Nephrology education for medical students: a narrative review

Abstract

Background: Strategies used to teach nephrology to medical students are not well studied. This study assesses the published literature on medical student education in nephrology.

Methods: A review of the published literature on nephrology education for medical students was conducted on two major online search engines (PubMed and ERIC). In addition, references of the manuscripts discovered in these searches were reviewed. The empirical studies were categorized by subject within nephrology and research design.

Results: We found 26 original studies in which a method of teaching nephrology to medical students was described. The studies dated from 1977 to 2015. The focus of these nephrology teaching experiences was as follows: anatomy (6.5%), physiology (22.6%), pathophysiology (29.0%), pathology (6.5%), treatment (25.8%), and general nephrology (9.7%). The studies were also categorized into various types of research design. 6.9% had either no assessment of the educational experience or had a description too vague to categorize it; 3.4% involved a survey about the existing educational approach before a curriculum change was implemented; 55.2% used surveys or tests after an educational course was carried out; 10.3% sought feedback from students before and after the educational experience; 13.8% were case studies; and 10.3% included a randomized controlled trial. The randomized controlled trials involved teaching techniques focused on the pathophysiology of renal disease.

Conclusions: Rigor was lacking in most empirical studies on medical student education in nephrology. Well-designed randomized controlled studies are needed to accurately assess the effectiveness of the educational techniques introduced into medical school curricula.

Keywords:

• Education research
• literature review
• medical education
• medical students
• nephrology
• teaching methods

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Leanna Stager, Scholarly Publications Librarian at the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, who assisted the authors in the literature review. Sarah D. Bayefsky is a senior medical student at the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine. Dr. Hitesh H. Shah serves on the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Workforce and Training Program Director Executive Committees. Dr. Kenar D. Jhaveri serves on the ASN Education Committee.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.