ATTN Nephrology Fellows: Origins of Renal Physiology fellows course now open for applications

Jeff during a trip to MDIBL

As a senior resident at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to attend the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratories even before I knew there a course for Renal fellows. It was there that I learned of the importance of comparative physiology in our understanding of the Renal physiology we see every day as nephrologists. For anyone who has attended the Renal Fellows course at MDIBL, the Animal House region of this year's NephMadness undoubtedly made you smile. In fact, choosing a winner was like picking your favorite child. How could you decide between how toads and camels solve their osmolality problems?! They didn't even mention why seagulls "spit" (they excrete salty fluid that drips onto their beaks...and it flies off when they shake their heads!). See what you're missing?

5 years after my first trip to MDIBL, I have been back every year since, teaching in the BIDMC and Hospitalist courses. But I will always have a special place in my heart for the Renal Fellows course, where I learned more in 1 week about basic science, renal physiology, and how lucky I was to be a future nephrologist than I ever thought. We worked hard...and we played hard. When not in the lab, we were exploring Acadia National Park on foot and on bicycle, eating obscene amounts of shellfish in Bar Harbor, and getting to know our fellow fellows and some of the most influential physician-scientists in the field.

In fact, I loved the course so much that I decided to study it! Here is our published paper about just how great the Renal Fellows course is So here's the deal,...if you want to go, you have to APPLY. Your course tuition is on the house! (the NIDDK is footing the bill). This year, it's happening from August 18th through 25th.

Visit the website for all the detail. Application Deadline is July 30th (Seats fill fast)

If you have questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail me -

Jeffrey William, MD
Instructor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
jhwillia@bidmc.harvard.edu  


 Check out all of the posts about this course on RFN