Program overview

Curriculum 

You’ll learn the skills that will make you a competent, compassionate, well-rounded nephrologist who makes a difference in the lives of patients with kidney disease. Our curriculum is updated each year by the faculty to include high-yield topics with an emphasis on clinical reasoning and interactive learning. All rotations are divided into two-week blocks. This allows for a healthy balance between inpatient and outpatient experiences.

As a first year, you’ll have more inpatient rotations, including general nephrology consults and inpatient dialysis, which will allow you to develop foundational skills in nephrology. You will also have significant exposure to outpatient nephrology, including outpatient hemodialysis. You’ll be paired with one faculty member and round with them in the dialysis unit twice a month during your outpatient rotations. You will have your own panel of outpatient dialysis patients. And you’ll have your own continuity clinic for one day every two weeks, allowing you to build your own panel of patients.

As a second year, you’ll have more outpatient, transplant and research rotations. You will participate in specialty clinics including transplant clinic, multidisciplinary transplant clinic and kidney stone, polycystic disease, hypertension, glomerular and vasculitis clinics. This will give you a broad exposure to all aspects of nephrology. You’ll take a more active role in your outpatient dialysis clinic and will participate in the Facility Quality Improvement program. You will also be paired with one faculty in the peritoneal and home hemodialysis clinic and follow your own patients.

You’ll participate in simulation for procedures, including temporary dialysis catheter insertion, renal biopsy and various simulations around dialysis therapies. You’ll also participate in workshops and simulations for communications skills training about breaking bad news, shared decision making, consent and how to provide dialysis options education.

As our trainee, you’ll participate in internal and external workshops and learning experiences such as:

• Annual Mid-Atlantic First Year Renal Fellows’ Symposium at the Gift of Life Institute in Philadelphia
• Annual Postgraduate Medicine Course Renal Biopsy in Medical Diseases of the Kidneys, Columbia University
• Nephrotalk: Annual Communication Workshop for Nephrology Fellows
• Fundamentals of critical care training at Geisinger
• Simulation training
• Standardized patient sessions, designed to enhance communication skills
• Central line simulation course
• Renal biopsy simulation course
• Bioethics seminar
• Cognitive skills courses
• Patient experience training
• Patient safety workshops
• Baxter Health Care: PD/CRRT workshops
• Curriculum vitae writing workshops
• Annual Resident and Fellow Scholarship Day

Example of rotation calendar: 

Call 

In our program, call is one weeknight a week and one weekend a month. We have strict rules to prevent fellows’ calls from being more frequent than this.

Working national holidays are reimbursed with another free day.

We have four advanced practitioners who supplement the call schedule and who help adhere to strict ACGME 80-hour rules.

Didactics

We have a robust didactic schedule that covers all nephrology topics. During your training, you’ll have a didactic lecture or other learning experience every day.

Monday didactics

• Case-based learning, including weekly presentations/group discussions on interesting cases encountered by fellows
• Board review sessions 
• Simulation workshops

Tuesday didactics

Core didactics on various nephrology topics including: 

• Acid base
• Acute kidney injury 
• Continuous renal replacement lecture series 
• Chronic kidney disease 
• Hemodialysis 
• Peritoneal dialysis
• Primary and secondary glomerular disorders 
• Vasculitis 
• Pathology 
• Hypertension 
• Diagnostic testing in kidney disease 
• Transplantation 
• Cystic and tubulointerstitial kidney disease  
• Renal genetics and inherited kidney diseases 

Wednesday didactics

Transplant multidisciplinary committee meeting: 

• Transplant eligibility 
• New transplants 
• Transplant topics

Thursday didactics

• Renal journal club 
• Renal M&M
• Renal grand rounds 
• Renal pathology conference 
• Rheumatology renal vasculitis multidisciplinary conference

Friday didactics

• Medicine morbidity and mortality conference