Kidney Pathology Education for Nephrology Fellows: Past, Present, and Future

Kidney pathology education is a critical component in training of nephrology fellows, as well as for continuing medical ed-ucation for practicing nephrologists. Kidney pathology images are included on nephrology fellow board exams, and clinico-pathologic correlation of kidney biopsy findings is critical in everyday clinical practice. Nephropathology training is a requirement by the American College of Graduate Medical Education within nephrology fellowship curricula. However, greater than one-third of fellowship program directors believe that nephropathology training for their fellows is not suffi-cient. During the Coronavirus Disease-19 pandemic, the use of digital learning has become commonplace with virtual confer-ences (local, national, and international) and online meetings becoming the norm for education. Nephrology has become a leader in free open-access online medical education, both prior to and, to even a greater extent, during the pandemic. Here, we review available resources to nephrology fellows and other learners to supplement nephropathology training, which in-cludes medical blogs, journal clubs, interactive quizzes and games, online conferences, podcasts, and mentorship opportu-nities. These resources are archived and provide durable content to learners of all stages of training, even beyond the pandemic.(c) 2022 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Kidney pathology education is crucial for nephrology fellows and practicing nephrologists. The use of digital learning, especially during the pandemic, has made nephrology a leader in online medical education. Resources such as medical blogs, journal clubs, interactive quizzes and games, online conferences, podcasts, and mentorship opportunities can supplement nephropathology training.