In plain English
Nephrology covers kidney function and its failure, blood pressure, and the fluid and electrolyte problems that follow from both. What distinguishes it commercially is dialysis: nephrologists supervise care at dialysis facilities as well as running clinics and consulting on admitted patients.
That makes the specialty unusually easy to locate through institutions. Dialysis centres are certified, published and countable, and a nephrologist's working life is usually spread across a hospital, a clinic and one or more dialysis units.
The line with urology is the one to keep straight: nephrologists manage kidney function medically, urologists are surgeons of the urinary tract. Transplant nephrology is a further sub-specialty, and the transplant operation itself belongs to surgeons.
Training and credentials
An internal medicine residency, a two-year nephrology fellowship, then board certification.
Where they practise
Hospital nephrology services, dialysis facilities, independent and hospital-employed nephrology groups, transplant centres.
Nephrologists on the public record
Counted from what providers file about themselves, with suppression applied before anything is counted, refreshed 2026-10-05. Names, specialties and practice locations are public; work email and phone are for signed-in customers.
| State | On record | With work email | With practice phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 1,965 | 1,447 74% | 1,965 |
| Texas | 1,615 | 1,146 71% | 1,615 |
| New York | 1,291 | 1,017 79% | 1,290 |
| Florida | 1,246 | 820 66% | 1,246 |
| Pennsylvania | 781 | 627 80% | 781 |
| Illinois | 694 | 551 79% | 694 |
| Ohio | 617 | 491 80% | 617 |
| New Jersey | 597 | 425 71% | 597 |
Closely related, and where to find them.
Closely related
- Internal medicine physician Adult general medicine, and the classification most sub-specialties are filed beneath.
- Urologist Surgery of the urinary tract - and the specialty most often confused with nephrology.
- Registered dietitian The credentialled nutrition profession - and why nutritionist is not a reliable filter.
Find them
- Nephrologists list counts by state, the fields a record carries, a sample record.
- Physicians physician data by specialty, state and employer.
- Certified dialysis centres by state and town
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