Extras · 1 of 4

A typical day

Early rounds at an outpatient dialysis unit, 15 or 20 patients you have known for years, checking labs, access sites and blood pressure. Then the hospital: consults on patients whose kidneys are failing for six different reasons, an argument with a cardiologist about fluid, a decision about whether to start dialysis on someone who may not want it. Afternoon clinic is slower kidney disease, transplant follow-ups and blood pressure. You are on call for the hospital's dialysis service one week in three or four.