Revamping the KRESCENT Core Curriculum: The KRESCENT 2.0 Program Report

Since its inception in 2005, the Kidney Research Scientist Core Education and National Training Platform (KRESCENT) core curriculum has undergone regular review and evolution to ensure it continues to meet trainee needs within their current research milieus. In 2021, the KRESCENT 2.0 Health Research Training Program (HRTP) was funded through the pilot Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) HRTP program. This program report describes the formal evaluation and redesign process of the KRESCENT curriculum subsequently undertaken by a small pan-Canadian team over a period of two years, leading to the establishment of the current KRESCENT 2.0 curriculum.

KRESCENT archived curriculum-related documents, including de-identified trainee reviews, reports and meeting minutes; equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) documents, including consultancy agreements, accountability reviews, proposals and contracts, and other related files. Other resources included websites, journal articles and the Raising Interdisciplinary Scientist Excellence Learning Management System (RISE-LMS) online training platform.

Meeting minutes, consultancy, and curriculum-related documents were reviewed. Clarification of the process was provided through interviews with the senior KRESCENT consultant Dr Adeera Levin, past KRESCENT director Dr R. Todd Alexander, curriculum chair Dr Sunny Hartwig, members of the Patient Community Advisory Network (PCAN), and KRESCENT program manager Ms Julie Wysocki via in-person and virtual meetings as well as email correspondence.

The KRESCENT 2.0 curriculum represents a three-year process of evaluation, consultation, and redesign led by the KRESCENT executive team. Administrative, logistical, and strategic support was provided by the Kidney Foundation of Canada (KFoC). Vital insights and guidance in the curriculum reshaping process were provided by a dedicated pan-Canadian working group of 10 scientists and educators spanning multiple disciplines and jurisdictions. Curricular elements to be introduced, retained, discarded, or revitalized were identified by clear consensus in each instance. Key recommendations from EDI consultants Mr Ike Okofur and Ms Nadia McLaren led to the development of a summer undergraduate studentship program to support Black and Indigenous scholars interested in nephrology research. Consultation with existing KRESCENT patient partners led to the formalization of their contributions through the establishment of PCAN. The PCAN team was appointed a role in administering the KRESCENT 2.0 core curriculum to reinforce the importance of understanding and leveraging the lived experience of patients and their caregivers in all aspects of kidney health research.

KRESCENT is an established three-year kidney training program for a small cohort of trainees. The biannual intensive small group workshop has been the core training milieu of the KRESCENT curriculum since program inception. Multiple training priorities in the core curriculum include pedagogical lectures in nephrology, professional skill development, non-academic career paths, cultural competency, sex and gender in research, community-building, honouring the lived experience, mentorship, wellness, knowledge translation, and interdisciplinary collaboration. This program report may therefore not generalize to new training programs, those with large group cohorts, or those with different priority areas.

This program report may provide valuable guidance for other HRTPs seeking to establish or revitalize a training curriculum in a small group training milieu.