Nephrology Fellowship Program
Overview

Fellows entering our Nephrology Fellowship will have completed training in Internal Medicine and will be eligible to take the American Board of Internal Medicine certification examination.

Fellows rotate between three major teaching hospital centers of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School: University Hospital in Newark, the Veterans Affairs - New Jersey Health Care System in East Orange, and Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. The training emphasis at each of these hospitals is dictated by the major teaching strengths of the individual programs. All of the participant hospitals are located in Northern New Jersey. Our fellows are also actively involved in teaching medical students and residents, and we are proud of our fellows receiving multiple teaching awards.

University Hospital, Newark, NJ

Fellows help manage our inpatient consult service, managing patients with end stage kidney disease, chronic kidney disease, acute kidney injury, and electrolyte disorders. They perform a variety of procedures, including hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration (CVVHDF), and plasma exchange. Because University Hospital is the liver transplant center for the state, we have particular experience in treating the complex pathophysiology of kidney disease in cirrhosis.

Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ

The Renal & Pancreas Transplant Division at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center (CBMC) in Livingston, NJ, is one of the largest kidney transplant programs in the U.S., averaging over 140 living donor kidney transplants and over 300 total kidney transplants per year since 2015.  In 2021, CBMC was the 4th largest living donor kidney program and 9th largest kidney transplant program in the U.S.  The CBMC Transplant Division is home to New Jersey’s first Living Donor Institute, which specializes in innovations such as kidney paired donation, incompatible transplantation, and compatible sharing.  The Transplant Division also offers patients multiple options for cutting-edge treatments and diagnostics, through its well-known research program.  Eight transplant nephrologists, employed full-time by CBMC, provide the transplant nephrology care at CBMC and oversee the transplant training of nephrology fellows.

Fellows learn about renal transplantation through inpatient care, including immediate post-transplant patients, and outpatient care, including both pre-transplant evaluations and post-transplant management.

Veterans Affairs – New Jersey Healthcare System, East Orange, NJ

The VA Healthcare System is the largest healthcare system in the country and a leader in medical education. VA New Jersey Healthcare System's mission is to offer options to timely, quality services for Veterans through care and respect for one's physical, psychological, and spiritual health. The faculty is committed to the education and professional growth of the Nephrology fellows rotating at the East Orange VA Hospital. Fellows will receive a comprehensive Nephrology experience by rotating through the inpatient service, outpatient renal clinic, and the hospital- based outpatient dialysis unit. Fellows will be exposed to a variety of pathology, as well as specific barriers and challenges that our veterans face in health care, including service- related conditions.

Fellows help manage the inpatient consult service as well as the VA outpatient dialysis unit. At the VA they also will perform a variety of procedures, including renal biopsies.

Outpatient Experience

Fellows participate in continuity clinic at University Hospital and the VA, seeing a wide variety of renal problems. In clinics they will learn and practice optimal care for reducing progression of chronic kidney disease as well as management of a variety of glomerulonephritides, nephrolithiasis, and other chronic issues. We have recently started a multispecialty CKD clinic to provide seamless and holistic care to our late-stage CKD patients.

Salary Scale:

PGY 4 — $74,056

PGY 5 — $76,022

PGY 6 — $77,976

PGY 7 — $79,884