Background: The American Society of Nephrology's (ASN) Workforce Committee created a unique program called the Kidney Mentoring and Awareness Program for Students to engage medical students in the fight against kidney diseases and interest them in careers in nephrology.
Methods: The program provided a framework and 2 years of funding to three medical schools to organize and carry out health screenings in underserved areas of their communities as well as a structure for student mentoring by the practicing nephrologists.
Results: The Workforce Committee identified three medical schools (Emory University, Atlanta, GA; Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN and University of Louisville, Louisville, KY) and engaged faculty at each school to serve as advisors.
Background: Interest in nephrology careers is declining, possibly due to perceptions of the field and/or training aspects. Understanding practices of medical schools successfully instilling nephrology interest could inform efforts to attract leading candidates to the specialty.
Methods: The American Society of Nephrology Workforce Committee's Best Practices Project was one of several initiatives to increase nephrology career interest.
The Kidney Tutored Research and Education for Kidney Students (TREKS) Program is a product of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Workforce Committee that seeks to connect medical and graduate students to nephrology. This program starts with a weeklong camp-like course introducing participants to renal physiology through classic and modern experiments. Next, each student is matched with a nephrology mentor at his or her home institution to foster a better understanding of a nephrology career.
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