Clinical Experience
The UNMC Pediatric Nephrology Fellowship Program is a three- year program designed to provide fellows with the clinical experience to prepare for all areas of pediatric nephrology, while empowering them with research opportunities and the ability to shape your education journey to explore your specific interests. Fellows attend outpatient continuity clinic one-half day per week throughout their training. Our training program accepts one fellow per year. Fellows receive 20 vacation days per academic year.
Year one is generally focused on the acquisition of clinical and procedure skills. By the end of the first year, the fellows will be competent in performing percutaneous renal biopsies and prescribing dialysis. Unlike other fellowship programs, trainees will receive protected time in their first year to develop a well-developed research project.
- Inpatient service: Inpatient consultations to hospital medicine and intensive care teams at Children’s Nebraska and UNMC. (6 months total)
- Dialysis Elective: Outpatient hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis at Children’s Nebraska (1 month)
- Outpatient Clinic: Fellows will participate in general nephrology clinic along with having the opportunity to participate in multidisciplinary clinics, including Urology/Nephrology Stone Clinic and prenatal consultations (1 month)
- Transplant: Fellows will rotate on the inpatient service with the pediatric and adult kidney transplant teams at UNMC. Fellows will participate in outpatient transplant clinic, transplant evaluations, and transplant quality improvement projects (1 month)
- Research Elective: Protected time dedicated to the development and planning for a longitudinal research project (3 months)
- Inpatient service at Children’s Nebraska/UNMC (4 months total)
- Dialysis Elective (1 month)
- Transplant (1 month)
- Research Elective (5 months)
- Elective (1 month): Fellows will have the opportunity to receive additional training in a variety of electives including Urology, Radiology, and Pathology.
- Inpatient service at Children’s Nebraska/UNMC (4 months total)
- Research Elective (7 months)
- Elective (1 month
Academic Curriculum
Our fellows participate in a number of educational opportunities within the Division of Nephrology, as well as within the Department of Pediatrics at UNMC with the Fellow Academy and continuing educational meetings. Fellows will also participate in educational opportunities in collaboration with the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology. A sample of available educational opportunities is listed here.
- Fellow Didactics
- Nephrology Journal Club
- Nephrology/Urology/Radiology Conference
- Fetal Care Conference
- Transplant Pathology Conference
- Dialysis Care Conference
- Dialysis Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement
- Transplant Selection Committee
- Transplant Quality Steering Committee
- Fellow Academy
- Pediatric Grand Rounds
- Patient Management Conference
- CHRI Workshops and Conferences
- ASPN fellow lecture series
- ASPN member lectures series
Research Resources
Our program provides a comprehensive experience in scholarly activity that prepares fellows for a career in academic nephrology and meets requirements for certification in nephrology by the American Board of Pediatrics.
Each fellow chooses an area of interest for research and is closely supported by an experienced research mentor and scholarship oversight committee. You will find mentorship across the division of nephrology, department of pediatrics, and UNMC and research support through the Child Health Research Institute (CHRI). You will have a scholarship oversight committee to determine if your specific activity is appropriate per the ABP guidelines for scholarly activity. This committee will be assembled during the first year of fellowship and meet bi-annually throughout the three years of fellowship. The scholarship oversight committee will review your scholarly activity plan, hypotheses, evaluate your progress of scholarly activity, require you to present/defend the project and advise the program director of the fellow’s progress and assess if you have met the scholarly activity guidelines. The committee will be comprised of at least three individuals, at least one of whom is based outside of the Nephrology division. The fellowship director may serve as a trainee’s mentor and participate in the activities of the oversight committee but will not be a voting member.
All fellows complete a work product and have the opportunity to present their research at local and national meetings.
The Child Health Research Institute combines the clinical expertise of Children's Nebraska with the academic institutional resources of UNMC to empower pediatric research and researchers at every level. CHRI provides a wide range of services across each stage of the research process, including:
- Research funding
- Grant writing and submission support
- Biostatistics and data management expertise
- Events to share and showcase your research projects before peers and faculty
The Division of Pediatric Nephrology participles in multiple national research collaboratives:
- Pediatric Nephrology Research Consortium
- Improving Renal Outcomes Collaborative (IROC)
- Children’s Hospital Association Standardized Care to Improve Outcomes in Pediatric End-stage Renal Disease (SCOPE) Dialysis Collaborative
- Improving Carpediem Outcomes in Neonates and Infants through Collaboration (ICONIIC)
- Worldwide Exploration of Renal Replacement outcomes Collaborative in Kidney Disease (WE-ROCK)
- Assessment of Worldwide Acute Kidney injury Epidemiology in Neonates (AWAKEN) 2.0 trial