MEDICINE 446C
Nephrology
Shweta Punj
Description from DukeHub
(1) Course Goals: •Primary: To provide clinical experience in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with kidney diseases, fluid and electrolyte disorders, and hypertension. •Secondary: To integrate physiology, immunology, pathology, and biochemistry into the evaluation and management of patients with renal disease. (2) Course expectations, attendance & how course goals are achieved: •Students should meet on the first day of the rotation at Duke Hospital, Dialysis Unit, 7th floor, near Unit 7800. Unit phone: (contact listed in DukeHub). Please meet promptly at 8:00 a.m and look for the Floor Service fellow or chief fellow. Alternately, please page the Acute Fellow at pager # (contact listed in DukeHub). •Students must attend AT LEAST 90% of the mandatory clinical sessions to pass the course. In other words, a student who misses more than 10% of required sessions will receive an Incomplete grade and must work with the course director to make up the time before a grade is submitted. This includes any excused absence (travel for professional meeting or illness) or even an unexcused absence. This does not include approved holidays as outlined on the School Doctor of Medicine Academic Calendar. Holidays do not count as an absence. •Any absence without prior notification of the course director is considered unexcused unless documentation of inability to make those contacts is provided. Any absence not approved by the course director for a required part of a course is considered unexcused. An unexcused absence will have a negative impact on the student's grade or evaluation and may result in a Code of Professional Conduct charge if deemed unprofessional behavior. A pattern of unexcused absences will result in an unsatisfactory grade. For example: In the typical 4-week elective course where the required sessions are five full days per week (Monday-Friday), a student can have two full day absences and still pass the course. •Students will participate in both inpatient and outpatient care of patients with a wide range of kidney diseases, fluid and electrolyte problems, and difficult to manage hypertension. •Students will split their time on three major nephrology services in the 4-week elective: the Acute/ ICU Service which cares balanced exposure to all facets of nephrology including patients in the intensive care units at Duke, the Transplant Service which focuses on patients with kidney or combined kidney-pancreas transplants, and the Floor Service which provides care to patient with acute kidney injury, acid base and electrolyte disturbances. •Students are an integral part of the patient care team, consisting of the attending physician, nephrology fellows and medical residents and expected to participate in the work rounds daily. •Learning involves attending weekly nephrology conferences including Journal Club where the latest clinical and basic science literature is reviewed, the weekly Nephrology Didactic Lecture Series focusing on pathophysiological principles of clinical nephrology, and Grand Rounds encompassing Pathology Conference, Clinical Case Conference, and seminars by fellows, faculty and/or visiting professors (please check with the rounding fellow for the weekly schedule as it is subject to change). •This combination of broad-based clinical experience, coupled with formal didactics, provides the student with a comprehensive educational opportunity. (3) Methods of Evaluation: Written evaluation from faculty preceptor based on performance during rounds and participation in the clinical care team. For more information, please contact Dr. Shweta Punj via email at (contact listed in DukeHub) or by phone at (contact listed in DukeHub). Credit: 4. Enrollment: max 4. Shweta Punj, MD, and nephrology staff
Skills
AI-resilient: 3 of 5
- Yes: Physical, lab or field work · "outpatient care"
- Yes: Live work with people · "clinical"
- Yes: Judgment someone is accountable for · "diagnosis"
- No: A craft you practice with your hands or body
- No: Small, in-person format
The checks lean on Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025), which found generative AI applies least to physical work and hands-on work with people. A signal, not a promise. How the score works
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