Nephrology Fellowship
GOALS/MISSION
The mission of the Nephrology Fellowship training program is to transform health care for New Jersey and the nation through innovation and excellence in nephrology education, research, patient-and family centered care, and addressing the diverse needs of our community. Our goal is to produce physicians who are: (1) clinically competent in the field of nephrology; (2) capable of working in a variety of settings; and (3) possess habits of lifelong learning to build upon their knowledge, skills and professionalism.
CLINICAL TRAINING
The Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) Nephrology Fellowship is an ACGME accredited program where fellows are exposed to a large diversity of cases through our clinical sites. The Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) is the primary affiliate and clinical site. State-of-the-art clinical. A diverse patient population of all ethnicities, ages & gender is available for the fellow to have experience with a variety of clinical problems, stages of kidney disease, and kidney transplantation.
Fellows have appropriate supervised experience to develop skills in providing consultative services and communicating with physicians and other members of the health care team and being a professional advocate for the patient within the healthcare system. Fellows are guided by skilled faculty preceptors who emphasize education. There is inpatient exposure to the general nephrology patient, including management of acute kidney injury, glomerulonephritis, fluid and electrolytes, ICU nephrology, and extensive training in acute dialysis, including continuous dialysis therapy.
In recognition of the importance of outpatient medicine to the practice of nephrology, all fellows spend at least one half day per week for the entire 2-year period in an ambulatory care clinic in which both new and continuity care patients with nephrologic diseases are evaluated and managed and also rotate through the clinic at the RWJUH Kidney-Pancreas Transplant Center for exposure to patients at all stages of kidney transplantation. Training in outpatient hemodialysis, home hemodialysis, and peritoneal dialysis is done at the DCI North Brunswick Dialysis Center.
RESEARCH
The Division of Nephrology and the Department of Medicine are committed creating an environment conducive to inquiry for our fellows. As such research and scholarly activity are very important aspects of the fellowship. Fellows receive mentorship through faculty in their area of interest, who help them achieve their targets. Fellows are given time for research during research rotations in the second year. . To facilitate their efforts, the Program Director and the Division will provide the necessary technological and educational tools. Fellows are paired with faculty mentors to facilitate their research in a given area.
RECENT CHANGES
The nephrology division and the department of medicine have recently teamed up to recruit a faculty member who is interested in bench to bedside work on kidney stones and the biome. The faculty member will work closely with Dr. Martin J. Blaser, MD the Henry Rutgers Chair of the Human Microbiome in creating a research program that will be open to our fellows
Educational Curriculum
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The fellowship program curriculum provides the opportunity for trainees to achieve cognitive knowledge and procedural skills, develop interpersonal skills, professionalism, cultivate humanistic attitudes, ethical behaviors and gain supervised practical experience as a consultant in treating a wide range of clinical problems- acute and chronic- in varied patient populations (different ethnicities, age groups, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds).
Fellows have ready access to specialty-specific and other appropriate reference material in print or electronic format through the Rutgers University Libraries. Electronic medical literature databases with search capabilities are be available from any location.
Our fellowship offers a broad-based didactic curriculum. Didactic Conferences are held on a regular basis and all fellows participate actively in the planning and participation of these conferences. These include:
- Core curriculum
- Renal grand rounds
- Journal Club
- NephSAP/board review
- Research conference
- General pathology
- Transplant pathology
- Problem-based learning
- Emergency lecture series
- Baxter PD and CVVHD lectures
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Robert Wood Johnson Medical School/Clinical Academic Building (Outpatient Rotation), 125 Paterson Street, New Brunswick, NJ
The Clinical Academic Building (CAB) houses the outpatient offices of Rutgers Health, a large multispecialty group. All medical subspecialties are represented here and our nephrology offices are near the offices of all other medical subspecialties, urology, general surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, and neurology
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (Inpatient Rotation) One Robert Wood Johnson Place, New Brunswick, NJ
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) is a 610-bed, non-profit, research, and academic teaching hospital that is the flagship hospital of the RWJBarnabas Health System. This is a large, top-ranked, tertiary care hospital that delivers that delivers the full spectrum of acute care. RWJUH is a level 1 trauma center, delivers state of the art cancer care, is a regionalkidney, pancreas, and heart transplant center, and delivers high-level ICU care. All medical and surgical subspecialties are represented here.
Kidney-Pancreas Transplant Center, 7th Floor, 10 Plum Street, New Brunswick, NJ
The Kidney-Pancreas Transplant Center is located just across the street from our medical center. Both pre-transplant and post-transplant patients are seen here. Last year 54 patients received kidney transplants and 10 patients underwent simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplants, for a total of 64 patients receiving transplants. Additionally, pre- and post-cardiac transplant patients are seen in the same area, allowing for collaboration between nephrologists and heart transplant/heart failure physicians.
DCI North Brunswick (Outpatient dialysis rotations), 105 N Center Dr, North Brunswick Township, NJ
DCI North Brunswick is a state of the art dialysis facility approximately 4.6 miles (~ 15 minutes by car) from our main location in New Brunswick, NJ. This is our only off-site facility. DCI North Brunswick houses our main hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and home dialysis programs. It is also a REACH (Renal Engagement Achieving Complete Health) site, where patients with CKD can learn how to care for their chronic kidney disease at any stage and, when appropriate, are prepared for dialysis therapy.
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital (Inpatient Pediatric Nephrology), 200 Somerset Street, New Brunwsick, NJ
Connected to RWJUH, Children’s Hospital is a 105-bed, acute care, pediatric hospital and affords our fellows exposure to pediatric nephrology. Fellows round with our two, pediatric nephrology attending and see the full spectrum of inpatient, pediatric nephrology.
Child Health Institute of New Jersey, 2nd Floor, 89 French Street, New Brunswick, NJ
The Child Health Institute houses our pediatric nephrology clinics. We have two, full-time pediatric nephrologists who precept our fellows affording them the opportunity to see the full range of outpatient, pediatric nephrology.
Rotation First Year Second Year Inpatient/General Nephrology 4 months 2 months Inpatient/Outpatient Dialysis 4 months 2 months Transplant 2 months 1 month Elective/Research 2 months 7 months Electives include: intensive care nephrology, pediatric nephrology, radiology,
pathology, outpatient dialysis, transplantation, plasmapheresis (or any other area of
concentration that is approved by the program director)
Vacations in the first year are preferentially scheduled for non-elective months, to
allow the first year fellows to have full opportunity to take advantage of their non-
consult months; second year vacations are generally scheduled during their elective time. -
- Completion of USMLE steps 1, 2, and 3
- ABIM board certified or board eligible in internal medicine
- NJ license (limited license if on visa)
- A valid ECFMG certificate for all foreign medical graduates
- Completion of an ACGME accredited fellowship
- A program director’s letter and at least 2 other recommendation
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Andrew Polyak, MD
Fellowship Year 1
Medical School: St. George’s University School of Medicine
Residency: Rutgers Health/Trinitas Regional Medical Center ProgramNathan Zeidan, DO
Fellowship Year 1
Medical School: West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: Stony Brook Medicine/Southampton Hospital ProgramAshkan Hamzelou, DO
Fellowship Year 2
Medical School: Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: New York Medical College at St Michael’s Medical CenterIrisa Mahaparn, MD
Fellowship Year 2
Medical School: University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Residency: University of Kansas School of MedicineNwakile Ojike, MD
Fellowship Year 2
Medical School: University of Nigeria Faculty of Medicine
Residency: Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center
Salaries and Benefits
The Nephrology Fellowship offers a uniform package of benefits consistent with those provided at all graduate medical educational programs operated by the medical school. Full details are continuously updated by the Office of Graduate Medical Education.
Contact Us
Ms. Alicia Marty
Department of Medicine
Fellowship Program Coordinator
alicia.marty@rwjms.rutgers.edu.
