Education

EDUCATION: Nephrology

The Division of Nephrology maintains a vigorous educational program that spans the spectrum from medical students to residents to fellows to continuing medical education for physicians. The division’s post-graduate fellowship program, where future leaders and researchers in nephrology are mentored and taught, is the centerpiece of these efforts. Kambiz Kalantari was appointed director of the fellowship program in July 2012, and is currently revamping it to incorporate changes in ACGME curriculum requirements.

Nephrology faculty members have received numerous teaching awards, including UVA’s Robly Dunglison award and the American College of Physicians’s Evergreen award. Educators from the division have played a leading role in developing the School of Medicine’s “NextGen” curriculum, and medical students have given the Nephrology section an “outstanding” rating. The fellowship program’s research component has been strengthened with the support of an NIH Training Grant.

Four or five fellows are selected each year for one of three training pathways:

• Clinical pathway: two years of training at the UVA Medical Center and affiliated centers, with the goal of producing highly accomplished leaders in clinical nephrology
• Clinical/research pathway: three or more years of training, including one year of clinical training and two or more years in clinical or laboratory research, for those wishing to pursue independent research careers
• Research pathway: for those with advanced degrees (MD and/or PhD) interested in pursuing additional training in either basic or clinical research; supported by a training grant from the National Institutes of Health.

The first fellows to graduate from the division’s transplant nephrology training program, a two-year program accredited by the American Society of Transplantation, were Gayle Vranic and Angie Nishio-Lucar, who completed their training at the end of June 2013; Dr. Vranic joined the Nephrology faculty in November 2012, and Dr. Lucar joined the faculty as of August 2013. Gabor Bodonyi-Kovacs is the third fellow accepted into the program, supported by a T32 research training grant.

Clinical Nephrology fellows for the 2012-2013 academic year were:

Second year:

• Samir Gautam
• Daphne Harrington
• Sana Khan
• Hans Yehnert

First year:

• Mary Muoneke
• Atul Bali
• Rohit Arora
• Helga Vamenta-Morris.

Current research fellows are Joseph Gigliotti and Pei-Lun Chu.

At the Mid-Atlantic Young Investigators Nephrology Forum, fellows have an opportunity to present their research to a panel of nationally recognized investigators as well as their peers. At the spring 2013 meeting, first prize in basic science was awarded to Joseph Gigliotti, a post-doctoral fellow in Mark Okusa’s lab; second prize went to Katarzyna (Kasia) Jaworska, a student in Bert Kinsey’s lab. Winners go on to compete in the National Young Investigators Forum held in conjunction with the annual National Kidney Foundation meeting.

Division faculty provide continuing medical education content and other educational opportunities for professionals through a variety of venues, including:

• Renal Grand Rounds and Fellows conference: A weekly division conference that is broadcast to telemedicine affiliates in Lynchburg, Augusta, Salem, and Culpeper.
• Therapeutic Apheresis Academy: A division-sponsored two-and-a-half-day conference, offered annually since 2008 and designed for physicians in nephrology, hematology, pathology/blood banking, and other allied health professionals. It is chaired by Rasheed Balogun and taught by members of the Nephrology faculty.
• Recent Advances in Internal Medicine: Annual Department of Medicine conference (sponsored by UVA Office of Continuing Medicine Education and School of Medicine) in which Nephrology faculty participate
• National Kidney Foundation of the Virginias clinical meetings: Nephrology faculty provide educational content.