The University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine.

UCSD offers a 2or 3-yr program in clinical nephrology-hypertension and research training in nephrology-hypertension. This program prepares physicians for careers in both academic and clinical nephrology. There are opportunities for research experience without clinical training for both MDs and PhDs. and approximately 20 fellows are in the current nephrology-hypertension program. These programs are sponsored by a faculty of 21 members. headed by Roland Blantz. MD. The program offers a balance between clinical training in a very active clinical teaching program and a variety of research opportunities and disciplines. Clinical rotations are supervised by faculty members at two UCSD Medical Center hospitals-the San Diego Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the San Diego Naval Regional Medical Center. There are four clinical rotations, which include a rotation on the UCSD Transplant and Pheresis Program. Approximately 120 transplants are performed each year, and several hundred renal transplants are monitored. The Nephrology-Hypertension Consultation Service exposes each fellow to consult experiences in pancreas. liver. lung, and heart transplants as appropriate for these disciplines. There is also an active, vigorous medical intensive care unit exposure during all of the rotations. The fellow has primary responsibility for the care of transplant patients during the acute phase of treatment, and there exists a strong working relationship with the Transplant Surgery Division. More than 100 acute hemodialyses are performed each month at UCSD Medical Center. After clinical training, fellows are exposed to a broad range of laboratory experiences in a unique School of Medicine setting. With the exception of pharmacology. there are no basic science departments at the UCSD School of Medicine. and there is a vigorous interaction among basic scientists and clinical investigators. Within the division, there are laboratories actively engaged In the study of renal physiology and pathophysiology. biochemistry. cellular physiology and molecular medicine. renal and molecular cellular immunology. research and treatment modalities for acute and chronic renal failure, and programs on the clinical mechanisms of systemic hypertension as well as the genetics of hypertension. The School of Medicine provides extensive training in laboratory methods in research for all research fellows, and there are extensive opportunities for collaboration with Cellular and Molecular Medicine, the Department of Pharmacology Salk Institute, and The Scripps Research Institute. There are also extended research opportunities through two institutional Physician/ Scientist Training Grant Programs. Most of the faculty in the Division of Nephrology-Hypertension are actively involved in clinical and basic research activities that span programs beyond the Division of Nephrology-Hypertension. Each of these laboratories is characterized by a high degree of fellow and facutty interaction. The University of California. San Diego. offers a broad. balanced program directed toward the preparation of individuals for academic careers and the provision of a broad base of scientific techniques that will prepare them for the decades ahead. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE