Welcome to the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Nephrology Fellowship Program!
Thank you for your interest in the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Nephrology Fellowship Program. We are proud to offer an exceptional training experience that prepares physicians to become outstanding clinical nephrologists, physician-scientists, educators, and leaders in the field.
For more than 50 years, our Division of Nephrology and Hypertension has been recognized as a leader in nephrology education, clinical care, and research. Our fellows benefit from rigorous clinical training, personalized mentorship, and exposure to some of the most complex and rewarding cases in modern nephrology.
At MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, fellows train in a collaborative academic environment where innovation, curiosity, and compassionate patient care are valued equally. Our faculty are deeply committed to helping each fellow achieve their unique career goals—whether pursuing academic medicine, transplantation, clinical research, interventional nephrology, or private practice.
Why Choose MedStar Georgetown?
Comprehensive Clinical Training Program
Fellows receive broad exposure to every aspect of adult nephrology, including:
- Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
- Acute Kidney Injury (AKI)
- Hypertension and Resistant Hypertension
- Glomerular Diseases (includes experience in outpatient glomerular disease clinic)
- Acid-Base and Electrolyte Disorders
- Onco-Nephrology
- Pregnancy-Related Kidney Disease
- Kidney and Multi-Organ Transplantation
- Home Dialysis and Advanced Dialysis Therapies
As the home of Washington, DC's only dedicated Renal Transplant Institute, our fellows gain extensive experience managing kidney transplant recipients and donors alongside nationally recognized transplant specialists.
Exceptional Learning Environment
Our fellowship is designed to provide progressive responsibility while maintaining a supportive and collegial atmosphere. Fellows work closely with faculty who are invested in their success and committed to fostering professional growth.
With small fellowship classes, trainees receive individualized attention, direct mentorship, and opportunities to tailor their second year toward their specific interests through research, scholarship, specialized clinics, and elective experiences.
Nationally Recognized Research Opportunities
The Division of Nephrology and Hypertension MedStar Georgetown has a long tradition of excellence in nephrology research and innovation. Fellows have opportunities to participate in cutting-edge clinical and translational research through:
- The Georgetown University Hypertension Research Center
- The Center for the Study of Sex Differences in Health and Disease
- The Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
- The Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center
- NIH-funded basic and clinical research programs
Whether pursuing a career as a clinician-investigator or simply seeking research experience to enhance clinical practice, fellows receive dedicated mentorship and support for scholarly activity.
Advanced Dialysis and Home Dialysis Therapies and Apheresis
Our program has been a regional leader in innovative dialysis care, including establishing Washington, DC's first dedicated "Home Only" dialysis program. Fellows gain hands-on experience in:
- Home Hemodialysis
- Peritoneal Dialysis
- Nocturnal Home Hemodialysis
- Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT)
- Plasmapheresis
A Culture of Mentorship and Community
One of our greatest strengths is our people. Fellows consistently describe our program as welcoming, collaborative, and supportive. Faculty, fellows, residents, nurses, and staff work together as a team dedicated to delivering exceptional patient care while creating a positive learning environment.
Our graduates have successfully pursued careers in academic medicine, transplantation, private practice, and leadership positions throughout the United States.
Competitive Benefits
The MedStar Georgetown GME program offers competitive stipends and a wide range of benefits, including health benefits, retirement plan and employee assistance program. Please visit MedStar GME Salary and Benefits offered by MedStar Health.
Please note: Georgetown University Hospital constantly seeks to improve employee benefits, all benefits are subject to change.
Train in the Nation's Capital
Located in historic Georgetown, our program offers the unique opportunity to train in one of the country's most vibrant and diverse cities. Washington, DC provides world-class cultural attractions, exceptional dining, outdoor recreation, professional sports, and a rich professional network within healthcare, policy, and research communities.
Join Us
We invite you to explore our fellowship program and discover what makes MedStar Georgetown University Hospital a premier destination for nephrology training. We look forward to meeting the next generation of nephrology leaders and helping you build a rewarding and impactful career.
Your future in nephrology starts here!
Curriculum
Georgetown nephrology fellows receive training as they rotate through the inpatient and outpatient services, and through a series of lectures delivered by faculty and fellows. Fellows should expect to accomplish the following:
- Become confident in all aspects of nephrology practice and a wide range of problems encountered by patients with kidney disease, renal transplant or hypertension. Fellows receive instruction in taking an appropriate history, performing a complete physical examination and generating an appropriate differential diagnosis.
- Understand the pathophysiologic basis of kidney disease and hypertension.
- Develop a full understanding of the laboratory and imaging methods used to evaluate patients with kidney disease.
- Understand the principles of hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, home hemodialysis, plasmapheresis, continuous renal replacement therapy and how to write both acute and chronic dialysis prescriptions.
- Learn to diagnose and treat a variety of primary and secondary kidney diseases.
- Understand the principles of immunosuppression and how to evaluate the potential renal transplant donor and recipient.
- Acquire a thorough understanding of the management of the renal transplant recipient.
- Learn to critically evaluate a scientific publication
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First year of fellowship
The first year of fellowship focuses heavily on clinical training. MedStar Georgetown University Hospital encompasses three ICUs (medical, surgical, and neurosurgical), several IMC units, a solid organ transplantation ward (where kidney, pancreas, liver, and multi-visceral/small bowel transplants recipients receive their care), an oncology ward, and many other general medical and surgical ward floors. This creates a well balanced environment providing a wide variety of clinical cases for inpatient training. The goal is to provide first class clinical training but also to respect fellows time and to provide a good opportunity for reading. In order to limit the patient load of each individual fellow and allow adequate time for didactics on rounds, the services are divided into three teams, each with its own fellow and attending:
- Acute Inpatient Service – this service manages episodes of acute kidney injury, acid base disorders, electrolyte disturbances, hypertensive disorders, onco-nephrology, and pregnancy related disorders in non-dialysis and non-transplant patients
- Chronic/Dialysis Inpatient Service – This service focuses on the care of established dialysis patients (both hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis) and plasmapheresis patients in the inpatient hospital setting
- Transplant Service – This service cares for all renal transplant patients and for renal disease in many other solid organ transplant patients including liver transplants, small bowel/multi-visceral transplants, pancreas transplants, and lung transplants.
Each team is composed of one fellow, one attending, and rotating Georgetown or visiting internal medicine residents, and medical students. MedStar Georgetown has five certified transplant nephrologists who run the Transplant service. Chanigan Nilubol, MD, is a full time faculty member in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension and a trained and experienced transplant nephrologist. There is also a surgical transplant team with its own transplant surgery attending to provide a multi-disciplinary environment for these complex patients. There is a strong focus on clinical teaching while rounding. The aim is to provide an environment that is thought provoking with an open forum for questions and opinions. The inpatient teams provide consultative services since medical patients at Georgetown are admitted by Department of Internal Medicine hospitalists. This permits the fellows to concentrate on the nephrology problems of the patient. Fellows receive training in many clinical services and procedures including: inpatient hemodialysis, inpatient peritoneal dialysis, continuous renal replacement therapy modalities in the ICU, slow continuous ultrafiltration, urine sediment microscopy, temporary hemodialysis catheter insertion (with real time ultrasound guidance), kidney biopsies (native and transplant), and plasmapheresis.
Each fellow participates in a rotating continuity outpatient clinic at Georgetown University Hospital throughout their training. The clinic is typically one half day a week. The fellow rotates every 6 months to interact with different faculty and specialty clinics. A few clinics focus on some selected nephrology topics including chronic kidney disease, resistant and secondary hypertension, onco-nephrology, and kidney transplantation. Other clinics see general nephrology with a mix of different pathologies.
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Second year of fellowship
The second year of fellowship focuses on outpatient dialysis, outpatient clinics, and on research. Fellows typically will rotate through the DC Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital for one of their outpatient clinics. Outpatient dialysis training is undertaken at the Georgetown University DaVita Dialysis units at Union Plaza and the “Home Only” unit on Wisconsin Avenue and at the Department of Veteran Affairs Hospital. Georgetown has the first “Home only” dialysis unit in Washington DC specializing in peritoneal dialysis, home hemodialysis and nocturnal home hemodialysis training. Fellows receive training in these rapidly expanding modalities.
Rotations/Didactics
Didactics are complemented by:
- Dahlgren Library Access
- Provides access to a multitude of Nephrology references such as Brenner and Rector’s The Kidney / KDIGO Guidelines / Pathology Atlas / ECT
- Access to PubMed
- Access to UpToDate
- Full reimbursement to attend the NKF conference (first years)
- Full reimbursement to attend the ASN conference (second years)
- A personal copy of the Handbook in Nephrology and Hypertension by Christopher Wilcox, M.D., Ph.D. and the Primer on Kidney Diseases by Arthur Greenberg, M.D.
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Transplant Nephrology Lecture Series
The clinical transplant nephrologists lead a didactic series focused on all aspects of renal transplantation.
The transplant lecture series is designed to give additional background and to provide a literature review on selected topics. The structure of the series is designed to transition from more passive learning (primarily directed lectures on selected topics) early in the year to more active participation (in the form of case conferences) and ultimately to get the nephrology fellow to lead the teaching by the end of the year (through case conferences and their own presentations). Lectures are attended by the transplant nephrology fellow, the surgical transplant fellows and the general nephrology fellows allowing each discipline to add their own experience and viewpoint to the discussion.
In addition to providing information on a variety of topics, the series is also designed to highlight the strengths and weaknesses in the transplant literature and provide examples of common features and problems found in the design of transplant studies. It is hoped that the literature reviews enable better critical thinking by the fellow in reviewing research and in designing their own research protocols.
Transplant Lecture topics include:- Introduction and Overview of Transplantation
- Transplant Immunology
- Tissue Typing
- Pathology- Banff Classification
- Clinical Aspects of Rejection
- Kidney Allocation Policy
- Recipient Evaluation
- Donor Evaluation
- Calcineurin Inhibitors
- mTORs and celecept
- Antimetabolites
- Steroids and Steroid Sparing Agents
- Induction Agents
- Pancreas Transplantation
- Delayed Graft Function
- Marginal Organs
- Polyomavirus Associated Nephropathy
- Cytomegalovirus
- Surgical Issues
- Simultaneous Liver/Kidney Allocation
- Allograft Failure
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Journal Club
A clinical scientific research article is selected. New articles alternate with classic articles that have shaped modern Nephrology. There is a fellow presentation and attending-led critique to help fellows learn how to evaluate modern statistics and clinical methods. All attendings are present. -
Fellows Clinical Lecture Series
This conference is given by clinical faculty at the Georgetown Division of Nephrology. It provides a two-year comprehensive review of the key clinical and scientific topics in Nephrology and Hypertension.
General nephrology lecture topics include:- The Glomerulus
- Potassium/Magnesium Physiology
- Introduction to Renal Function, Renal Circulation, Renal Transport, GFR
- Genetic Tubular Disorders
- Proximal Tubule, Loop, and Countercurrent Mechanism
- Normal Blood Pressure, Renal Sodium Handling, Salt Sensitivity, Edema
- Diuretic Action and Resistance
- Hyponatremia and hypernatremia
- Vascular Access
- Renal Imaging/Contrast Nephropathy
- CKD Management
- Lupus Nephritis
- Hypertension Trials
- FSGS and Minimal Change
- IgA Nephropathy
- TMA in Renal Diseases/TTP/HUS/AHUS
- Secondary Hypertension
- ANCA Vasculitis and Anti-GBM
- Membranous Nephropathy
- Amyloidosis/Light and Heavy Chain Deposition
- Dialysis In Depth
- Nephrolithiasis – Nephrologist Prospective
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Renal Pathology
This conference is coordinated by the Georgetown University Department of Pathology. Cases are selected from both adult nephrology and kidney transplant patients. Attendings and fellows from MedStar Georgetown and Washington Hospital Center attend this shared conference. -
Clinical Case Conference
This conference is a fellow driven morning report style of conference focusing on interesting cases from the three inpatient consultation services alternating with selected patients from the outpatient clinics. All attendings are present and help to provide an environment for general discussion and learning.
Elective Rotations
Thank you for your interest in rotating at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital! All residents and fellows wishing to rotate at MGUH must apply directly to the department in which their training will take place. Please contact the coordinator for the sub-specialty with which you wish to rotate. Applications are processed on a first-come, first serve basis.
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Eligibility and process
All visiting residents and fellows must be enrolled in an ACGME-accredited training program in addition to satisfactorily and punctually completing the steps outlined below:
- At least 120 days prior to the start of the desired rotation dates the visiting resident/fellow will obtain approval from the Program Director for the rotation by emailing the program coordinator the following:
- CV
- Requested rotation dates
- PGY level
- Name of your program director
- Name and email of your program coordinator
- If approved based on CV and availability on service, we will work with your program coordinator to create and sign a Program Letter of Agreement (PLA).
- Once we have a fully executed PLA our GME office will reach out directly to the rotator with a checklist of required documentation via our residency management system, New Innovations.
Note: GME must have the fully executed PLA no later than 4 weeks before the start of the rotation.
- If you do not have a full DC license all rotators will also need to apply for an MTR (medical training registrant) with the Board of Medicine in order to be allowed to rotate in the state of DC. You can check the status of your application. A “Pending” status usually means they have received your application. Typically, the license does not become “active” until a day or two before the rotation. If your license is not active by Day 1 of your rotation, please get in touch with the BoM directly to find out where the problem lies.
- Once the rotator has completed the New Innovations checklist, the GME office will notify the program that you are good to rotate. A week or so prior to your start you should receive a welcome email from the Georgetown program coordinator with check-in instructions (including, parking, ID badge, computer training and team contacts). Please feel free to reach out if you have not heard from your GUH coordinator by this point.
- At least 120 days prior to the start of the desired rotation dates the visiting resident/fellow will obtain approval from the Program Director for the rotation by emailing the program coordinator the following:
Fellowship Life
Application Information
We look forward to the opportunity to meet you! The Fellowship application process is described below.
- Candidates should have the MD, DO or MD / PhD degrees
- Candidates should have completed clinical training in an ACGME accredited Internal Medicine program and be ABIM board eligible for Internal Medicine
- Candidates will be interviewed and ranked by the faculty based upon stated career goals in nephrology, interviews, letters of recommendation, and past performance.
- Candidates must apply through ERAS.
Visa Policy: Only J1 visas are sponsored through MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. We currently do not have the ability to sponsor H1B visas.
How to Apply through ERAS
You should apply for the Nephrology Fellowship Program at Georgetown University Hospital through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). ERAS is an internet-based application process developed by the Association of American Medical Colleges to transmit fellowship applications, letters of recommendation, Program Director letters, medical transcripts and other supporting credentials from applicants, residency programs, and medical schools to fellowship program directors using the Internet. Upon receiving your application through ERAS, our Fellowship Administrator will contact candidates about interviews. Interviews are scheduled during August and October. Visit the ERAS website for information about the process or to register.
The “MATCH”
Once you have applied to our Nephrology Fellowship Program and accepted our invitation to interview with our faculty, fellows and staff, we hope you will choose to rank Georgetown at the top of your list of desirable training programs in Nephrology Medicine.
Georgetown participates in the National Resident Matching Program’s Medical Specialties Matching Program (MSMP) in Nephrology. This is a computerized venue for matching an applicant’s preferences for fellowship positions with program directors’ preferences for applicants. Visit NRMP on the web for more information or to register to participate.
Important Dates
Application for the July 2027 cycle
Fellowship application begins in July (when ERAS opens). Interviews are scheduled between August – October. The Nephrology Fellowship Program accepts applications through the ERAS System: Fall Fellowship Match.
Important Dates for July 2027 cycle applicants:
- Nephrology ERAS Application Process opens July 1, 2026
- Schedule Interviews at Georgetown: end of August
- Registration for NRMP Match List: August
- Nephrology interviews at Georgetown: August/October 2026
- NRMP Rank Order List deadline: November 18, 2026
- NRMP Match Day: December 2, 2026
- Fellows begin their Nephrology Program on July 7, 2027
Contact us
Program Director:
Keiko Greenberg, MD, MHS
Fellowship Program Director
Assistant Professor of Medicine
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital
3800 Reservoir Road NW – Pasquerilla Health Center, 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20007
Phone: 202-444-9183
Fax: 877-625-1483
Email: keiko.i.greenberg@gunet.georgetown.edu
Fellowship Administrator:
Gina M. Moses, MEd
Fellowship Administrator
Infectious Diseases / Nephrology
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital
Department of Medicine PHC 6
3800 Reservoir Rd., NW
Washington, DC 20007