What Is a Nephrologist?

After completing his residency in internal medicine at the University of Missouri,
Dr. Benahili Iboaya underwent additional training through a nephrology fellowship at the University of Mississippi. Dr Benahili Iboaya works at Blanchard Nephrology LLC, an organization which runs several renal clinics.

Nephrologists are informally known as kidney doctors. They specialize not only in treating diseases affecting the kidneys, but also in ways to care for and maintain healthy kidneys.

In order to become a nephrologist a doctor must obtain a nephrology fellowship apart from finishing medical school and completing a three-year internship in internal medicine. The fellowship will include instruction on a variety of subjects such as dialysis, management of acute kidney failure, and kidney transplantation.

In order to diagnose a kidney-related problem, a nephrologist may order both a blood test and a urine test. Other diagnostic tests that may be called for include a kidney ultrasound and kidney biopsy. Once the diagnosis is done, the nephrologist can prescribe a treatment plan.