Case-based education at the 2009 pediatric nephrology fellows conference

The hallmark of the professional is continued development and expanded expertise based on acquisition of new knowledge and refinement of clinical skills. Medical knowledge acquisition is a key component of professional development for fellows in training as well as practicing physicians. New medical knowledge may be acquired via experience/instruction in the clinical setting (clinic, hospital, etc), self-directed or teacher-directed reading, case-based discussions, lecture presentations, recorded enduring presentations (vodcasts, podcasts, etc.), online learning modules, review- and board-type questions/answers, and small-group discussions. All of these methods have value for continued expansion of medical knowledge, and for many learners, a combination of methods is far superior to reliance on one or two methods alone. The following four cases demonstrate the benefit of case-based discussions to further pediatri nephrology fellow education.