Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Expanding the global nephrology workforce

  • Comment
  • Published:

From Nature Reviews Nephrology

View current issue Sign up to alerts

Many countries worldwide, particularly those with low or lower-middle incomes, do not have enough nephrologists to provide health services for patients with kidney disease. Increasing training opportunities, improving job satisfaction and using new technologies and advances in artificial intelligence could help to increase the nephrology workforce and improve patient outcomes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1: The global prevalence of nephrologists.

References

  1. Jager, K. J. et al. A single number for advocacy and communication-worldwide more than 850 million individuals have kidney diseases. Kidney Int. 96, 1048–1050 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Bello, A. K. et al. Status of care for end stage kidney disease in countries and regions worldwide: international cross sectional survey. BMJ 367, l5873 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Wu, J. et al. Nephrology workforce in China: describing current status and evaluating the optimal capacity based on real-world data. Hum. Resour. Health 21, 62 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Sharif, M. U., Elsayed, M. E. & Stack, A. G. The global nephrology workforce: emerging threats and potential solutions! Clin. Kidney J. 9, 11–22 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Burrowes, S. A. B. et al. COVID-19 pandemic impacts on mental health, burnout, and longevity in the workplace among healthcare workers: A mixed methods study. J. Interprof. Educ. Pract. 32, 100661 (2023).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Okpechi, I. G. et al. Building optimal and sustainable kidney care in low resource settings: The role of healthcare systems. Nephrology (Carlton) 26, 948–960 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Lederer, E. & Lebowitz, J. Current state of the workforce in nephrology. Adv. Chronic Kidney Dis. 27, 281–290.e1 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Okpechi, I. G. et al. Impact of training nephrologists from developing nations and strategies for sustaining a training program in its fourth decade. Kidney Int. 99, 1073–1076 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Hazarika, I. Artificial intelligence: opportunities and implications for the health workforce. Int. Health 12, 241–245 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Ramada, D. L. et al. Portable, wearable and implantable artificial kidney systems: needs, opportunities and challenges. Nat. Rev. Nephrol. 19, 481–490 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Nephrology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Ikechi G. Okpechi, Somkanya Tungsanga, Anukul Ghimire & Aminu K. Bello

  2. Department of Kidney and Transplant Services, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    David W. Johnson

  3. Centre for Kidney Disease Research, University of Queensland at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    David W. Johnson

  4. Translational Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    David W. Johnson

Authors
  1. Ikechi G. Okpechi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Somkanya Tungsanga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anukul Ghimire
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. David W. Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Aminu K. Bello
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ikechi G. Okpechi.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Okpechi, I.G., Tungsanga, S., Ghimire, A. et al. Expanding the global nephrology workforce. Nat Rev Nephrol 20, 151–152 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-024-00809-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-024-00809-1

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation