University of Pisa - Second Level Master's Degree in Dialytic Treatment of Renal Failure

Educational Opportunities

Second Level Master’s Degree in Dialytic Treatment of Renal Failure

Proponents

Nephrology Division of the Department of Internal Medicine at Pisa Medical School and Hospital, Italy.
The course is proposed to young physicians who are interested to practice Clinical Nephrology.

Aims

-To provide the basic knowledge in nephrology science and practice, oriented to diagnosis and treatment of acute and of chronic kidney disease, particularly those with more severe impairment of renal function.
-To give advanced knowledge and skills in all dialysis techniques.
Participants will be also trained in the preparation of temporary and permanent accesses for the dialytic treatment and related complications. Medical, cardiac and endocrine complications of dialysis and their prevention and treatment will be focused.
-To give the adequate competence to organize a dialysis program and to manage hospital based dialytic facilities, dialysis clinics, and home dialysis.

Course Description

Length of the course:

One year. Candidates who are already post-graduated in Nephrology, in Internal Medicine or Anesthesiology and Intensive care, may ask for a shortening of the length of the course.
The course will start on November 2nd, 2010. Full-time participation is required. Vacations for a maximum length of one month are allowed.

Course Locations:

The course will be held at the Division of Nephrology of the Department of Internal Medicine of Pisa University, at Cisanello Hospital.

Didactic activity and professional training

General Aspects. The course provides a total of 62 credits, which are roughly equivalent to 300 hours of lessons (formal lectures) plus 1200 hours of training activities organized on a weekly timetable from Monday morning to Friday afternoon.
Due to the small numbers of trainees, the achievement of learning and training objective will be continuously evaluated by the teachers. The course as a modular structure.

Modular structure of the Course.

Introductory remarks. Morphological and functional diagnosis of kidney diseases. Arterial hypertension and renal diseases. Endothelial dysfunction. Clinical pharmacology, pharmacokynetics and toxicity of drugs in chronic kidney disease and in end-stage renal disease. Nutrition and evaluation of nutritional status in renal diseases. Uremic syndrome.
Epidemiology and Health Economics. Epidemiology of renal diseases and uremia, “Evidence based medicine” and cost-effectiveness analysis of medical interventions. Legislation concerning dialytic therapy of renal failure. Management of a dialysis centre.
Cardiology and Internal Medicine. Physiopathology, diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias, hearth failure, myocardial ischemia. Principles of electrocardiography and echocardiography. Physiopathology, diagnosis and treatment of vascular pathology.
Anaesthesia, Surgery and Interventional Radiology: Dialysis Accesses
Choosing the type of vascular access. Positioning techniques, control and management of central venous catheters (CVC). Arterio-venous fistulas and vascular prosthesis for haemodialysis. Peritoneal catheter for peritoneal dialysis. Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of complications of hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis accesses.
Nephrology: Acute renal failure.
Acute renal failure: causes, clinical picture, complications, prognosis. Medical management of critical cases in intensive care units (ventilation assistance, cardio-vascular assistance). Multi-organ failure syndrome. Conservative and dialytic therapy of acute renal failure, and of multi-organ failure syndrome. Continuous and intermittent dialytic treatments in ICU and treatment of diuretic refractory hearth failure. Plasma-aphaeresis and other aphaeretic therapy.
Nephrology: Hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis for the treatment of end-stage renal diseases.
Indications to dialysis and choice of dialytic technique. Principles of peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis. Hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis techniques. Dosage of dialysis. Adjusting and controlling the dialytic treatment. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the treatment. Dialytic treatment of diabetic patients. Acute and chronic complications of uremia and dialysis: cardiovascular complications; anaemia, uremic bone disease, amyloidosis, neurologic complications; infective diseases. Nephrological Emergencies. Clinical pharmacology of dialytic patients. Psychological, physical and social rehabilitation of ESRD patients. Organization and management of a dialysis centre and of home dialysis.

Practical training

Participants will practice daily in each field of dialytic treatment of renal failure and related complications, with the tutorial assistance of experienced nephrologists, cardiologists, internists, general and vascular surgeons, anesthesiologists, and radiologists. In particular, the trainees will participate as observers in the clinical activities of nephrology ward (general nephrology, hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and transplantation), outpatients clinics, renal function assessment laboratory, renal sonography, and renal biopsy.

Teaching Staff

Formal lectures and practical training will be given by the staff of the proponent University and Hospital. The faculty is composed by Professors of Nephrology, Internal Medicine, Surgery, Cardiology, Anesthesiology, Intensive Care, Radiology at the Medical School of the Universities of Pisa and Perugia, or at the Post-graduation Schools in Nephrology of the University of Pisa; the remaining faculty will be composed by Professors or Experts of other Italian Universities and Hospitals, and by experts from Industries working in the field of production of dialysis machinery and equipments.
Other information on the course can be found on the web site of Pisa University, at the following addresses:
http://www.unipi.it/studenti/offerta/master/index.htm

Entry requirements for the participation to the course

-Graduation in Medicine (M.D.) and licensure to practice as a medical doctor, or equipollent University degrees or titles, officially recognized by Italian Ministries of University and Health.
-Knowledge of Italian or English languages.

Number of participants admitted to the course

Total of six participants.

Selection of the participants

Selection will be made on the basis of the professional curriculum of applicants.

Cost of the course

The tuition costs are € 3,000.00, they cover participation to the teaching and practical sessions of the course.

Accomodation

Housing, transportation and meals are not included in the costs of the course. Affordable meals will be disposable, as for all other students at Pisa University. Housing information in Pisa can be obtained from ARDSU (Azienda Regionale per il Diritto allo Studio Universitario – Pisa): www.dsu.pisa.it; www.dsu.pisa.it/pisa/studenti/infocasa.html; e-mail: urp@dsu.pisa.it; phone +39 050 567503; fax +39 050 562032
The link at the welcome point of Pisa University for accommodation of foreign students in Pisa is: http://www.unipi.it/english/university/internatio1/welcomepoint.htm_cvt.htm

Grants

It is possible to apply for a restricted number of grants, funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Deadline

October 2 2010 for the submission of the application forms.
Non-European medical doctors must submit their application to the Italian Embassy in their country. They must also present their Graduation in Medicine (M.D.) and licensure to practice as a medical doctor (or equipollent University degrees or titles, officially recognized by Italian Ministries of University and Health), together with a short curriculum.
Address correspondence and information requests to:
Prof. Carlo Donadio, Associate Professor of Nephrology
Director of the Master in “Dialytic Treatment of Renal Failure”
Department of Internal Medicine – Nephrology
University of Pisa - Via Roma 56 - I-56100 Pisa, Italy
Phone: +39 050 997278
Fax:. +39 050 553414
Email: c.donadio@med.unipi.it

Last update: 07-Sep-2010

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