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Speaking during the Voices of Sister Centers session at the ISN World Congress of Nephrology, Huong Tran explains her own ISN Fellowship experience and how it created the framework for building training programs. She began sharing knowledge, expanded training opportunities for her colleagues and ‘developed important links with hospitals in Australia.’

Cho Ray Hospital started an ISN Sister Renal Center Partnership with Westmead Hospital led by Prof David Harris. A team from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, led by Prof Richard Allen, also participated in training visits to the center.

Dr Tran: ‘The most impressive achievement is the deceased donor transplantation program, with the allocation unit, the immunology lab with the technologists trained at the Australian Red Cross Blood Service. The second point is the development of the vascular surgeons who are now in charge to 90% of the vascular access. For the nephrologists, the core change depended on the pathologist and ISN Fellowship.’

When it comes to renal pathology, she believes it’s not just about the training. Her fellowship training helped her raise awareness about the vital role renal pathologists play in treating patients.

Their importance wasn’t highlighted in the past, even though their role is key to a more precise diagnosis and more effective treatment, especially in the case of kidney transplants and follow up,’ she says.

Setting up a telemedicine system was especially valuable for the staff at Cho Ray Hospital to lend them support when treating their patients. The four hours difference with Australia is ideal for conference calls between the teams so they can carry out their rounds in the morning and ask questions on cases in the afternoon.

Read more about the ISN Programs and about the activities surrounding this partnership, HERE.