Research
Fellows are required to meet the program’s research productivity goals by involving in a meaningful, supervised research experience and performing at least one quality improvement and/or patient safety project during their course of training. In addition to the allotted 4 months protected time, fellows are expected to continue to work on their projects when they are on lighter rotations. The nephrology faculty members mentor fellows who may participate on an ongoing faculty research project or a new project of the fellows’ choosing. Fellows are highly encouraged to write at least one case report during their training period. All Fellows must complete IRB and HIPPA training during the first year of fellowship.
National Meetings
Fellows have the opportunity to attend various national meetings. The first year fellows attend the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) annual spring meeting and second year fellows attend the annual American Society of Nephrology (ASN) meeting. Depending on the availability of funds, fellows may have additional opportunities to attend other meetings such us the annual American Transplant Congress meeting (ATC), annual international conference on dialysis of the Renal Research Institiute (RRI) and annual international conference on Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT). Fellows are expected to present their research work at the various national and international meetings.
NKF http://www.kidney.org/
ATC http://www.atcmeeting.org/
RRI http://www.renalresearch.com/RRI/index.htm
CRRT http://crrtonline.com/
Procedures
Renal Biopsy: Fellows have the opportunity to perform native and transplant kidney biopsies under the supervision of faculty attendings. Each fellow is expected to perform at least 10 native and 10 transplant kidney biopsies. At the end of their training, fellows are expected to be proficient in performing renal biopsies independently.
Insertion of temporary hemodialysis catheter: Fellows are initially given simulation training on the insertion of temporary hemodialysis catheters. They insert catheters under supervision by the attending faculty until they are deemed proficient to perform independently.
Urinalysis: Fellows are trained in urinalysis and are required to perform urinalysis independently within the first 3 months of their training period.
Dialysis Orders: Fellows are trained on writing appropriate hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and continuous veno-venous hemodialyis (CVVHD) orders and are expected to become proficient within the first 6 months of their training.
