Clinical Renal Disease

Course Description: This rotation is generally a two- or four-week, structured clinical experience under direct supervision designed to provide the student experience diagnosing, treating and caring for patients with renal diseases.

Clinical experiences are intended to assist the student’s transition from didactic to integrated clinical evaluation and management of patients with renal disease as their main clinical presentation. Under supervision, students are expected to assist in the management of acute and chronic renal diseases, acid-base disorders, and fluid and electrolyte disorders.

Students will participate in the clinical evaluation and management of patients with renal disease in both an inpatient and outpatient setting. The students will see both new and follow-up patients on the inpatient renal consult service and make rounds with the consult team. Students will learn to perform a urinalysis and microscopy. Students will be expected to attend a weekly renal outpatient clinic and all renal conferences. Students will also be expected to give brief topical presentations during rounds as assigned by the attending physician.

Course Learning Objectives:

By the end of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Practice basic skills in obtaining a history and performing a physical exam with emphasis on the renal system.
2. Recognize indications for appropriate laboratory and diagnostic tests for renal diseases.
3. Identify common clinical presentations, evaluation and management of renal disorders.
4. Demonstrate familiarity with ancillary diagnostic procedures (i.e., dialysis, kidney transplantation).

Faculty: Faculty includes Dominic Raj, Yoosif Abdalla, Patricia Centron, Ashte Collins, Patrick Gipson, Murali Jagadeesan, Susie Lew, Bassem Mikhael, Ehsan Nobakht, Osama El Shamy, and Divya Shankaranarayanan. See the renal team here.