Ascension St. John Hospital Nephrology Fellowship

Welcome

Ascension St. John Hospital offers a fully accredited two-year fellowship in the subspecialty of Nephrology. 

First-Year Fellowship

First-Year Fellowship
Inpatient Nephrology 7 months
Transplantation 2 months
Clinical Professional Development 1 month
Dialysis Theories 1 month
Scholarly Activity 1 month

Second-Year Fellowship

Second-Year Fellowship
Inpatient Nephrology 5 months
Transplantation 2 months
Pathology 1 month
Scholarly Activity 2 months
Vascular Surgery 1 month
Hypertension 1 month

Facilities

The Nephrology program is housed on the campus of Ascension St. John Hospital. Outpatient chronic kidney disease (CKD) clinics are located immediately adjacent to the hospital, steps from the department offices and supervising faculty. The outpatient hemodialysis facility is conveniently located in the same building. Ascension St. John Hospital Dialysis Corporation provides acute dialysis services to nine hospitals totaling 1,500 beds spanning from Detroit to Port Huron. Only the latest in extracorporeal technology is utilized to provide care in the hospital setting, including plasmapheresis, continuous renal replacement therapy, and conventional dialysis.

A 36-bed inpatient unit, with a 10-station dialysis unit, is dedicated exclusively for the care of kidney disease patients. Staffed with experienced nurses along with arterial, central venous and telemetry monitoring; this state-of-the-art facility provides comprehensive care to dialysis and transplant patients alike. Our fellows have the opportunity to manage an appropriate workload with the assistance of a multi-disciplinary team of residents, interns, medical students, and ancillary professionals under the direct supervision of our academic staff.

Fellows provide primary evaluation and management of all nephrology cases on this unit while educating the residents who rotate through the service. This service is consistently highly rated by residents and fellows as an outstanding learning environment.

Interventional Nephrology

The Vascular Access Center has been in operation since 2002.  There is a dedicated team which includes a Vascular Surgeon, Interventional Nephrologists, registered nurses and accredited radiologic technologists.  The newly built Interventional Nephrology Suite is an 8,000 sq. ft. modern surgical/radiological suite, with two fully equipped procedure rooms.  It is located at the St. Clair Nephrology Roseville office approximately four miles from the hospital.  It offers fellows the opportunity to gain accreditation in all  interventional nephrology procedures, as indicated, under the supervision of an ASDIN certified interventional nephrologist or board-certified vascular surgeon.

The fellow will have the opportunity to become proficient in the following procedures:

  • Renal biopsy *
  • Placement of temporary hemodialysis catheters (Femoral & Internal jugular). *
  • Placement of cuffed venous hemodialysis catheters.
  • Placement of permanent Tenckoff catheters (observation).
  • Angiography, angioplasty, thrombolysis and stenting of arteriovenous grafts and fistula.
* Mandatory

Nephrology Consult Service

Fellows have the opportunity for extensive inpatient consultation experience both of an acute and chronic nature. They are primarily responsible for patient evaluations, assessing immediate patient needs, and initiating treatment plans (under the guidance of the nephrology staff). Should dialysis be required, the fellows have the responsibility for determining the dialysis modality best suited for the patient and initiating this treatment. A great deal of independence is offered to fellows based on their medical maturation.

Transplantation Service

ASJH has a fully accredited renal transplantation service. Approximately 30 to 40 renal transplants are performed each year. Fellows have the opportunity to perform outpatient pre-transplant work-ups in the Transplant Clinic and to gain exposure in acute inpatient transplant care, including but not limited to immunosuppressive therapy and the infectious disease complications of transplant patients. Fellows continue to follow these patients post-transplant in the clinic to gain exposure to immediate post-transplant complications and develop skills in management of emerging transplant protocols.

Dialysis

Acute and chronic hemodialysis in addition to continuous cyclic peritoneal dialysis, continuous venovenous hemodialysis, and plasmapheresis are available at SJH&MC. Fellows gain exposure to each of these modalities and learn the technical and physiologic aspects of each. Each fellow is assigned a group of patients to be managed throughout the duration of fellowship training in nearby dialysis clinics featuring all modern modalities, including nocturnal, home hemodialysis, and CAPD.

Pathology

Pathology monthly biopsy conference is led by a board certified renal pathologist to educate in the evaluation of renal biopsies using standard histologic staining, electromicroscopy and immunofluorescent studies. Fellows have full opportunity to develop the manual dexterity necessary for performing both native and transplant renal biopsies and achieve competency in these procedures.

Scholarly Activity

Fellows are expected to initiate and complete at least one clinical or bench research project during their fellowship. Research is directed by a staff nephrology mentor and by the Director of Nephrology Research. All aspects of clinical, statistical and bench research are made available at the fellows' request. A research nurse and statistician are available to the department.

For More Information

Please contact Ms. Katelyn Johnston at 313-886-8787

We accept applications only through ERAS. 

Click here for the 2024-2025 Compensation and Benefits

Ascension St. John Hospital Virtual Tour:

2023-2024 Fellows

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Recent Graduates 

Eric Krutel, DO (2021) - joined St. Clair Nephrology, MI

Kinjel Shastri, DO (2021) - joined Michigan Kidney Consultants, MI 

Yousef Bader, MD (2022) - joined Michigan Kidney Consultants, MI