So........what do I look for in a Nephrology fellowship program? I'm currently at the start of my PGY2 year in IM and have decided on nephrology. Speaking with the fellows at my residency (major east coast program), they haven't been very helpful. Looking at some of the eastern nephrology programs websites, they all kind of seem the same (x months of consults + dialysis + transplant + research months). If all I really want is a clinical career is it worth the trouble to shoot for the big name Ivy programs? Should I go to a place that has its own renal inpatient service or where I'm just consulting, or does it matter? Any help from current/past fellows or applicants would be helpful. Thanks.
Nephrology Fellowships
- Thread starter LIguy
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LIguy said:
My 2 cents (I am a rising PGY3 who just gone through the application cycle):
The short answer is that if you want to do academics (or even considering doing so), I do feel that training at a major academic center helps a lot. Just look at the renal faculty members/attendings and look at where they trained - most of them are trained at these kind of institutions. Nephrology is a small circle and people in major institutions know each other by name, and it will help if you are trained at well-known place. The difference it makes in private practice and industry is much less obvious, but my view is that it couldn't hurt. It never hurts to train at a leading regional center if you plan to practice in that region. That's on the one hand of the argument.
On the other hand, if you have ruled the academic aspect out completely, and your goal is straight private practice, then I think any university-based programs will do. Board certified nephrologist is a specialty in demand in many areas of the country, and you should have no problem being plugged into private practice out of most programs. That's the other argument.
My take is that since you fill out the same application, and that for the most part you get like 10 programs as your base fee for ERAS anyways. Renal is right now not extremely competitive, and if you apply smart you shouldn't worry about matching, why not just apply to a few more programs and see what happens?
Good news is that depending on what you are interested in and how basic research-oriented you are (nephrology research has very strong basic-science slant, and some programs have a big slant on training physician-scientists), there are a number of very good programs to choose from around the country. Some are the traditional academic heavy-hitters, some are less so. There are a lot of regional bias too regarding how people perceive a program. Feel free to pm me if you want a list in a particular region or want to discuss particular program(s).
As far as your general nephrology training is concerned, pretty much every academic center with volume will give you at least a decent training in the bread and butters of dialysis, inpt consult, etc... your first year fellowship curriculum is very much the same everywhere you go as far as # of month at each particular service. And yes, having a inpt renal unit and having an outpatient dialysis practice is of importance in nephrology clinical training because it allows you to learn from the bread and butter ESRD/dialysis patients and how to manage the complications, in addition to some zebras that you will see in nephrology.
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I put together a list of questions I wish I had asked when applying for fellowships.
As far as your question about whether to go for "big names," I think looking at the track record of the fellowship is more important than the name of the institution. For example, some major institutions on the East Coast have a history of training people who don't find jobs because the surrounding area is to over-populated with nephrologists (especially Boston, NY, Philly). Some solid programs from less famous institutions are situated in parts of the country that are thirsty for nephrologists. Fellowship is ideally a time to make connections in the surrounding area to make sure that you can get a job when you are finished, but if the surrounding environs are exploding with nephrologists, you would miss this opportunity.
Good luck.
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