Kidney Education

SAMA Kidney Disease education programs started in 2012 and progressively evolved from sporadic teaching activities by SAMA members during their visits to Sudan to comprehensive longitudinal workshops and courses accredited by local and international bodies.
        The International Society of Nephrology (ISN) is the major global organization concerned with the advancement of education, science, and patient care in Kidney Disease (Nephrology).
       Until 2016, the ISN was not permitted to sponsor or support any educational activities in Sudan because of the sanctions imposed by the United States. SAMA stepped in to enable ISN-endorsed activities and faculty to come to Sudan by providing necessary coordination and funding. In brief, the following timeline describes the educational activities executed from the beginning until 2020. 

In January 2020, Dr Elwaleed Elhassan gave a one-day workshop at Soba University Hospital on aspects of CRRT. Audience included critical care and nephrology fellows besides anesthesia and critical care consultants.

 The ISN Educational Ambassador and SAMA Director of Kidney Programs, Dr. Elwaleed Elhassan from Wayne State University in Michigan visited Sudan to teach nephrology fellows. He gave workshops on renal replacement therapy and different topics in nephrology. Participants included adult and pediatric nephrology fellows, candidates applying for renal fellowships, interested internists, and pediatricians.

Nephrology fellowship training was commenced by the Sudan Medical Specialization Board (SMSB) in July of 2010 for the first time. The scarcity of trainers and inconsistent educational activities were gaps that were identified. SAMA had designed the Renal Review and Update Course in partnership with the SMSB and Sudanese Nephrology Society (SNS) to try to fill these gaps by Sudanese nephrologists who trained and worked outside Sudan.
       Since its inception, the ISN had endorsed the course corroborating its outstanding scientific and educational standards. The course has been delivered on a biannual basis mostly benefiting renal fellows, as well as consultants, and medical registrars. It covers different aspects of renal medicine and transplantation and was taught by international as well as local experts.

 The ISN Sister Renal Center (SRC) Program helps improve how nephrology is practiced in emerging countries by linking emerging renal centers or units with established centers of excellence in the developed world.
     In 2017, SAMA applied on behalf of Soba University Hospital and Dr. Salma Renal Center for the program to establish a link with the Catholic University of Parana, Brazil.
      The ISN accepted the application, and since then, with the collaboration of Sudan partners, SAMA has been organizing and assisting in funding activities of the Program.
    In 2017, and at the Program’s entry Level C, those activities involved a visit to Sudan by Prof Roberto Pecoits-Filho, Dr. Viviane Calice da Silva (Brazilian nephrologists), and Prof Ana Elizabeth Figueiredo, Professor of Nursing at Catholic University of Parana. They delivered multiple educational and training activities to physicians and nurses in different aspects of renal care.
    In 2018, another visit was by Prof Roberto Pecoits-Filho, Prof Ana Elizabeth Figueiredo, and Dr. Cristina Glehn, an immunologist and director of HLA Lab. Activities included higher-level training and visits and consultations to Sudan transplant centers and the SMSB.
     In 2019, a Sudanese HLA lab technician spent six months of training with Dr Glehn in her lab in Brazil as part of the Program and returned to start serving at Dr. Salma Renal Center.
      Based on those achievements, the ISN has upgraded the Sudan-Brazil Sister Program to level B. Anticipated activities in 2020 include further visits and courses.

This conference was executed in collaboration with the ISN 0by25 (zero preventable deaths from acute kidney injury by 2025) Initiative and Saving Young Lives Project. Objectives were to raise awareness about acute kidney injury, discuss chronic kidney disease, its manifestations, and measures to halt its progression in addition to review different lifesaving dialysis modalities and their optimal delivery in Sudan settings. International faculty included Professors Fredric Finkelstein from Yale University, Edwina Brown from the Imperial College London, and Isaac Teitelbaum from the University of Colorado.

 With the aim of inspiring and empowering staff involved with kidney diseases and transplantation in Sudan, SAMA organized this workshop with the ISN. Visiting faculty included Prof. Mark Haas (eminent renal pathologist), Dr. James Cooper (transplant nephrologist), Patrick Klem (transplant clinical Pharmacist), Susie Harris (transplant nurse and case manager) from the USA.