About the Nephrology Fellowship Program

The Nephrology Fellowship Program is a 2 year fellowship allowing for individualized training in clinical nephrology, hypertension, transplantation and research.  

These are the core values of the Nephrology Fellowship Program: 

• Clinical excellence 
• Intellectual curiosity 
• Scientific Discovery 
• Innovation 
• Collegiality 
• Fairness
• Integrity 
• Teamwork

The VCU Medical Center boasts state of the art clinical, research and educational facilities. Fellows also receive training at the Richmond VA Health Care System in Richmond, Virginia with dedicated faculty members  and an innovative educational curriculum.

Fellows will be trained in all aspects of care for the renal patient, including – but not limited to – acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, glomerular diseases, diabetic nephropathy, hypertension, fluid and electrolyte disorders, management of patients with end stage kidney disease, renal transplant, and nephrolithiasis . The general nephrology fellowship is a two-year program.

Fellows all participate in scholarly activities during their fellowship training. Fellows in their second year of training attend the American Society of Nephrology Annual conference and are expected to submit abstracts for consideration to this conference. In the past several years, fellows have presented at the annual ASN meeting, National Kidney Foundation annual meeting and American Transplant Society annual meeting. Fellows have also authored book chapters and manuscripts that have appeared in journals such as Kidney International. Fellows also take part in quality improvement projects with most of these projects occurring at the VA Medical Center.

Vacation Time 
Each fellow has three weeks of vacation per year. The time is generally taken as either one of the following: 

1. Three 7-day vacations 
2. One 7-day vacation and one 14-day vacation. 

Additionally, each fellow is given five days off during the December holiday period. 

Night Coverage
Nephrology fellows do not take in-house calls. We have a night float system where fellows take calls from home Sunday night through Thursday night.  Calls are taken from home, but the on-call fellow must come in to see the patients based on a pre-defined criterion.  The call starts at 4 pm and ends at 7 am the following morning. The fellows are responsible for seeing and staffing with the overnight on call attending any consults. Fellows are not responsible for any daytime activities including clinic and lectures. Night calls are distributed equally amongst the first- and second-year fellows. 

Weekend Coverage
Fellows cover either VCU or the VA Hospital for approximately 12 weekends per year. When on call over a weekend, the fellows see all new consults at VCU or the VA hospitals during the day, which are staffed with the attending physicians on call. Additionally, the weekend on-call fellow rounds with the attending physician on existing consults.

Fellows average at least 1 day off in 7 when averaged over 4 weeks.  

GME Resident & Fellow Well-Being
Graduate Medical Education training is not easy. With the GME Physician Well-being program, we first and foremost assert our commitment to your well-being, resilience and all aspects of a healthy lifestyle. VCU and VCUHealth are dedicated to ensuring that you have the tools you need to be your best. (Learn more)

All About VCU, VCU Health, and RVA
First things first. We fondly refer to Richmond as RVA.  People love this city because it’s awesome. And Virginia Commonwealth University is in the middle of it all.  Learn more about VCU, VCU Health, and RVA!

VCU Nephrology Faculty

• Susan DiGiovanni, MD
• Adam Dossaji, MD
• Imran Fatani, MD   
• Todd Gehr, MD
• Graham Gipson, MD
• Andinet B. Gizaw, MD
• Gaurav Gupta, MD - Division Chief
• Jason Kidd, MD
• Irfan Moinuddin, MD - Fellowship Program Director
• Kennerly Patrick, MD
• Elizabeth Ripley, MD
• Shikha Shailly, MD
• Sriram Sriperumbuduri, MD
• Sarah Street, MD
• Anna Vinnikova, MD

VCU Transplant-Nephrology Faculty

• Akshay Athreya, MD
• Ambreen Azhar, MBBS
• Gaurav Gupta, MD - Division Chief
• Layla Kamal, MD
• Dhiren Kumar, MD
• Irfan Moinuddin, MD - Fellowship Program Director
• Niveditha Girimaji Satishchandra, MD

VCU Pediatric Nephrology

• Megan Lo, MD
• Khalid Abubakr Mostafa Mohamed Taha, MD
• Kirollos Yousef, MBBCh, MSc

VAMC

• Sindhura Bobba, MBBS
• Naman Gupta, MD
• Peace Johnson, MD
• Mahendra Mangray, MD 
• Susanne McLaughlin, MD
• Nilang Patel, MD

Class of 2028 

Azam Alamdari, MD 
Medical School: Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS) 
Residency: Tehran University Affiliated Hospitals, Tehran, Iran 

Rim Farhat, MD 
Medical School: Lebanese University Faculty of Medical Sciences 
Residency: American University of Beirut Program, Lebanon 

Himarshi Patel, MBBS 
Medical School: Government Medical College Bhavnagar, India 
Residency: Government Medical College & Sir. T. Hospital, Bhavnagar, India 

Class of 2027 

Amal Abdellatif, MD 
Medical School:  Weill Cornell Medical College, Doha, Qatar 
Residency: Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) Program, Doha, Qatar 

Aurangzeb Afzal, MBBS 
Medical School: King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan 
Residency: Mayo Hospital, King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan 

Paige Herman, MD 
Medical School: SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine. 
Residency: Massachusetts General Hospital Program, Boston, MA 

Amrinder Singh, MBBS 
Medical School: Vardhman Mahavir Medical College & Safdarjung Hospital, India 
Residency: PGIMER and Dr. RML Hospital, India 

Eligibility Requirements

The applicant should be an MD or DO with three or more years of Internal Medicine residency training in an ACGME-accredited training program. A pass on USMLE Step 3 is a mandatory prerequisite for acceptance as a fellow.

Our institution can sponsor J-1 visas and may sponsor H-1 visas on a case-by-case basis (only continuation, no new H-1 visas are sponsored).

How to Apply

The program participates in the National Residency Matching Program. Applications will only be accepted through Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and will follow ERAS deadlines. Interviews will take place between August and mid-November.

Required Documentation

• Application
• Curriculum Vitae
• USMLE score reports
• Medical school transcripts
• MSPE
• A personal statement
• 3-4 letters of recommendation, including one from your program director
• A photograph

If applicable, please provide the following: 

• ECFMG certificate
• Medical school diploma (with translation if necessary)

Application Timeline

Interview dates for 2026 Interview Season will be starting in August 2026.

Attention:  In support of our applicants, we will be flexible in providing virtual and on-site fellowship interview opportunities.  We understand that applicants may have restrictions on travel during this time.  Our interview schedule may change as we approach the late summer and fall. 

Program Director

Irfan Moinuddin, MD, FASN
Box 980160
Richmond, Virginia 23298-0160
Email: irfan.moinuddin@vcuhealth.org

Fellowship Coordinator

Tiffany Wilkins, CCMA
VCU School of Medicine
Department of Internal Medicine
Box 980509
Richmond, VA 23298-0509 
Phone: (804) 828-9726
Email: imfellowships@vcuhealth.org

For training verification requests, please visit us at https://intmed.vcu.edu/education/verification/