We at the University of Florida take pride in being a very diverse group of faculty and fellows, in terms of background, gender, and expertise. Our faculty includes specialists certified in point-of-care ultrasound, critical care nephrology, and interventional nephrology. We are fun, collegial, and think of each other as family. Many of our graduating fellows choose to stay as faculty here, which is a testament to our culture.
Fellow education is our number one priority. To support this, we have made several program enhancements, including a dedicated nephro-hospitalist program that reduces the fellows’ workload, allowing them to focus on interesting cases and educational conferences.
Our nephrology fellowship program is largely front-loaded, meaning the bulk of calls occurs in the first year. During the second year, fellows have time for electives, research, and specialized nephrology clinics. These include stone disease clinics, lupus nephritis clinics, point-of-care ultrasound training, and interventional nephrology.
A common concern among fellows is exposure to dialysis. We have a robust dialysis program covering various therapies, including inpatient renal replacement therapies such as CRRT in critical care. We also have a strong home peritoneal dialysis program and a new home hemodialysis program. These opportunities allow fellows to gain confidence in initiating and managing home dialysis therapies after graduation.
Our program also provides dedicated rotations in transplant nephrology. Fellows rotate through inpatient transplant care in the first year and outpatient clinics in the second year. We consistently fill all four-nephrology fellowship spots every year and have no attrition.
As a former fellow, I can confidently state that the program values fellows’ contributions. Division leadership meets with fellows monthly and incorporates requested changes to enhance the program. Fellows are treated as colleagues; their opinions are taken seriously and implemented to support their growth within the division.
Gainesville is a small, accessible town where everything is within driving distance. As a university town, it is also a melting pot of cultures. There are numerous museums, diverse restaurants, and it is within driving distance of beaches, Orlando, Tampa, and various theme parks, providing many weekend activities. Overall, it is a vibrant and welcoming environment.
Mission Statement
The University of Florida Nephrology Fellowship Program strives to train outstanding future nephrologists who are confident in their ability to comprehensively assess and manage patients with kidney disease. We aim to create a welcoming and nurturing environment that balances rigorous, clinical exposure with a full range of academic activities, and individual wellness for our fellows.
Program Aims
- To train our fellows to be experts in diagnosing renal disease including complex renal and electrolyte abnormalities, as well as renal transplantation
- To have an educational curriculum that ensures each fellow learns the art of providing quality patient care in an evidenced based manner
- To educate our fellows to complete quality improvement projects and root cause analysis
- To encourage involvement in research activities and presentation at international nephrology conferences
Overview
The training program offered by the Division of Nephrology, Hypertension and Transplantation is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Clinical fellows are exposed to an active diagnostic and treatment service drawing from 1,162 beds in Shands Hospital and 433 beds in the adjacent Gainesville Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The clinical rotations are designed to emphasize the diagnosis and management of renal disease, fluid and electrolyte disorders and hypertension.
Over 100 diagnostic renal biopsies are performed over the course of a year, providing extensive experience in biopsy interpretation. A particularly strong aspect of our training program is the extensive one-on-one interaction fellows enjoy with the faculty in both the clinical and laboratory setting. This interaction is strengthened by the commitment of the faculty to excellence in teaching.
The division supports an active kidney transplant program and you will also have exposure to heart, lung and liver transplantations. Fellows participate fully in the inpatient and outpatient post-operative management of the transplanted patient. An extremely active and varied outpatient experience is included as part of the clinical training program. This experience includes participation in clinics at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Shands Hospital. The specialty clinics are outlined below
- General Nephrology
- Renal Transplantation
- Lupus Nephritis
- Glomerulonephritis (GN)
- Hypertension
- Onconephrology
- Acute Kidney Injury (AKI)
- Polycystic Kidney Disease
- Nephro-Cardiology
- Stone and Ureteral Diversion
- Pregnancy and CKD
- Primary Aldosteronism
Following the first year of training, extensive experience in clinical investigation is offered in several disciplines, including transplantation, dialysis, hypertension and general clinical nephrology.
You will have a broad range of ICU experiences including ECMO and LVAD. A large outpatient hemodialysis population provides practical experience in the management of patients with end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis. A large, chronic ambulatory peritoneal dialysis program provides additional experience in the treatment of end-stage renal disease.