No day is ever the same for a nephrologist. Dallas Nephrology Associates' Dr. Paul Skluzacek may see his kidney patients in the office, have hospital rounds, dialysis rounds and much more. In this episode of Let's Talk About Kidneys, learn about Dr. Skluzacek's busy days providing patient care and how his schedule changes from one day to another.

What is a Nephrologist?

Nephrologists are kidney doctors. They have special training that includes completion of medical school followed by a residency in Internal Medicine and then additional specialty training in Nephrology.

They treat systemic conditions affecting kidneys, such as diabetes, an autoimmune disease, as well as hypertension (high blood pressure) and electrolyte disturbances.

Reasons to see a nephrologist may include:

Protein or blood in the urine
Uncontrolled high blood pressure
Kidney stones
Chronic kidney disease (CKD)
Kidney failure
Vascular access management
Transplant care

What does a day in the life of a Nephrologist look like?

For a nephrologist, each day is different. Hours may be spent seeing kidney patients in an office-based setting at the clinic, running tests as well as interpreting them. They also prescribe medicine and treatments, conduct hospital rounds and visit their patients at dialysis centers.

Nephrologists also spend time making notes on their patients' physical conditions and advise them how to stay healthy.

"The clinic patients are the outpatients that we see in the office," says Dr. Skluzacek. "The focus there is to preserve their kidney function, protect their kidneys and keep them out of the hospital."

Patients who are admitted to the hospital are there because their kidney illness is more serious.

"They can be as sick as being on the ventilator in the ICU to patients that are there just for severe hypertension or high blood pressure control," Dr. Skluzacek says.

With a schedule that includes practicing at four locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Dr. Skluzacek says he spends a lot of time on the road. He also sees his dialysis patients once a week.

"The vast majority of things we can handle over the phone now because we have access to the electronic health records through the Internet," he says, "but probably about half of the time, I have to go in and see a patient."

The Business of Taking Care of People

Dr. Skluzacek believes that compassion is an important part of being a physician, especially if you are a nephrologist.

"Patients with kidney disease have complex illnesses, and it's hard to navigate the healthcare system," says Dr. Skluzacek," so we as providers need to be compassionate, not only with the patients, but with their families and their other situations."