A KIDNEYcon Perspective from a Medicine Trainee

I attended KIDNEYcon during my 2nd year of residency and it was a great eye opener for me in medical education in the context of nephrology. It was not a traditional conference where attendees were just sitting in a lecture hall and adjourned after 4 pm. In this meeting, everyone, resident colleagues, fellows, and attendings, were all excited and would like to know each other. I later on realized how incredible these people were after the meeting ended.

The common sessions were fun and exceptionally thoughtful. I felt that we had enough time for interactions, asking questions and sharing our opinions. I got to learn about a lot of fascinating projects and opportunities for the trainee in nephrology that was available, i.e. the NBLU. I was inspired by the discussion about the advances in medical education and what platforms other institution are using to enhance the experience for learners. The tailored workshops was one of the best parts as it was very interactive, engaging and practical. I attended the physician-scientist and learned about the life of researchers from physician-scientists. The interventional nephrology workshop taught me skills to examine AV fistula, which I never dared to touch before this. Both of the workshops have help open new ‘receptors’ for me to incorporate and learn more about.

I was thrilled to be around people with similar interest and got to relax end of the day during the reception dinner. I even had a random Uber karaoke on on the way to the dinner with Dr.Topf! I highly recommended attending KIDNEYcon for any level of trainee who seeks to know how cool nephrology is and that nephrologist are fun to be around with.

Janewit Wongboonsin, MD @janewitwong
Internal Medicine Resident
University of Minnesota