Two-Year Combined Clinical & Research Track
The primary purpose of the alternative two-year track is for the fellow to acquire additional formal research training and an advanced degree [i.e., Master of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI) if the fellow chooses to pursue clinical research]. The fellow will have the opportunity to work with a basic science or clinical science group. The goals are for the fellow to obtain an MSCI (if they choose clinical research), publish at least 2 first-author papers, serve as co-author for several other papers from the research group, and be eligible to apply for NIH “K” grants or equivalent career development awards by the end of the fellowship.
Rotations
First year
- 4 months inpatient service
- 3 months outpatient clinic rotations (pre-, post-, and living donor clinic)
- 2 weeks human leukocyte antigen (HLA) laboratory rotation at the University of Utah
- 2 weeks pathology rotation at the University of Utah
- 1 month pediatric rotation at Primary Children’s Hospital
- 1 month vacation
- 2 months research rotation (and studying for formal training if applicable)
Second year
- 3 months inpatient service
- 1 month outpatient clinic rotations (pre-, post-, and living donor clinic)
- 7 months dedicated to research (and studying for formal training if applicable)
- 1 month vacation
Inpatient service
Our program has one inpatient service, which consists of primary and consult services. At index admission for transplantation, the patient is admitted under the transplant surgery service and will be readmitted (if needed) under the surgery service until post-operative day 30 (POD#30). The transplant nephrology service will consult on these patients.
Patients admitted between POD#30-3 years will be admitted to our primary service. This service has the general nephrology fellow (if available) and the transplant fellow (if on inpatient rotation) and supporting staff.
Patients admitted after 3 years are usually admitted under the hospitalist service, except if it is an admission related to kidney transplantation such as for rejection. If patient is admitted under the hospitalist service, the transplant nephrology service will consult on these patients.
While transplant nephrology fellow is on inpatient service, they will provide EPIC inbox messages as well, incoming messages will be divided between the fellow and the transplant attending.
Continuity Fellow’s Clinic
Two four-hour post-transplant clinics weekly:
- First clinic: the fellow will see only recently transplanted patients (who were seen by the fellow at time of transplantation) and follow these patients for the entire year
- Second clinic: the fellow will see patients who were transplanted more than 3 years ago. In these clinics, the fellow will see only transplant recipients. The fellow will serve as primary nephrology attending in these clinics but can discuss the patients with one of the transplant nephrology attendings of the program.
The fellow will decide between two research options:
- Basic research in the field of transplantation and/or immunology can be arranged
- Transplant clinical epidemiology as a member of the transplant nephrology research group
If the fellow chooses the clinical epidemiology option, they will have the opportunity to obtain an MSCI degree from the University of Utah – course description available here.
Scheduled Educational Activities
Core lecture presentation by attendings
Frequency: once every other week.
Content: See the title list of the core lectures.
Introduction to OPTN Regulations/Policies
Frequency: once every other week.
Content: All current OPTN Regulations/Policies will be reviewed by the fellowship director and fellow during the fellowship.
Journal Club for LANDMARK papers
Frequency: monthly.
Content: Goal is to discuss important LANDMARK papers in the field of kidney transplantation. The program offers 20 landmark papers for review.
Kidney Biopsy Conference
Frequency: weekly (Fridays at 12:30 PM).
Content: Fellow will present the patients who underwent kidney graft biopsy that week. The pathologist and the nephrology team will discuss the biopsy findings.
Transplant Journal Club (can be combined with general nephrology fellow journal club)
Frequency: monthly.
Content: The fellow will present a current relevant paper in the transplant field.
Program and Fellow formal evaluations/feedback
Frequency: every three months.
Content: This is a face-to-face evaluation of the fellow by the program director. During the evaluation, the fellow has the opportunity to give feedback regarding the program.
Kidney Transplant Selection Committee meeting
Frequency: weekly (Thursdays at 1:00 PM).
Kidney Event Review/Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) and M&M meetings
Frequency: monthly.
Other required educational activities
Transplant nephrology fellows participate in other educational opportunities, such as the AST/ASN Transplant Nephrology Core Curriculum, and the AST "T3: Timely Topics in Transplantation" webinar series.