Solid Organ Transplant Training Program

Successful applicants to the SOT, Transplant ID Fellowship will have the opportunity to participate in a 1 year training program. Transplant Infectious Diseases is to enhance competence concerned with the care of adult and pediatric patients in the setting of end-stage organ failure before and after transplantation, encompassing patients with solid organ (heart, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas, and intestinal), cell (islet) and hematopoietic stem cell transplants.

Successful applicants to the SOT Kidney Physician Fellowship will have the opportunity to participate in a 1 year training program. The fellow will perform supervised care for kidney transplant and kidney-pancreas transplant recipient inpatients and outpatients at the University of Alberta Hospital. In addition, the fellow will rotate on services of transplant infectious diseases, radiology, tissue typing laboratory, renal pathology, and observation of organ retrieval and transplant surgery. There will be an opportunity to participate in either bench or clinical research during the fellowship program. The fellow may also participate in multiple formal educational rounds related to transplantation.

Successful applicants will join a comprehensive 1-year training program, established in 1989 which leads in liver transplantation, including living-donor transplants. Gain hands-on experience in inpatient and outpatient care for various chronic liver diseases, cirrhosis and its complications, critical care, and liver transplant oncology. Training will include inpatient and outpatient exposure to cirrhosis complications, viral hepatitis, hepatobiliary oncology, autoimmune and metabolic liver diseases, and critical care in liver patients. Rotations cover pre and post-transplant care, as well as key areas such as transplant infectious diseases, radiology, liver pathology and metabolic nutrition, that allow for a more comprehensive learning. Witness liver transplant surgeries, and bridging strategies like TIPS. The trainee is expected to take primary responsibility of at least one research project during their training to deepen their understanding. 

Successful applicants to the SOT Lung Physician Fellowship will have the opportunity to participate in a 1 year training program. The fellow will spend 5 months in the ambulatory clinics including new referral, pre-transplant clinic, and post-transplant clinics. In addition, the fellow will spend 5 months on the inpatient clinical service managing listed in-patients and post-lung transplant recipients. Also, the fellow will rotate on the HLA, tissue typing laboratory service. All transplant bronchoscopies will be performed by the trainee while they are on any clinical rotation and these are often interventional procedures not covered by Respirology sub-specialty residency training. 

Successful applicants to the SOT Kidney Surgical Fellowship will have the opportunity to participate in a 2 year training program. Certain circumstances may afford a trainee to complete a 1 year program, depending on their background experience. Clinical training will offer experience with donor and recipient assessment, surgical training in kidney transplant for both adult and pediatric recipients, competency in live donor nephrectomy through both laparoscopic and hand-assisted approaches, exposure to deceased donor procurement of kidneys, as well as the management of post-transplant surgical complications. The fellow will also rotate on the HLA laboratory service.

Successful applicants to the SOT Liver/HPB (Hepatopancreatobiliary) Surgery Fellowship will have the opportunity to participate in a 2 year training program. Certain circumstances may afford a trainee to complete a 1 year program, depending on their background experience. The abdominal transplant fellowship includes an in depth training program spanning liver, pancreas, islet, and cadaveric multiorgan procurement. The fellow receives a graduated exposure over a 2 year period that is intended to yield a transplant surgeon competent with and comfortable in carrying out the range of abdominal transplant procedures and cadaveric organ recoveries.

Successful applicants to SOT Pediatric Fellowship will have the opportunity to participate in a 1 year training program in one Pediatric allograft focus of Infectious Diseases, Kidney or Liver.