A Survey of Home Dialysis Competency, Exposure, and Barriers Among Nephrology Fellows in the United States

According to the latest United States Renal Disease Report,1 home dialysis—peritoneal dialysis (PD) and home hemodialysis (HHD)—utilization among incident patients with kidney failure remains relatively nominal (14.1% PD and 0.4% HHD). A historic obstacle to the growth of home dialysis in the United States is insufficient nephrologist training. In a survey-based evaluation of self-perceived competency of fellows who graduated between 2004 and 2008 only 55.6% of respondents reported feeling well trained and competent in PD, while a mere 15.8% reported feeling competent in HHD.