Curriculum

Clinical training

The large volume and broad range of patients seen by Mayo Clinic nephrologists ensure an optimal clinical experience for fellows in this program. Nephrology outpatient clinics and hospital services at Mayo Clinic in Arizona are very active and are supported by state-of-the-art clinical laboratories devoted to renal function testing and renal pathology.

Fellows complete clinical rotations at Maricopa Medical Center to gain additional experience in inpatient community nephrology and high-risk obstetrics. You will also rotate to Arizona Kidney Disease and Hypertension Surgery Center to gain experience in outpatient interventional nephrology, as well as the Fresenius Medical Care North for outpatient hemodialysis and outpatient peritoneal dialysis.

Rotation schedule

Year 1 rotation	Length	Location
Inpatient apheresis	2 weeks	Mayo Clinic Hospital
Inpatient community nephrology and high-risk obstetrics	4 weeks	Maricopa Medical Center
Inpatient general nephrology	26 weeks	Mayo Clinic Hospital
Inpatient transplant nephrology	6 weeks	Mayo Clinic Hospital
Outpatient kidney transplant clinic	6 weeks	Mayo Clinic Hospital
Renal pathology	4 weeks	Mayo Clinic Hospital
Research or elective rotation	4 weeks	Mayo Clinic Hospital

Year 2 rotation	Length	Location
Inpatient community nephrology and high-risk obstetrics	4 weeks	Maricopa Medical Center
Inpatient general nephrology	26 weeks	Mayo Clinic Hospital
Inpatient transplant nephrology	6 weeks	Mayo Clinic Hospital
Outpatient interventional nephrology	4 weeks	Arizona Kidney Disease and Hypertension Center
Outpatient kidney stone clinic	2 weeks	Mayo Clinic Hospital
Outpatient kidney transplant clinic	6 weeks	Mayo Clinic Hospital
Research or elective rotation	4 weeks	Mayo Clinic Hospital

Didactic training

Clinical conferences, seminars, small discussion groups, journal clubs and one-on-one instruction are integral parts of the Nephrology Fellowship. During your training, you will attend the following:

• Journal club (twice a month)
• Pathology conference (twice a month)
• Transplant morbidity and mortality conference (once a month)
• Transplant academic conference (once a month)
• Core curriculum lecture series telecast from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. (once a week)
• Nephrology Grand Rounds telecast from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. (once a week)

Research training

Each fellow is required to identify an area of research interest and complete a research project. Fellows present a research lecture before and after completion of their project.

All fellows must complete at least one scholarly project suitable for publication or presentation at a national meeting. In addition, you will spend one month during the first year and one month during the second year on a research block, mentored by a faculty nephrologist. Fellows learn the main research components of the curriculum, including standards of ethical conduct of research, design and interpretation of research studies, responsible use of informed consent, research methodology, and interpretation of data.

Call frequency

Nephrology fellows do not have in-house call. Fellows are required to come into the hospital to evaluate only emergent consults while on home call. During home call, a supervising attending physician is available at all times to provide backup support.

Teaching opportunities

During hospital rotations, fellows supervise and teach internal medicine residents and medical students.

Conferences

Fellows are required to attend all the core curriculum lectures, clinical conferences, journal clubs, and morbidity and mortality conferences. You will be provided the opportunity to attend one national conference (National Kidney Foundation annual meeting or American Society of Nephrology annual meeting). Fellows are encouraged to present their research during these conferences.

Evaluation

Fellows are evaluated at the completion of each rotation. Evaluations assess competence in:

• Patient care
• Medical knowledge
• Professionalism
• Systems-based practice
• Practice-based learning and improvement
• Interpersonal and communication skills

At least twice a year, the program director meets with each fellow to review evaluations and discuss professional growth. In addition, allied health staff and residents are asked to evaluate fellows' performance periodically.

Fellows are able to view their evaluations electronically. Final cumulative evaluations are completed for each fellow upon completion of the program.

• April 18, 2012
• ART267948