American Society of Nephrology Kidney Tutored Research and Education for Kidney Scholars (TREKS) Program

Abstract

In response to decreasing numbers of individuals entering into nephrology fellowships, the American Society of Nephrology launched Kidney Tutored Research and Education for Kidney Scholars (TREKS) to stimulate interest in nephrology among medical students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. The program combines a 1-week intensive exposure to kidney physiology with a longitudinal mentorship program at the participants' home institutions. Ten years in, an analysis was conducted to assess its effectiveness. We surveyed participants to assess their opinions regarding nephrology before and after the course and followed them longitudinally to determine their career choices. TREKS applicants who were not selected to participate were used as a comparison group. Three hundred eighty-one people participated in the program, and 242 completed the survey. After TREKS, both medical students and graduate students showed increased interest in nephrology, with rank scores of 5.6±0.2 before to 7.5±0.1 after the course for medical students (mean±SD, n=189, P = 0.001) and 7.3±0.3 to 8.7±0.3 (n=53, P = 0.001) for graduate students. In long-term follow-up, TREKS medical students chose a nephrology pipeline residency at a higher rate than medical students overall (57% versus 31%, P = 0.01) and TREKS applicants who did not participate (47% versus 31%, P = 0.04). Nephrology fellowship rates for these groups exceeded the general population but did not significantly differ between TREKS participants and applicants. Doctor of Philosophy students and postdoctoral TREKS participants had a higher rate of participation in nephrology research compared with TREKS applicants (66% versus 30%, P = 0.01). In summary, the American Society of Nephrology Kidney TREKS program has demonstrated that it can increase interest in nephrology in the short term and increase the number of individuals going into nephrology careers. This long-term effect is most evident in Doctor of Philosophy students and postdoctoral participants. Further study is needed to assess the impact of TREKS on enrollment in nephrology fellowship programs.