Reimagining Nephrology Fellowship Education to Meet the Future Needs of Nephrology: A Report of the American Society of Nephrology Task Force on the Future of Nephrology.

The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Task Force on the Future of Nephrology was established in April 2022 in response to requests from the American Board of Internal Medicine and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education regarding training requirements in nephrology. Given recent changes in kidney care, ASN also charged the task force with reconsidering all aspects of the specialty's future to ensure that nephrologists are prepared to provide high-quality care for people with kidney diseases. The task force engaged multiple stakeholders to develop 10 recommendations focused on strategies needed to promote: ( 1 ) just, equitable, and high-quality care for people living with kidney diseases; ( 2 ) the value of nephrology as a specialty to nephrologists, the future nephrology workforce, the health care system, the public, and government; and ( 3 ) innovation and personalization of nephrology education across the scope of medical training.

Kidney Mentoring and Assessment Program for Students: a guide for engaging medical students in nephrology.

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.

Overcoming Barriers in Kidney Health-Forging a Platform for Innovation.

Innovation in kidney diseases is not commensurate with the effect of these diseases on human health and mortality or innovation in other key therapeutic areas. A primary cause of the dearth in innovation is that kidney diseases disproportionately affect a demographic that is largely disenfranchised, lacking sufficient advocacy, public attention, and funding. A secondary and likely consequent cause is that the existing infrastructure supporting nephrology research pales in comparison with those for other internal medicine specialties, especially cardiology and oncology.

The kidney research predicament.

Research funding from public and private sources has reached an all-time low. Economic conditions, sequestration, and a trend of low award success rates have created an imbalance between the supply of highly qualified research investigators and the availability of critically necessary research dollars. This grim environment continues to hinder the success of established investigators and deter potential investigators from joining the research workforce.

Recruiting the next generation of nephrologists.

The nephrology physician workforce substantially expanded during the past decade, as did the number of fellowship training positions. However, the number of U.S.

The future nephrology workforce: will there be one?

Interest in nephrology as a career is declining and has been on the decline for nearly one decade. From 2002 to 2009, all internal medicine subspecialties except geriatric medicine increased the number of available fellowship positions. However, only two subspecialties attracted fewer United States medical graduates (USMGs) in 2009 than in 2002: geriatric medicine and nephrology.

Part-time careers in academic internal medicine: a report from the association of specialty professors part-time careers task force on behalf of the alliance for academic internal medicine.

To establish guidelines for more effectively incorporating part-time faculty into departments of internal medicine, a task force was convened in early 2007 by the Association of Specialty Professors. The task force used informal surveys, current literature, and consensus building among members of the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine to produce a consensus statement and a series of recommendations. The task force agreed that part-time faculty could enrich a department of medicine, enhance workforce flexibility, and provide high-quality research, patient care, and education in a cost-effective manner.

The impact of increasing medical school class size on clinical clerkships: a national survey of internal medicine clerkship directors.

Purpose: To determine the impact of increasing medical school class size on the internal medicine clerkship.

Method: In 2006, the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine surveyed its 110 institutional members to discover whether their medical school class size had increased (or would increase) and the impact of increasing class size on number of students per teaching site, number of clerkship sites needed, and resources needed. Respondents rated their agreement or disagreement with statements about increasing class size, and they provided free-text responses.