Nephrology

Geisinger's Department of Nephrology at Geisinger Medical Center offers a top-notch educational experience and is recognized as one of the top teaching departments in the Division of Medicine. The Nephrology Department consists of seven faculty members committed to delivering outstanding patient care while providing excellent educational experiences for medical students and residents. In addition, our nephrology fellows actively contribute to the education of rotating students and residents.

Goals and objectives

Our medical student elective promotes active participation on the nephrology inpatient consult service. During this rotation, a primary goal is to expose you to a busy consultation service. You’ll learn the skills required for a medical consultant — specifically, how to perform a nephrology inpatient evaluation and provide sound, evidence-based recommendations. You’ll be assigned patients daily and will be responsible for patient presentations to house staff and attending physicians. During daily rounds, you should be prepared to discuss all new clinical data relevant to the care of their patients, such as vital signs, examination findings, fluid balance, laboratory results and the results of specialized tests.

The acquisition of an appropriate knowledge base in nephrology will also be a fundamental goal of the elective.

Relevant content objectives include:

• Parenchymal kidney disease
• Renal vasculitis
• The kidney in systemic disease
• Mechanisms for progression of chronic kidney disease
• Staging for chronic kidney disease
• Acid-base disorders
• Fluid and electrolyte disorders
• Acute and chronic renal failure
• Kidney stone disease
• Urinary tract infections
• Congenital renal anomalies
• Medications and the kidney
• Hypertension
• Dialysis therapies
• Interpretation of laboratory and imaging studies commonly used in the evaluation of kidney disorders

You’ll acquire this knowledge base primarily through bedside and didactic teaching by nephrology attendings and fellows. This direct teaching is supplemented by numerous conferences occurring on a monthly basis within the Division of Medicine that you’ll be strongly encouraged to attend.