Recommendations to overcome barriers to transplant fellowship training: A report from the American Society of Transplantation Fellows Task Force

Jon Kobashigawa¹, Josh Levitsky², Neeraj Singh³, Kiran Khush⁴, Sean Pinney⁵, Elizabeth Aby⁶, Aasim Afzal⁷, Deborah Adey⁸, Anshul Bhalla⁹, Mona Doshi¹⁰, Samira Farouk¹¹, Alyson Fox¹², Shelley Hall⁷, Michelle Kittleson¹³, Lindsay King¹⁴, Alexander Kuo¹⁵, Deborah Levine¹⁶, Yosef Manla¹³, Jamak Modaresi Esfeh¹⁷, Arjmand Mufti¹⁸, Prince Mohan Anand¹⁹, Michael Nurok²⁰, J P Norvell²¹, Neehar Parikh²², Anjana Pillai²³, Faruq Pradhan²⁴, Allison Ramsey²⁵, Milagros Samaniego-Picota²⁶, Ishna Poojary-Hohman²⁷, Manpreet Samra²⁸, Deirdre Sawinski²⁹, Kelly Schlendorf³⁰, Stuart Sweet³¹, Bekir Tanriover³², Sarthak Virmani³³, Roy D Bloom³⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute, Los Angeles, California, USA. Electronic address: jon.kobashigawa@cshs.org.
² Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
³ John C. McDonald Transplant Center, Willis-Knighton Health System, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.
⁴ Divison of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
⁵ Division of Cardiology, Mount Sinai Morningside, New York, New York, USA.
⁶ Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
⁷ Department of Cardiology, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
⁸ Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
⁹ College of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
¹⁰ Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
¹¹ Barbara T. Murphy Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
¹² Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
¹³ Department of Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute, Los Angeles, California, USA.
¹⁴ Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
¹⁵ Karsh Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
¹⁶ Division of Pulmonary Critical Care and Allergy, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Nephrology, Medical University of South Carolina, Lancaster, South Carolina, USA.
²⁰ Departments of Anesthesiology and Cardiac Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute, Los Angeles, California, USA.
²¹ Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
²² Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
²³ Department of Internal Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
²⁴ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Nebraska Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
²⁵ Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Immunology, David Geffen-UCLA School of Medicine, USA.
²⁶ Division of Nephrology, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
²⁷ Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA.
²⁸ Department of Medicine, Edward Hines VA Jr. Hospital Hines, Hines, Illinois, USA.
²⁹ Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA.
³⁰ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn, USA.
³¹ Division of Allergy and Pulmonary Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
³² Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine-Tucson, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
³³ Division of Nephrology, University of Virginia Health, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
³⁴ Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

PMID: 40373877
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajt.2025.05.007

Recommendations to overcome barriers to transplant fellowship training: A report from the American Society of Transplantation Fellows Task Force

Jon Kobashigawa et al. Am J Transplant. 2025 Aug.

. 2025 Aug;25(8):1601-1613.

doi: 10.1016/j.ajt.2025.05.007. Epub 2025 May 13.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute, Los Angeles, California, USA. Electronic address: jon.kobashigawa@cshs.org.
² Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
³ John C. McDonald Transplant Center, Willis-Knighton Health System, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.
⁴ Divison of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
⁵ Division of Cardiology, Mount Sinai Morningside, New York, New York, USA.
⁶ Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
⁷ Department of Cardiology, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
⁸ Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
⁹ College of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
¹⁰ Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
¹¹ Barbara T. Murphy Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
¹² Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
¹³ Department of Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute, Los Angeles, California, USA.
¹⁴ Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
¹⁵ Karsh Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
¹⁶ Division of Pulmonary Critical Care and Allergy, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Nephrology, Medical University of South Carolina, Lancaster, South Carolina, USA.
²⁰ Departments of Anesthesiology and Cardiac Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute, Los Angeles, California, USA.
²¹ Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
²² Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
²³ Department of Internal Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
²⁴ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Nebraska Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
²⁵ Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Immunology, David Geffen-UCLA School of Medicine, USA.
²⁶ Division of Nephrology, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
²⁷ Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA.
²⁸ Department of Medicine, Edward Hines VA Jr. Hospital Hines, Hines, Illinois, USA.
²⁹ Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA.
³⁰ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn, USA.
³¹ Division of Allergy and Pulmonary Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
³² Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine-Tucson, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
³³ Division of Nephrology, University of Virginia Health, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
³⁴ Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

PMID: 40373877
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajt.2025.05.007

Abstract

With the expansion of solid organ transplantation activities in the United States, there is a critical need for more transplant care providers and trainees to sustain and advance the field of transplantation. However, there has been a pending shortage of trainees pursuing transplant fellowship training in the United States in recent years. To address this issue, the American Society of Transplantation (AST) organized the fellows' task force, including representatives of all 4 major organs from various AST communities of practice, to understand the drivers of this pending shortage and develop strategies to increase interest in transplant specialization. The task force identified 4 areas of focus, including early and sustained exposure to transplant medicine, awareness through education, flexible fellowships and pathways to transplant, and work-life resources. Based on these focus areas, the task force developed recommendations and action items, which were compiled into a report to be implemented by individuals, institutions, communities of practice (work groups), and societies such as the AST. We hope that this report will be the first step in overcoming barriers and concerns to encourage the pursuit of specialization in transplantation in the United States.

Keywords: American Society of Transplantation; fellowship training; medical education; solid organ transplantation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors of this manuscript have no conflicts of interest to disclose as described by American Journal of Transplantation.

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Recommendations to overcome barriers to transplant fellowship training: A report from the American Society of Transplantation Fellows Task Force

Affiliations

Recommendations to overcome barriers to transplant fellowship training: A report from the American Society of Transplantation Fellows Task Force

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical