General Nephrology Fellowship Program

UC Davis Medical Center

The main hub of fellowship training is at UC Davis Medical Center located in urban Sacramento. This includes the inpatient consultation service and transplant nephrology rotations. A new, state-of-the-art 12 bay dialysis unit located in the heart of the hospital allows dialysis care for ward patients requiring renal replacement therapy. Fellows have an adjacent dedicated workspace that allows for team rounds with attendings, residents and students, extensive resources including their own microscope for urine analyses, and a nephrology point of care ultrasound. Multimedia options are available in the workspace for teaching and educational options.

Additional rotations on the University medical campus include interventional nephrology, transplant nephrology and apheresis among other academic experiences.

The fellows have continuity renal clinic in the adjacent ambulatory care clinic.

Veterans Affairs Medical Center

The VA Mather Field Medical Center is located 11 miles east of the University hospital. Fellows have multiple weeks per year at the VA with both inpatient and ambulatory experience. Renal clinic at the VA is also part of the ambulatory experience.

Community Dialysis Clinics

Our fellowship emphasizes home dialysis. Much of the exposure to peritoneal dialysis and home hemodialysis takes place in the home training programs run by various dialysis providers. UC Davis nephrologists are medical directors for several of these dialysis clinics. Fellows will participate in rounds and additionally when available sit in on administrative meetings to understand the role of the medical director in running a dialysis clinic.

Each rotation in our fellowship program is 2 weeks in duration. We have found that 2 weeks provides the best balance between continuity, workload, education and diversity over the year.

• • UC Inpatient Consultation Service: 2 fellows are assigned, each working one-on-one with a faculty attending. Residents and medical students are usually part of the team. Fellows alternate admission days and pick up patients from our night float system. Fellows do not take night weekday call on the University inpatient consultation rotation. Weekends are split amongst all fellows in the program. The total teaching service census ranges from 25-40 patients, with overflow picked up by the service attending faculty. We also have an independent faculty only service to offload stable chronic dialysis patients from the teaching teams. Clinical exposure will include all modalities of kidney replacement therapy (HD, SLED, CRRT, PUF and PD), and a wide breadth of acute and chronic pathology within a diverse patient population.
  • VA Inpatient Consultation and Outpatient Service: There is 1 fellow at the VA for working with the VA faculty nephrologists. The census averages 8-12 patients. The fellows do not take weekend or night calls for the VA. During this block, fellows will participate in the VA renal clinics on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Fellows also have 1 half-day of UC continuity clinic each week.
  • Transplant Nephrology: There is 1 fellow on transplant who works alongside the transplant nephrology fellow and transplant faculty. Fellows will have 2 half-days of transplant clinic weekly, along with their 1 half-day of UC continuity clinic. Fellows do not take weekend or night calls for transplant.
  • Interventional Nephrology: Fellows work with our interventional nephrologists at the University hospital, placing catheters (both temporary and tunneled) as well as participating in angiogram and angioplasty procedures related to hemodialysis vascular accesses. Kidney biopsy opportunities are available. Fellows also have 1 half-day of UC continuity clinic each week.
  • Night Float: A fellow is on weeknight University calls from home Monday-Thursday, except for holiday weekdays, between 5 pm and 6 am the following morning. Fellows have a half-day UC continuity clinic and a half-day VA clinic during the week.
  • Outpatient Dialysis: A fellow on outpatient dialysis is supervised by a core group of faculty at community in-center HD clinics as well as home dialysis clinics (PD and home HD). The focus is on management of new start as well as stable dialysis patients in a multidisciplinary setting. There are some dedicated half-days for covering a structured dialysis curriculum, wellness, and other scholarly activities during this time. Fellows also have 1 half-day of UC continuity clinic each week.
  • Research: In the second year, fellows have dedicated research time to work with our research faculty, on their own projects, or on other scholarly activities. Fellows have 1-2 half-day continuity clinics during their research block.
  • Apheresis: Apheresis experience is courtesy of the Department of Pathology, which runs this service at UC Davis. Prior fellows have requested this experience as many have joined practices where nephrologists oversee apheresis.

A sample schedule for the year is shown below. Fellows only cover UC inpatient consult on weekends. Fellows do not cover the VA inpatient service or the UC transplant service on weekends. Schedules may vary slightly from fellow to fellow depending on requested experience.

• Approximate average weeks per year
• 18 weeks UC Inpatient Consultation
• 8 weeks Night Float
• 6-8 weeks Outpatient Dialysis / Interventional Nephrology
• 4 weeks Transplant
• 4 weeks VA Inpatient Consultation and Outpatient
• 4 weeks Research
• 2 weeks Apheresis
• 4 weeks Vacation

Educational Conferences:

• Nephrology Journal club: Alternating Tuesday mornings from 7:30 to 8:30.
• Nephrology Grand Rounds: Every Tuesday morning from 8:30 to 9:30.
• Fellows interactive case conference: Alternating Tuesday mornings from 7:30 to 8:30.
• Fellows didactic conference: Every Friday afternoon from 1 to 2.
• Fellows are expected to participate and have protected time for the above conferences.

Academic Weeks:

• ASN Kidney week: As part of our academic year, our division supports our 2nd year fellows to participate in the American Society of Nephrology annual meeting in late Fall. This includes attending the pre-conference courses and presenting their scholarly projects.
• Home Dialysis Academy of Excellence: Our division collaborates with Stanford Nephrology and Satellite Healthcare to offer our 2nd year fellows a comprehensive home dialysis training conference in early Fall.
• Just Kidney-ing Week: Our division organizes a dedicated academic week in late Winter for our 1st year fellows to have review essential nephrology topics and landmark studies in an engaging way.

The education and training of future physicians and specialists are the key missions of the University of California system. Our fellows truly represent our legacy. At UC Davis, fellows are supportive of one another. Our faculty and staff are involved in their well-being.

Current Fellows

Our Past Fellows

Application Process

The University of California Davis Nephrology fellowship accepts 3 fellows each year, and all spots are filled through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) and its Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Basic requirements include:

• Good standing in or completion of an ACGME or AOA/AACOM or equivalent Internal Medicine residency program at the time of application, and graduation of residency training by fellowship appointment date
• MyERAS common application and CV
• Personal statement
• Medical school transcripts
• 3-4 letters of recommendation, with 1 being from the residency program director
• Successful passage of USMLE steps 1, 2, and 3 (or COMLEX equivalents)
• Ability to obtain a California Medical License

UC Davis GME is able to sponsor J1 visas, yet not H1-B visas or visa transfers at this time.

Questions? Contact Samia Yunus, our Fellowship Coordinator.

Our division values and promotes the wellness of our fellows. Wellness days can be found on Interventional Nephrology, Outpatient Dialysis, and Elective rotations where fellows can take personal time, any way they see fit, without duty requirements.

Our division also fosters a supportive and friendly environment for fellows, faculty, and staff. We host regular events such as fellow dinners, outings, and holiday activities to enhance camaraderie and teamwork.

UC Davis Graduate Medical Education has additional information on trainee wellness.

• Housestaff Wellness Committee
• UC Davis Medical Staff Wellness Resources

The UC Davis School of Medicine ranks among the nation’s leading medical schools for National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, including over $200 million in NIH grants. Research in the UC Davis Division of Nephrology include works on molecular mechanisms and clinical outcomes in diabetic nephropathy, mechanisms of renal fibrosis and injury, mitochondrial dysfunction in chronic kidney disease and inflammation, clinical outcomes and health disparities in ESKD patients, and molecular mechanisms of renal cell cancer among many other ongoing projects.

Our fellows are actively involved in scholarly projects and publications. They are expected to present their work at the annual ASN conference. Fellows have also contributed to publications, book chapters, online medical education resources, and review articles among many other opportunities.