certifications

Urology – Board Certified

Publications

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Academic Interests

Education (simulation, virtual reality), renal cell carcinoma translational research, advanced prostate imaging and biopsy

Education

Residency: Urology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 1996-2000
Residency: General Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 1994-1996
MD: University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 1994

Schedule an Appointment with Dr. Wallen

UNC Urology Medical Center Office
UNC Urology at Eastowne
UNC Urology NC Cancer Hospital Office
UNC Urologic Oncology at REX

Refer a Patient to Dr. Wallen

Medical professionals interested in referring a patient please visit our Refer a Patient page for more information.

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