Fellowship Director:  Rebeca Monk, MD        

Fellowship Coordinator: Marilyn Miran                                                         

The Renal Fellowship Program at Strong Memorial Hospital, the principal teaching hospital of The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, is directed at educating physicians in the science and art of nephrology

Fellowship applications will be taken through ERAS for the 2011 year.

http:www.aamc.org/audienceeras.htm

Nephrology Curriculum

The first year program is divided into four major areas.

1. Consultation
   
   The consultation service is very active with an average of 60-70 consultations requested of the renal unit each month. With the assistance of 1-2 medical residents and 1-2 medical students the fellow is responsible, with input from the attending physician, for providing all renal consultations for this 750 bed hospital with approximately 31,600 admissions per year. Strong Memorial Hospital has both an active emergency room and a wide referral network so that the fellow is exposed to a great variety of nephrologic diseases. While on the consultation service the fellow learns to perform and interpret renal biopsies and place temporary vascular access.
   
   
2. Dialysis
   
   The in-hospital dialysis unit provides hemodialysis, continuous venovenous hemofiltration, isolated hemoperfusion and peritoneal dialysis to all inpatients at Strong Memorial Hospital the Strong dialysis unit is under the directorship of Sai Subhodhini Reddy, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine. There is an active continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis program under the co-direction of James Sloand, M.D. and Matthew Gross, M.D. In addition there is a close affiliation with the Clinton Crossings Dialysis Unit, an off-site chronic dialysis facility under the direction of Melissa Schiff, M.D., Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, and the self-care dialysis facility at the Highland Hospital is under the direction of Dr. Craig Kaplan. The result is a comprehensive exposure to all aspects of dialysis.
   
   
3. Transplant
   
   The Renal Transplant Program is under the direction of Martin S. Zand, Ph.D., M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, and the surgical direction of Adel Bozorgzadeh, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery. The program currently averages 60 kidney and 5-8 simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplants per year. Our Chronic Transplant Clinic follows over 650 renal transplant recipients, with a strong emphasis on primary care of the renal transplant patient. An integrated team approach is used for both inpatient and outpatient, with Nephrology and Transplant Surgery teams working closely to assure optimal patient care.
   
   Residents and fellows follow all recently transplanted patients in the hospital, as well as long-term transplant recipients who are admitted to the hospital for other procedures. Renal fellows perform approximately 60 transplant biopsies per year. In the second year of fellowship, they attend both the acute and continuing care renal transplant clinics, participating in all aspects of peri-transplant and long-term medical management. In addition, each fellow rotates through both transplant donor and recipient evaluations. Residents and fellows have numerous opportunities to become involved in clinical related transplant research during their fellowship.
   
   
4. Outpatient
   
   Clinics The Outpatient Clinic is extremely active. There are over 50 outpatients seen each week in Renal Clinic. The fellow attends at least one half-day clinic per week during the entire fellowship assuring continuity of care and exposure to the progression of renal disease.

Research Opportunities During Fellowship

Scholarly activity is an integral part of the fellowship training. During the first year, each fellow will have the opportunity to choose a faculty mentor and undertake a research project. The fellow will design and conduct a research project under the direction of their mentor over the course of two years. Previous research by fellows has included retrospective clinical studies, case review series, prospective clinical studies, and laboratory bench research. Many of these have resulted in presentations at national nephrology and transplant meetings, and ultimately publication in a peer reviewed journal. Fellows are also encouraged to participate in the many ongoing clinical trials in the Nephrology Division. Additional training opportunities, such as a Masters in Public Health or a post-doctoral laboratory fellowship, can be arranged depending on the career goals of the individual fellow.

Our Philosophy

In conclusion I must stress that each of the faculty treats fellows as equals with the same respect afforded to any professional colleague. Fellows have an office equipped with an IBM personal computer, have computer access to national medical data bases and have the necessary secretarial and nursing support to enhance their educational experience. Our goal is to provide the fellow with an optimal educational experience so that he or she is equipped to pursue any aspect of nephrology, from basic research to clinical practice, that the fellow desires. We are pleased to have you visit and see why we are excited about our Fellowship Program.