Fellowship Director

David Cohen, MD

Program description

The Columbia University Transplant Nephrology Fellowship is established to provide advanced training in the area of renal transplantation to nephrology trainees who have already completed their ACGME general nephrology clinical training. This is a one-year fellowship, with faculty appointment at the level of clinical instructor with associated benefits, including one month paid vacation and expenses to attend one conference. Fellowship graduates are eligible to be a UNOS-approved medical director of a kidney transplant program.

The CUMC Kidney Transplant program is a high-volume, academic program averaging ~200 kidney transplants and ~10 pancreas transplants annually. We perform a significant number of combined organ transplants, including simultaneous heart-kidney, liver-kidney, and lung-kidney transplants. The transplant nephrology fellow will spend six months on our inpatient transplant service and six months on our outpatient transplant service, working closely with our Transplant Nephrology and Transplant Surgery faculty on a daily basis.

Fellows will gain extensive hands-on experience in all aspects of kidney and pancreas transplantation, including training in the pre-transplant evaluation of recipient candidates and potential living donors; management of kidney and kidney/pancreas recipients in the inpatient and outpatient setting; and evaluation and management of kidney disease in patients with liver, lung and heart transplants.

Education

A structured didactic program is designed to ensure that important topics of transplant medicine are covered during the fellowship. Renal transplant pathology rounds take place every afternoon with the renal pathology faculty. Additional conferences include weekly multidisciplinary donor and recipient selection meetings, weekly general nephrology journal club and grand rounds, biweekly renal pathology conference, and monthly transplant journal club.

Research opportunities

Fellows are expected to participate in clinical research projects and present and/or publish their data. Our fellows have regularly presented their data at the annual ATC and ASN meetings.

Application process

We accept two fellows per year into our program. Applications are accepted starting in July of the year prior to the anticipated July 1 start date. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and interviews are conducted in the early fall. Prospective applicants should contact our fellowship coordinator, Bessie Craig.

Contact information

Bessie Craig, Fellowship Coordinator

Columbia University Division of Nephrology

622 West 168th Street, PH4-124

New York, NY 10032

Phone: 212-305-5016

Email: bnc2101@cumc.columbia.edu