The Students Interested in Nephrology Group, also known as SING, is an organization within the Heersink School of Medicine engaging medical students’ interest in the field of Nephrology.
The program began in January 2023 with two founding members, Venu Reddy and Brody Rhodes, incoming medical students passionate about nephrology. Venu and Brody launched the program under the mentorship of Drs. Jennifer and David Pollock, under the advisement of Dr. Navya Eleti, after they participated in the NIH-funded Kidney-focused research program, PROMOTE.
“They were very instrumental in getting the program off the ground,” said Reddy.
The connections made through PROMOTE helped launch the program and connected with faculty advisors.
Both Reddy and Rhodes had a background in Nephrology from their experiences in the PROMOTE program. When starting medical school, they wanted to share their passion for learning about nephrology with their fellow medical students.
In the first year, they had a few small panels that brought in specialists from the field to help generate interest. Since then, the organization has hosted events such as panels featuring nephrologists sharing their research, “Day in the Life of Nephrologist” events, fellowship panels, subspecialty panels (including critical care and transplant), outreach events, and shadowing opportunities.
This past semester, under the current leadership of Soumya Khanna (MS2, KURE 2021), and Will Gard (MS2, KURE 2021 and PROMOTE 2023) and others, they held a “Renal Jeopardy” event and a talk by Dr. Anupam Agarwal, dean of the Heersink School of Medicine, about his road to nephrology and being a leader in medicine. “[Dr. Agarwal] took questions on being a leader in medicine and kind of how you transition into leadership on the administrative side,” said Will Gard, the current Treasurer of SING.
These events typically attract anywhere from 20 to 50 people, demonstrating the program’s significant growth.
The program also wanted to focus on community outreach. To help complete that goal they have enlisted the help of other organizations such as the Kidney Disease Screening and Awareness Program (KDSAP), and Equal Access Birmingham (EAB). “We had an EAB clinic day, which is our student-run clinic,” said Gard. “We had a renal-related screening day that students could volunteer at, so we have continued to grow in that area.”
When the program started, they had seven people interested in the group, and since then, they have expanded to over 100 interested medical students.
“Seeing the growth that Soumya and Will have done to take the original organization that we had and continue to grow it and grow it to levels that we wouldn’t imagine, even a year ago, has been great to see,” said Reddy.
Story Written by: Meghan McLaughlin, UAB Junior, Communication Major