Participants and Testimonies
Over 162 national and international pediatric nephrology fellows have participated in our conference since 2009! Countries that have been represented at our conferences include: Austria, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, England, France, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania and the United States of America.
Fellows’ testimonies: Can you tell us in your own words, what is the most lasting impressions/thoughts you took away from this conference?
“It was so wonderful to meet other fellows. Also, getting to see the passion that the faculty has for the profession of pediatric nephrology was great. I have been feeling pretty burned out lately and really needed this experience. Thank you!”
“Good platform for interaction and learning”
“It was nice to have a peds conference besides ASPN. there are many opportunities for adult neph conferences, but having a dedicated peds neph conference was nice. All the attendings present were amazing. enjoyed meeting other peds neph fellows and sharing each others fellowship experience. thanks for putting this all together!!!”
“The great opportunity to sit together with the faculty and other fellows with alot of fun. Many thanks to drs. Ferris, Mahan and all faculty for the perfect organization.”
“I have a number of lasting impressions from the event. My first is the avenue created to interact freely with attendings and develop lasting bonds with other pediatricnephrology fellows. It felt very fulfilling being able to exchange stories with other fellows who understood what you were going through and could give advice based on their similar experience. I also appreciated the way Dr Ferris took us all under her wings, listened and gave advice. She created a warm environment where we knew our concerns would be heard and problems addressed.”
“Realizing I was not alone in my questions and concerns about fellowship training and life after fellowship.”
“Excellent networking for Pediatric Nephrology fellows. Drive to stay in the field and a confirmation of having chosen the right field.“
“I admire people who are so passionate about their area of interest. I saw this in the eyes of all the staffs who gave the sessions.”
“Reinforcement of the ideal of networking for future research opportunities. In addition to the importance of camaraderie, solidarity, and medical student mentoring that needs to continue (& increase) with the shrinking, & dare I say aging, Pediatric Nephrology cohort. I feel the ABP should reconsider the obligatory 2 years of research –many students & residents routinely cite this as a deterrent to pursuing subspecialty training, contributing to the shrinking Pediatric subspecialties. It remains quite unsettling to me that there appears to be no definitive concern, strategic plan, or long-term goals to address this, all while the pediatric population continues to show emergence of “adult” diseases requiring ever more subspecialty care/resources and co-management. Unless general Pediatrics is going to incorporate adequate training of residents in the independent management of essential hypertension & type 2 diabetes like their Internal medicine comrades, rather than referral to Nephrology & Endocrinology, respectively? “
“The educational sessions were great but even more lasting for me would be the opportunity to meet fellow nephrologists who are currently in training and senior nephrologists who could share their wonderful experiences with us.”
“I enjoyed meeting everyone and hope that we collaborate in the future hence giving the best possible care for our little (and not so little!) patients!”
“Tengo que decir que esos 5 días fueron muy buenos, especialmente el lunes y martes, me pareció estupenda la conferencia de fellows, pienso que es una manera de conocer a los demás fellows y también a los doctores de los que hemos escuchado y leído, tenerlos en frente es un gran logro personal. Estoy muy complacido de haber podido asistir y representar a Latinoamérica, aunque estoy estudiando en México siento que también pude representar a Colombia”.
“I just wanted to send a thank you for your time and dedication to fellows education. I really appreciated the opportunity to create and present a poster and the opportunity to learn and fellowship with other pediatric nephrology fellows and attendings at the RRI conference this past week. I came home with so much more new and inspiring information!” –
“Thank you so much for this opportunity. I really enjoyed it…it was amazing to meet people from other countries and to learn how they do things. I believe it is so important to open our eyes to see the world. I made great friendships and we continue to stay in touch.
Above all, I started to have dreams; dreams to keep growing and to knock on doors to bring to my country better things so that “my children” (my patients) are better cared for, while I give them more hope. Particularly when I see the hard work (even with limited resources) that our brothers and sisters from Africa do. To see how they do not lose hope is the best example that shows that when there is a will, there is a way…”. –
| Great Pearls in pediatric nephrology. New friends |
| New friends here. I heard very encouraging words on my presentation, and that meant a lot to me. |
| I already thought about developing 3 different protocols with some of the attendants that I met. Research and collaboration Dr. Pierre Cochat, Dr. Tim Butchman and Dr. Peter Kotanko. I will look forward to contact Dr. Qi Quian and Dr. Ronco for future research collaborations. To keep in contact with Pediatric Nephrologist, Adult Nephrologist and Researchers from other countries is a wonderful opportunity to expand horizons for the underdeveloped countries. Networking. This give us the opportunity to learn from the bests in the world and also to share our clinical experiences in order to improve the attention of the kidney disease, not just in a few places, but all over the world. Learning from experts and each other. |
| Found new friends ‘the other Ped nephrology felllows and the other program working |
| New friends. One fellow is interested in collaboration pooling patients with rarer diseases for a case series. |
| Ideas for the future directions of my research project. |
| New friends |
| New friends. Connected one friend with a potential job opportunity in India. |
| Networking others researchers in Africa to work with them . I got peritoneal dialysis donations. |
| New friends |
| 4 New friends that have provided insight into job_hunting process |
| Found many new friends |
| I wrote my thesis after present the research in the conference and i made a lot of new friends |
| Multi-institutional research opportunity |
| Got some great reviews on my manuscripts. Made some great friends from different parts of world |
| There is some active networking going on over email. one of the fellows made an email list of everyone who attended our year and everyone has responded with their research interests and offers to collaborate. |
| I am writing two manuscripts as a first author, and two as a second author in RRI and i have made good friends from different countries. |
| New Friends |
| Actually I’m writing a manuscripts of the presentation i did, and made many new friends. |
| Most interactive |
| Found new friends |
| Great conference reviewed. Maybe helpful to have more clinical topics covered |
| I found new friends nationally in pediatric nephrology and future collaborators. I also found a group of people who I will happily support when they sponsor collaborative projects (like through NAPRTCS or MWPNC). |
| Found new friends |
Most Lasting impression:
| Great conference. Pediatric sessions were amazing |
| It was most interactive, rather the most interactive conference I have ever attended during my fellowship. |
| To attend to a Pediatric Nephrology Fellows Conference, is a wonderful opportunity to actively learn from the doctors that I have only read about in the articles. To figured out that they are so humble, hard workers, so dedicated to the welfare of the children is inspiring. The will to teach and educate us giving the example, is one of the best academic experiences I ever had. Thank you for give me the opportunity to be part of it. The most important though to take away to my country is to do the same for all the fellows I meet. If we give the best education to our physicians, we will have the best attention for our children. I also made very good new friends with some of the fellows, and we will keep in contact to discuss clinical cases, and probably future meetings in other conferences. |
| Professionalism |
| This conference was great conference. I had fantastic lectures from leaders in the pediatric nephrology field away from the hospital so that I could learn without distractions! Also, it was truly very nice meeting other pediatric nephrology fellows from around the country! I feel like I am building a professional network that I will carry forward. |
| This was a great event to bring fellows and faculty together in a very comfortable atmosphere to learn and ask questions. |
| I am not alone many fellows experience similar challenges and obstacles learning in a group is often more fun |
| Really valued Dr. Cochat’s lectures. |
| I share my experience with others colleagues from developed countries and it brings me other ways to practice my job. After Global health workshop i received 2 tons of consumable PD products, which improved the management of our children with kidney failure |
| Meeting and networking with other fellows and attendings was really helpful and exciting. The small size means that you get to know people and build more lasting relationships and neworking.
I also found many of the pediatric lectures to be very useful. Across all of pediatrics, we are working on a transition program and I think that Dr. Ferris’ talk about that helped pave the way for my interest in transition. |
| I was able to meet several other current fellows and begin foundation for future collaborations |
| Discussion of job search |
| This event can let open my mind to a wide world vision, it changed my perspectives about pediatric nephrology in a good way |
| Excellent educational opportunity with great lectures |
| Most interactive sessions, made some great friends |
| This was a wonderfully warm, educational event. The talks were outstanding and very useful clinically, and it provided a great opportunity to get to know some of the other up and coming pediatric nephrologists in the field, as well as some of the big names we’ve read and heard so many times. It really was very well done. |
| First of all, I would like to thank RRI for giving me the opportunity to attend the 18th International Conference on Dialysis, Advances on Kidney Diseases and International Pediatric Nephrology Fellows. This my 3rd time in this conference. Those conferences were very interesting and gave the opportunity to learn many issues in regards to pediatric nephrology, it was a very enriching experience for me to attend those conferences. The most interesting, informative and educational moments are not spent JUST in the sessions themselves: it’s in informal interactions and networking with other attendees and fellows. |
| The networking with the co-fellows that I met. Most interactive |
| I think it was such an amazing opportunity to be with the very best nephrologists, to hear about their opinions, and learn the details that neither the book nor the papers explain. I’m very pleased and very grateful. |
| Great spirit |
| Very social and good rare topics |
| Friends, collaborations, networking and knowledge |
| The most important part of the event was the opportunity to meet, network and connect with other pediatric nephrology fellows across the country. It fostered a sense of community and counteracted the sense of isolation that develops as one of a few fellows at any individual center. The second most important part of the event was spending time with Dr. Maria Ferris. Simply put she cared about us in a way that my attendings in my fellowship did not. She was frank and direct and was willing to answer questions that other attendings were not. |
| Learning in a relaxed environment |
2016 Fellows Email Addresses
| Last name | First Name | Email address | Institution |
| Andreoni | Kenneth | Kenneth.Andreoni@surgery.ufl.edu | University of Florida |
| Beherens | Tessie | mtbehrens@cs.com | Baltimore Nephrologists- Mid-Atlantic Division |
| Bonilla-Felix | Melvin | melvin.bonilla1@upr.edu | University of Puerto Rico |
| Bunchman | Timothy | Tbunchman@mcvh-VCU.edu | Children’s Hospital of Richmond |
| Cochat | Pierre | pierre.cochat@chu-lyon.fr | Hospital Femme Mere Enfant, Lyon, France |
| Ferris | Maria | maria_ferris@med.unc.edu | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| Flynn | Joseph | joseph.flynn@seattlechildrens.org | Seattle Children’s Hospital |
| Katsoufis | Chryso | CKatsoufis@med.miami.edu | University of Miami |
| Kelepouris | Ellie | Ellie.Kelepouris@DrexelMed.edu | Drexel University |
| Mahan | John | John.Mahan@nationwidechildrens.org | Nationwide Children’s Hospital |
| Paredes | Ana | Ana.paredes@mch.com | Miami Children’s Hospital |
| Qian | QI | Qian.Qi@mayo.edu | Mayo Clinic |
| Selewski | David | dselewsk@med.umich.edu | University of Michigan |
| Tauer | David | david.tauer@fmc-na.com | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |