Curriculum and Conferences

Training is provided through extensive clinical, research and teaching opportunities. The body of knowledge relating to basic and clinical nephrology is a rapidly evolving and expanding subspecialty. The curriculum is based on the ACGME's core competencies which are patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and systems-based practice. Using extensive clinical material and conferences, fellows are trained to be experts in their field. The full curriculum is available upon request.

All nephrology teaching conferences at Yale are mandatory for all fellows, as we believe that nephrology is best taught through a combination of clinical practice and formal didactics. These didactic talks work through a two-year curriculum to insure that fellows have had an opportunity to learn about all the core topics in nephrology from experts in the field. In the summer, there is a crash course in clinical emergencies in nephrology and core physiology teaching sessions given by leaders in the field. Throughout the remainder of the year, we work through a two-year curriculum to ensure all topics are covered in a variety of formats.

A more thorough list of conferences is available if requested.

• Tuesday Afternoon Dialysis Conference Series: An informal lecture by core clinical faculty covering a full curriculum of ESRD subject matter. Also included in this series are some case based conferences.
• Friday Morning Renal Grand Rounds: Presentation by faculty and fellows on a variety of topics.
• Friday Noon Conference: This conference has a core summer conference series on electrolytes and acid base. Once this has been completed, this conference includes “Research in Progress” talked by faculty and fellows as well as a journal club series.
• Fellows Physiology Series (once per month): A fellow organized series where second year fellows divide up the core physiology topics and work with a faculty mentor to teach them to each other in an informal interactive conference.
• Fellows Pathology Slide Review (once per month): Fellows review Kidney Biopsy cases with select faculty and each other on a multi-headed scope.
• VA Case Conference Series (once per month): Informal case based conference series run by the VA faculty where a case is presented and then discussed around a table.