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The management of pregnancy and women with kidney diseases can be clinically challenging and complex and continues to have a high rate of adverse outcomes, preeclampsia, maternal kidney injury, preterm birth and fetal loss. Reproductive health and pregnancy care for women with kidney disease is currently poorly embedded in nephrology training programs around the world. Despite an improving awareness and growth of this field, support for clinicians to develop expertise and subsequently teach this topic is limited. Promoting obstetric nephrology skills and expertise within the Nephrology workforce has been identified as a key priority to advance reproductive autonomy for women and mitigate adverse maternofetal risk and outcomes.
To address this gap in education, we developed an inaugural ISN supported Train the Trainer program which launched in June 2023 and will be completed in the first quarter of 2024. The overarching goals of this program are :
1. To identify and mentor a core group of clinical champions, leading to a “ripple effect” building up next generation of obstetric nephrology experts
2. To develop an endorsed core obstetric nephrology curriculum, master teaching slide set and accompanying toolkit of resources for use by trainers, faculty and the broader ISN membership
3. To Create an international network of champions of obstetric nephrology for future collaborative activities including a research agenda
The faculty (n=10) are based in Australia, Canada, UK, France, Switzerland and Mexico while trainers (n=10) are from Australia, UK, Canada, USA, Egypt, Nigeria, Zambia, Saudi Arabia, India, and Spain. The faculty were chosen to represent a broad skill set in Obstetric nephrology, public health and advocacy, and bioethics. Trainers were invited to the program via internal selection by the faculty, who identified potential champions across a wide distribution of geographical regions, cultural and resource settings. A broad topic matrix was developed by the faculty. Multiple group online sessions were held, with smaller groups of faculty and trainers developing curriculum content and educational materials for specific topics, underpinned by a framework for effective medical education. Curriculum content was separated into basic core concepts and advanced “deeper” knowledge. The group discussions enabled extensive sharing of knowledge between faculty and trainers, understanding of differences between regions, in-depth discussion of areas of controversy, and a comprehensive review of the existing evidence base.
Upon completion of this program in 2024, participants will receive certification as a trainer, the final tool kit of curriculum and resources will be made available via the ISN Academy web portal. Follow up activities will include educational webinars and recordings, and promotion of the toolkit within each trainers’ local jurisdiction. Impact will be mapped and quantified. We intend the program to be repeated in 2024, with 2023 trainers becoming faculty members and bringing in a new cohort of trainers. This will hopefully lead to the intended ripple effect, growing of obstetric nephrology expertise globally.