Educational Sessions

Below please find a description of the wide variety of educational sessions that trainees will participate in during their time with us. 

Clinical Conference - Held weekly, this conference discusses all of the current inpatients on service allowing for discussion of complicated topics and continuity of care for challenging cases. 

Tuesday Journal Club - Presented by faculty and trainees. This session will cover the latest journal articles pertaining to high yield nephrology topics.  Occasionally journal club conferences are replaced with research conferences during which faculty describe and seek guidance on their respective research projects.

Summer Fellow Lecture series - This two-month series of lectures is held during Wednesday conference and covers the basics of high yield topics such as mineral bone disease, dialysis kinetics, and continuous dialysis that are designed to accelerate learning of nephrology-specific material for new fellows in order for them to gain confidence during their first months in training.

Wednesday Core Conference - Lead by both faculty and trainees, our core conference series covers a wide range of topics based on the cases seen in our day-to-day practice. 

Pathology Conference - These conferences occur during Wednesday conference sessions 3 times a year and are run by the world-renowned faculty of Columbia Division of Renal Pathology. Trainees and faculty will present pathology cases from Cooper University Hospital and our pathology colleagues walk through the interpretation of renal histology slides. 

Thursday Fellows Case Conference - a less structured conference intended for fellows rounding in the hospital that particular week and supervised by the inpatient nephrology faculty.  Topics generally involve the approach to managing a case being followed in the hospital that particularly week, often electrolyte and acid-base disturbances.

Divisional Business Meeting - Held once every other month on Wednesdays, trainees will gain exposure to business related topics such as billing and managed care programs that the department participates in. Trainees will also be a part of discussions related to the management of our clinics, outpatient dialysis units during these meetings. 

Friday Inpatient Dialysis Interdisciplinary Conference - Held every Friday in the Inpatient Dialysis unit, trainees will participate in this interdisciplinary conference to present patients currently being cared for with an opportunity to discuss challenging disposition and social issues with our social workers, dieticians, and dialysis unit charge nurse. 
 

Below is an example conference schedule for a typical week

Special Conferences: Mid-Atlantic Kidney Boot Camp

All trainees are required to participate in this symposium during their first year. Held during the first week of fellowship with fellows from programs from Washington DC to North Jersey, this symposium is meant to cover high yield topics required for competent practice during the first few months in the hospital. Participate in both lectures and small groups run by faculty from many of the area's largest academic centers, including educators from Cooper University Hospital, Temple University Hospital, and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Educational Stipend: All fellows receive $2000 a year as an educational stipend to support travel to national conferences, cover publication fees, the purchase of educational materials, and other educational activities.