Overview
Welcome to the Cleveland Clinic Florida ASTS Kidney Transplant Fellowship Program.
Why should you choose Cleveland Clinic Florida as your training institution? The answer is simple: what you learn early on in your career will forever shape your future career!
We strongly believe that the ideal training program should provide the right mix of education, clinical volume, academic complexity and innovation.
At the Cleveland Clinic Florida Kidney Transplant Program, we perform between 150-200 kidney transplants annually. Our fellowship program consists of a comprehensive curriculum involving the evaluation of potential kidney transplant recipients, evaluation of living donor candidates, deceased donor procurements, deceased donor kidney transplantation, experience with organ perfusion and preservation, living donor kidney transplantation, live donor nephrectomy, and the postoperative care of transplant recipients and living donors. The transplant fellowship has been designed to provide comprehensive training in patient care, surgical techniques, and clinical research.
Our high volume kidney transplant program continues to grow every year and you will be exposed to a unique variety of cases.
At Cleveland Clinic, we educate our fellows to become leaders in the field of transplantation.
I look forward to receiving your application.
Hannah Kerr, MD
Program Director, ASTS Kidney Transplant Fellowship
Surgical Director, Kidney Transplant
Cleveland Clinic Florida
Program
This fellowship at Cleveland Clinic Florida is an American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) accredited 2-year program offering comprehensive training and research activity for those seeking training in solid organ kidney transplant. During the fellowship period, trainees will be well exposed to and gain valuable insights into the detailed work-up and perioperative management of organ transplantation receipts and will gain intensive advanced training in abdominal surgery. Our program will appoint one fellow per year through the SF Match.
The transplant fellowship has been designed to provide comprehensive training in patient care, surgical techniques, and clinical research. The medical management before transplantation focuses on evaluating organ failure patients and candidate selection. Teaching the surgical techniques of the donor and recipient operations including living donor allograft retrieval and living and deceased donor allograft implantation aims to advance the surgical skills of the transplant fellow, increase the creativity, and broaden the surgical ability to safely handle this unique subset of patients.
The fellow will master the post-operative care of the most complex and highly immunogenic allograft recipients including monitoring of immunosuppression as well as inpatient and outpatient post-transplant management , learning to promptly respond to any post-operative medical or surgical complications. The abdominal transplant fellow is intended to develop a cumulative experience in the medical and surgical treatment of patients with organ failure.
Cleveland Clinic Florida currently offers heart, liver, and kidney transplantation, performing both living donor kidney and liver transplants. The fellow will experience combined organ transplant involving heart and liver transplant as part of their kidney transplant training as well. In addition to transplant, the fellow may also participate in urologic, hepatobiliary cases, or liver transplant depending on their additional interests.
Curriculum
The training program curriculum covers all facets of kidney transplantation. The fellow will learn the deceased donor procurement operation, backtable preparation of the kidney, and organ preservation techniques and modalities. The fellow will participate in inpatient multidisciplinary team rounding with transplant nephrology, transplant nephrology fellows, surgical residents, NP’s, pharmacy, transplant coordinators, and social work. The fellow will learn the deceased donor kidney and living donor kidney transplant operations. The fellow will learn the pre-transplant and post-transplant management of ESRD patients. The fellow will gain experience in combined heart kidney and liver kidney transplants. Finally, the fellow will gain experience in live donor candidate selection, live donor nephrectomy, and postoperative care of the living donor.
Throughout their training the fellow will work closely with surgical residents, transplant APP’s, and transplant nephrology fellows.
Training Modules
Each fellow will be required to complete the ASTS educational on-line modules in transplantation during the 24 month fellowship period. This will be monitored by the Program Director and Coordinator.
Research
Scholarly activities in the form of clinical research are emphasized throughout the entire fellowship period. Fellows are encouraged to study a clinical question, present at scientific meetings and compose related manuscripts. The Cleveland Clinic provides numerous resources to assist Fellows in these pursuits, including access to a transplant specific database and biostatistical assistance.
Research inquiries are performed under IRB regulation. Fellows are assigned to a variety of clinical research and review projects during their fellowship.
Clinical Conferences
The fellow will participate in departmental educational conferences including the Transplant Daily Huddle, Transplant Grand Rounds, Kidney and Living Donor Selection Committee, Kidney Quality Assurance & Performance Improvement, Transplant Nephrology conference, and the Tissue Typing, and Histocompatibility Education conference.
Assessment & Supervision
Surgical logs and Milestone forms are to be submitted bi-annually by the Fellowship Training Program Directors. The fellow will be under direct supervision of the Program Director and the Department Center Director.
In summary, we provide a fertile environment that enables the provision of high quality surgical training and the development of our fellows into competent kidney transplant surgeons.
Faculty
Application
The program accepts one fellow per year. We participate in the SF Match. All applicants must apply through the SF Match website. All applicants must have completed a residency in urology or general surgery. Additional information on Transplant Surgery Fellowships can be located on the ASTS website.
Inquiries regarding the program can be directed to:
Lauren Eadeh
Senior GME Coordinator
2950 Cleveland Clinic Blvd.
Weston, Florida 33331
Phone: 954.649.7453
Email: eadehl@ccf.org
Benefits
Please refer to the table below for new salary rates, effective July 1, 2023:
| Grad Level | Current Pay Rate |
|---|---|
| 1 | $61,609 |
| 2 | $63,685 |
| 3 | $65,743 |
| 4 | $68,315 |
| 5 | $70,591 |
| 6 | $73,368 |
| 7 | $75,798 |
| 8 | $77,276 |
Paid Time Away: Vacation, Maternity, & Paternity
- Vacation – 3 weeks (15 working days) provided at the beginning of each academic year
- Maternity – 6 weeks paid leave for natural childbirth or adoption; 8 weeks for cesarean section. Additional time off unpaid up to a maximum of 12 weeks under the Family Medical Leave Act.
- Paternity – 2 weeks paid leave. Additional time off unpaid up to a maximum of 12 weeks under the Family Medical Leave Act.
Insurance
- Healthcare – Cleveland Clinic Florida covers 50% of annual Healthcare Plans for Clinical Trainees and their families. Effective on the first day of training with no waiting period.
- Dental and Vision Care – Cleveland Clinic Florida covers 100% of annual Dental and Vision Care Plans for Clinical Trainees.
- Maternity Care – 100% coverage is provided through the health care plan that you select within the plan's guidelines.
- Pharmaceuticals – As outlined by the Cleveland Clinic Florida Health Plan.
- Malpractice – Paid by the Cleveland Clinic Educational Foundation/Cleveland Clinic Florida. Limited to activities within the training program.
- Life Insurance – $25,000 term group policy.
Travel Privileges and Other Education Activities
Senior residents, chief residents and fellows in ACGME and NON-ACGME programs that meet eligibility criteria as outlined in the Graduate Physicians Manual may be approved to attend academic meetings for the purpose of presenting or engaging in leadership roles within national societies will be eligible up to 5 days per academic year with a maximum reimbursement of $1,200 per academic year.
Additional Benefits
- Book Allowance – A $250 educational allowance per year is available to all clinical residents/fellows. Primary use is for textbooks.
- On-call Meals – Breakfast, lunch and dinner: Paid by Cleveland Clinic Florida when on in-house night call.
- Membership – ACP membership paid for by the program.
- Cell phones – Apple iPhone provided to all residents.
- Uniforms – Supplied by Cleveland Clinic Florida.
Contact
Hannah Kerr, MD
Fellowship Program Director
kerrh2@ccf.org
Lauren Eadeh
Program Coordinator
eadehl@ccf.org
