How to Successfully Train a Modern Nephrologist: Experience from US Fellowship Training Practice

Graduate medical education varies in different countries. There is a general consensus in training methods, including residency and fellowship training systems. The graduate medical education system in western countries including the UK and the USA has been shown to be successful. The new graduate medical education training system in China was recently established and is still evolving and being implemented nationally.

This paper reviews the history of nephrology training programs in the USA, the role of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in establishing and enforcing guidelines and curriculum for specialty training programs, the fellowship application and Match system for the recruitment of prospective fellows, and the quality control of fellowship training programs through rigorous evaluation and In-Training examination. This review specifically discusses the nephrology subspecialty fellowship and ACGME-accredited training programs in nephrology. The authors also provide several critical suggestions on the newly established postgraduate medical education training system in China, particularly in nephrology, based on experiences from successful US nephrology fellowship practices.

The ACGME-accredited nephrology fellowship program has been shown to be effective and successful, which could provide an insight into the newly established graduate medical education training system in China. The authors are optimistic that reforms in Chinese medical training systems will be successful in the near future.