Clinical Education and Postgraduate Training Opportunities in Nephrology Pharmacy

Abstract

All colleges of pharmacy in the United States were surveyed to assess the availability of didactic and clinical pharmacotherapy education in the field of nephrology. Forty-four of the 54 (81.5%) colleges with PharmD programs responded to the survey. Of these programs, 64% (28/44) teach nephrology as a separate module during the PharmD curriculum. The content of the nephrology curriculum varied from 2 lecture hours to 30 lecture hours. The pharmacokinetic concepts that relate to pharmacotherapeutic management of nephrology patients are taught in a separate nephrology course in only 9% of these 28 programs. In 57% of these PharmD programs, pharmacokinetic concepts inherent to nephrology are taught as part of a separate pharmacokinetic course. There are 34% of the programs that teach these pharmacokinetic principles in both the nephrology course and as part of a separate pharmacokinetic course. Of the 44 PharmD programs that responded to the survey, 23 (52%) have elective nephrology clerkships. Ten postgraduate training opportunities in nephrology are offered by nine individuals in association with eight colleges of pharmacy. Seven programs have a primary focus in nephrology, three residencies and four fellowships, while three programs identify nephrology as a secondary focus: one residency and two fellowships. An additional eight postgraduate training opportunities with a significant nephrology component were identified. Some of these transplantation residencies and fellowships provide a focused experience in renal transplantation while others include liver, lung, heart, and/or bone marrow experiences. The newest nephrology postgraduate educational opportunity is the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists (ASHP) Clinical Pharmacy Dialysis Service Traineeship Program, which was established in 1992. Implementation of the program was directed by the ASHP Research and Education Foundation with funding from Amgen, Inc. This postgraduate training experience is designed to prepare a pharmacist practitioner to establish and maintain a specialized service for the pharmacotherapeutic management of patients undergoing dialysis.