The training programme director - Dr Iain Moore

Specialty Programme Co-ordinator - Gillian Conway

HR Officer, Lead Employer Trust – Lucy Redmayne

Renal medicine (or Nephrology) is concerned with caring for patients with any form of kidney disease. It is an exciting specialty offering the challenge of looking after both acutely ill patients and those with a chronic disease requiring long term care with the help of a multidisciplinary team. Most renal physicians receive training as specialist registrars in both renal and general (internal) medicine, although not all renal physicians (particularly those in tertiary centres) will undertake acute general medical duties.

Most renal physicians will have responsibility for the care of patients with end stage renal failure who require long term renal replacement therapy either by dialysis or transplantation. Renal physicians will also manage patients who have a variety of general nephrology problems as well as those with acute renal failure. The District General Hospitals, which have facilities for chronic haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, are where most of the patients on chronic dialysis are managed. Renal transplantation is performed in tertiary centres with most patients continuing long term follow up in the referring hospital.

A kidney disease can be a long-term condition for many patients, despite all the help from renal physicians. Joining a renal medicine specialty training programme means you will be involved in a variety of processes surrounding kidney diseases such as:

• Early detection of kidney problems
• The prevention and management of progressive kidney disease
• The management of secondary complications arising because of kidney disease.
• Care, support and treatment of patients with end-stage kidney failure

Due to the large variance in duties in this role, it is understandable why renal medicine is a coordinated approach. This means the role requires a whole range of health professions to ensure the patients nutritional, lifestyle, social, physical and psychological needs are met. There will also be situations where integrated multiprofessional work is needed to ensure all these patients needs have been met. For example, a child with kidney disease is cared for by paediatric renal physicians but as the child becomes an adult, the correct coordination between staff and patient are required to make a successful transition to adult renal services.  

There are also many opportunities for research in:

• Laboratory based (finding the underlying mechanisms of renal disease, immunology of transplantation)
• Clinical based (examining effects of treatment on various renal conditions)
• Epidemiological (looking at incidence of various renal diseases in different populations which impact on the planning and delivery of renal services)

To find out more information about current vacancies please view the HEE Website

To find out more about our region and Trusts please visit the Find Your Place website.