Conferences

Fellows are required to take part in a number of conferences including, but not limited to, the following:

Renal Grand Rounds

Renal Grand Rounds is a weekly conference dedicated to learning about new developments in clinical nephrology or advances in the basic or clinical science of nephrology. Speakers are drawn from the Division of Nephrology or other Divisions and Departments within the University of Maryland. We also host distinguished guest speakers from other academic institutions. Topics range from molecular and cellular mechanisms of renal function or disease to clinical aspects of general and transplant nephrology.

Core Curriculum Series

Once-weekly conferences that focus on all aspects of nephrology practice, as well as renal physiology and other topics. The fellowship has a curriculum spread across its two years, which covers all areas included in the ABIM Nephrology board examination.

Journal Club

The nephrology journal club is a forum for discussion of new and important research in nephrology and related scientific fields. The trainees present a clinical or basic science paper under the guidance of a faculty member and present it in Fellows’ Weekly Conference. Through this experience, trainees learn to critically evaluate research articles with the guidance of experienced faculty.

Transplant Conference

Transplant nephrology faculty in collaboration with transplant surgery division conducts a weekly Transplant Conference. A wide variety of topics in transplant immunology and transplant medicine are discussed by internal and guest speakers.

Transplant Morbidity and Mortality Conference

These weekly multidisciplinary meetings are devoted to discussion of transplant patients admitted to the hospital or have acute issues managed as outpatient The reason for admission, course of action and outcomes are discussed. A major objective of these meetings is to improve the quality of care that is provided to complicated transplant patients.

Renal Pathology Conference

To be able to interpret renal pathology proficiently and understand clinical pathologic correlations, the fellows have intense exposure to renal pathology by attending weekly Transplant Biopsy Meetings on Fridays and monthly Native Kidney Biopsy Meetings. In the former, all the kidney and pancreas transplant biopsies of the week are reviewed and discussed in a multidisciplinary fashion. In the latter, the interesting native renal biopsies of the month, either performed in the Medical Center or referred from community nephrologists, are reviewed in detail by the nephron-pathologist and discussed by the nephrology faculty. We are fortunate to have a renal pathologist on site who is available to discuss cases “one-on-one” as needed.

Fellows’ Research Conference

Fellows and faculty present their research in an interactive forum, discussing the hypothesis and objective of their research, research protocols, data analysis and interpretation, and report on their progress. The participating research faculty provide guidance to assist the fellows in advancing their projects and provide fellows with other opportunities to participate in nephrology research.

Other Educational Experiences

In addition to scheduled conferences, fellows have monthly business meetings that examine and constantly work to improve the fellowship experience; periodic mortality and morbidity conferences; point of care ultrasound (POCUS) training; clinical simulation training including procedural training in hemodialysis catheters and kidney biopsies; opportunities for teaching medical students in small group environments; opportunities to attend regional conferences (e.g., city-wide “Renal Rounds” from the National Kidney Foundation) and national nephrology conferences (e.g., the ASN “Kidney Week”); and others.