Transplant Medicine Training Program

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The Transplant Medicine training program is one year in length. It prepares board eligible nephrologists to become specialists in transplantation medicine. The program is accredited by the American Society of Transplantation. This program accepts applications directly and does not participate in the Match.

Meet our transplant nephrology team and learn more about the one-year transplant fellowship program.

Oregon Health & Science University was the first health facility in the Western United States to initiate a transplant program. Since the founding of the program in 1959 we have transplanted more than 5,000 kidneys, currently transplant over 150 kidneys each year, and have been training transplant medicine fellows for the past twenty-five years. The Transplant Medicine training program is accredited by the American Society of Transplantation.

Our program is designed to provide all-inclusive training in renal transplant medicine. Our faculty is strongly committed to the training process and fosters collegial relationships among the physicians, surgeons, pathologists, infectious disease specialists, and pharmacists who specialize in transplantation. The medical transplant team at OHSU has primary responsibility for prescribing and adjusting immunosuppression, providing medical support for inpatients, and managing patients in the outpatient clinics. This direct responsibility for patient care is a strong advantage of the OHSU training experience.

Training is further enhanced by weekly transplant grand rounds, renal transplant biopsy conference, and a comprehensive didactic program that covers basic topics in transplantation.

During this one-year fellowship, the fellow will spend a minimum of six months on the kidney/pancreas transplant inpatient service and twelve months in the kidney/pancreas transplant outpatient clinics. The fellow will also spend time in the Laboratory of Immunogenetics and Transplantation learning basic principles of tissue typing, as well as spend time learning deceased donor management with the organ transplant recovery team. There will also be protected time to conduct a clinical research project in transplantation.

At the completion of training, the fellow will meet all UNOS requirements to function as a UNOS-designated transplant physician and medical director of a kidney transplant program.

OHSU is located in Portland, Oregon, one of the most livable cities in the United States. Portland is known for its beauty, bicycle-friendliness, comprehensive transit system, land use regulation, progressive societal and environmental thinking, and ready access to outdoor recreation activities on Oregon's mountains, rivers, and coastline.

Learn more about kidney transplant services at OHSU

OHSU and the Portland VA Medical Center are our main clinical teaching sites. OHSU is the sole academic medical center in Oregon and Southwest Washington, and serves as a tertiary referral center for the state of Oregon as well as portions of Washington, Idaho, and Northern California. The Portland VA Medical Center provides top-rated care to Veterans in the area and also performs the majority of kidney transplants for the VA on the West Coast, ensuring strong exposure for our fellows. OHSU and the Portland VA Medical Center are connected via a sky bridge, allowing fellows to provide care at both hospitals without missing conferences or other core components of their education.

Nephrology Transplant Fellowship applicants must have completed three years of postgraduate training in internal medicine and two years of a nephrology fellowship prior to beginning the fellowship. Applications are judged on the basis of the applicant's academic and clinical training record, recommendations of medical school and postgraduate training supervisors, and personal interviews with faculty.

Applications should be submitted 3-6 months prior to the intended start date.

Application requirements

The following should be submitted via postal or email:

  • Completed fillable application
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Personal statement
  • Letters of recommendation from two to three physicians or medical scientists having special knowledge of the applicant's ability or performance.

Application submission

Send your Nephrology Transplant application packet to:

Oregon Health & Science University
Transplant Fellowship Program Coordinator
Division of Nephrology and Hypertension
Mail Code: SJH6
3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Road
Portland, OR 97239-3098

Email: nhfellow@ohsu.edu

Candidates for interview will be contacted directly by our office.

Transplant fellowship administration:

Oregon Health & Science University
Division of Nephrology & Hypertension
Mail Code: SJH6
3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Road
Portland, OR  97239-3098
Email: nhfellow@ohsu.edu

Program Director:

Shehzad Rehman, M.D.