ACGME Fellowship

Overview

The University of Chicago Fellowship Program in Nephrology prepares physicians for careers in clinical nephrology including basic, clinical and translational investigation. Starting in the fall of 2024 we will be offering applicants the ability to match into either a 2-year general nephrology fellowship or a 3-year nephrology critical care track that will allow for dual certification in these 2 disciplines. These programs are well-suited for internists who wish to develop a career in academic medicine and research, community-based clinical practice, industry, public policy, or business and medicine.

Through rotations in both the in-patient and outpatient settings at the University of Chicago Medical Center and Endeavor Health Evanston Hospital, clinical fellows develop expertise in the evaluation and management of fluid and electrolyte disorders, hypertension, acute and chronic kidney failure, proteinuria, hereditary kidney disorders, renal transplantation, glomerulonephritis, nephrolithiasis, bone and mineral metabolism, renal disorders in pregnancy and health disparities as they relate to kidney disease. Also included are a variety of procedures including renal biopsy with renal ultrasonography and access placement for dialysis treatment. Procedural training occurs both through simulation exercises in the dedicated Simulation Center along with patient procedures. With supervision, fellows have primary responsibility for the procedures of intermittent and continuous hemodialysis, as well as peritoneal dialysis. We have now transitioned to a 4+2 system to balance inpatient and outpatient training throughout the two years in general nephrology training. Typically, every four weeks of in-patient rotations are followed by two weeks of outpatient clinics that include specialty clinics in genetic diseases, nephrolithiasis, onco-nephrology, pre- and post-transplant, and glomerulonephritis. Every first-year fellow rotates through a vascular access clinic for two weeks to gain exposure to access evaluations and interventions.

During the first year of training, fellows explore their clinical and potential research interests in specific areas such as glomerulonephritis, genetics in renal medicine, nephrolithiasis and metabolic bone disease, vascular access, home dialysis, acute kidney injury, nephro-oncology, and hypertension, through assigned inpatient and outpatient rotations. As interests crystallize, a personalized development plan for additional clinical and research exposure is constructed with a mentor and the fellowship leadership team.

ACGME Nephrology Critical Care Fellowship

Additional years of training after the second year of general nephrology training are available, contingent either on faculty grant support, TL1 training program availability, or through special consideration of the Nephrology Section. The TL1 Chicago KUH FORWARD (link: https://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/sites/chikuhforward/index.html) is the first TL1 program to be funded by NIDDK for pre- and post-doctoral trainees. This is a city-wide training program, including the University of Chicago, designed for research career development of trainees in nephrology (in addition to benign urology and hematology) in basic, translational and clinical investigation. Additional interdisciplinary training programs are also active at the University of Chicago, where training opportunities for our nephrology fellows exist in Clinical Therapeutics (Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics T32GM0719), in the T32 Molecular Metabolism Training program in Diabetes, in the Sleep, Metabolism, and Health Center (T32 Trans Chicago in the Northwestern Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine) and via the Institute for Translational Medicine (link: https://chicagoitm.org/) (5TL1TR002388-05). Additional opportunities exist for further training with specialization and American Society of Hypertension certification in hypertension as well as in transplant nephrology. A Master’s Program in Clinical Research and Epidemiology (MSCR), requiring a 3rd year of training, is also available for qualified applicants.

The minimum requirements for admission to our fellowship program are:
1. M.D. or equivalent degree
2. Successful completion of an ACGME-approved residency in internal medicine
3. Commitment to a 2-year Nephrology Fellowship training program, with a possibility for additional years of research training