#MyNephroStory: A Rewarding Journey

There is a lot of discussion about the recent nephrology Match in the US and everyone is discussing what’s wrong with nephrology? Why is the interest in Nephrology waning? Like most people I took a unique journey to nephrology and maybe by sharing my tale it will inspire others to take up nephrology. I went from a small town, Jalgaon, in India to nephrology fellowship in Canada.

My journey to renal enlightenment began on a wet monsoon night in Pune, India where I was on call in the ICU during residency. We had a patient dying of multi-organ dysfunction and he desperately needed dialysis. The only dialysis machine available was a vintage Drake Willock beast that had sprung a leak. We called the on-call nephrologist, a new recruit at the time, for help. After a we saw this dripping wet, unassuming guy carrying not a stethoscope but a screwdriver. This nephrologist gets down on his hands and knees, pulls out the section of the Drake Willock, identifies the leak and fixes it, all in about 15 minutes. The patient survived and I knew right then, I wanted to be a nephrologist. From that moment on I was wide eyed boy in the candy shop for anything nephrology.

The rain soaked nephrologist was Dr Valentine Lobo, and he took me under his wing, and guided me through residency and then through nephrology fellowship. He was the mentor that was always there, teaching me to place lines, do biopsies, place PD catheters. We covered the widest swath of nephrology, we did pediatrics, electrolytes, transplant, pathology. We went to the lab to measure creatinine and do HPLC drug levels. I remember placing a dialysis line in a man receiving chest compressions for a hyperkalemic arrest. I remember doing plasmapheresis for aHUS and staring at the foley tube waiting for the first trickle of urine after a transplant. I sprinted from the clinic to the lab with containers of warm urine to search for dysmorphic RBC and RBC casts. He was the best mentor, knowledgeable, excited and encouraging. He made nephrology not just my vocation but my destiny.

In 2009, I was a final year nephrology fellow and was looking for some information on the net and stumbled across UKidney, Initially I thought it was some renal-inspired spoof of YouTube, but as I explored the site I saw the structure and vision of it’s creator, Dr Jordan Weinstein. and I wrote him about who I was and what I was doing. Specifically, I asked him about nephrology training in Canada and what were the possibilities. I never really expected a reply, but once again a senior nephrologist noticed my enthusiasm and took the time to write back with encouraging words to give Canada a try. 

So, that is what I did, and three years later I landed in Edmonton at the University of Alberta with my pediatrician wife and 3 -year old daughter, to start another renal roller coaster ride. We arrived in November and until that moment, my experience with snow was limited to defrosting the freezer. I had never seen so much white stuff in my entire life. But when you are excited about nephrology what’s a couple of feet of snow? 

The fellowship was in renal transplant and was wonderful. I continued at U of A as a nephrology Fellow after my Transplant Fellowship. Every moment is a new learning experience, every staff is loaded with #NephPearls, and everyone is eager to teach. I bet it is a two way street, probably my “kid in a candy store” attitude helped. Recently, with the help and urging of my program director, Dr Mark Courtney, I began exploring social media. He sent me a #NephJC link saying this is something I would be interested in, and once again I launched myself into another facet of nephrology education with the same wide eyed zeal that made me choose this beautiful specialty. 

Looking back, honestly, I would change nothing. I would still go to medical school and still select nephrology. It has everything that a branch can offer and enough unknowns that I remain that “wide eyed boy in the candy store”. I remember the excitement with which I opened my brand new copy of Schrier’s text in 2008 and it is with the same tingling excitement I open my twitter account every day. New research, new people, new thoughts, new ideas, all geared to improve the life of the kidney patient – why wouldn't I choose nephrology, It ROCKS!

Authored by Nikhil Shah 

NMSC Intern & Nephrology Fellow at University of Alberta Hospital