Earlier this year, ASN received requests from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) that taken separately would impact the future training of nephrologists. After careful consideration and thought, the ASN Council responded with a request for 8 months to convene the community and reconsider all aspects of the future of the specialty of nephrology.
“This is a unique opportunity to respond to the requests of ABIM and ACGME. Nephrology has evolved over the last 5 to 10 years as more options to treat patients earlier have become available,” said former ASN President Mark E. Rosenberg, MD, FASN. “Advancing American Kidney Health focused the community on patient choice, including options for home dialysis, reforming transplant policy, accelerating innovation, and eliminating disparities.”
Dr. Rosenberg is chairing the ASN Task Force on the Future of Nephrology, which is charged with meeting the society's commitment to ABIM and ACGME. The task force includes a diverse cross-section of ASN members, such as current and former nephrology fellowship training program directors, nephrologists in private practice, leaders in academic medicine, and early career nephrologists. According to Dr. Rosenberg, the task force will interact with representatives from ABIM and ACGME as appropriate.
The ASN Task Force on the Future of Nephrology is not intended to serve as a representative panel of every constituency within nephrology. Rather, ASN will facilitate deep dives and opportunities for community members to provide their input. Some of the groups that the task force will be interacting with include the chiefs of nephrology divisions at academic institutions, nephrology fellowship training program directors, patients and care partners, representatives from nephrology practices, ASN's committees, and leaders of kidney organizations. As mentioned previously this year in an April Kidney News article (1), conversations about required procedures or program requirements have been going on for many years. As such, the task force will focus on defining the big picture as it relates to the future of nephrology and then work backward into requirements for training, certification, and recertification.
“As we face a crisis in the nephrology workforce, now is the time to think big and strategically about the specialty's role in the broader health care system,” said ASN Executive Vice President Tod Ibrahim. “Nephrologists care for some of the most complex patients, but the specialty is too often undervalued by the broader system.”
To learn more about the task force and its charge, please refer to the article in the April issue of Kidney News (1). Regular updates will be provided in Kidney News through October 2022. To provide your thoughts and ideas on the future of nephrology, please email Melissa West, ASN's Senior Director for Strategic Relations and Patient Engagement, at mwest@asn-online.org.
Reference
Seaborg E. ASN commits to reconsidering future of nephrology. Kidney News, April 2022; 14(4):1, 7.
