For accreditation as a pancreas transplant training program, each fellow must perform as least 15 pancreas transplants over the course of their fellowship. The program must also be of sufficient duration to allow the trainee to acquire skill in the pre- and postoperative management of transplant patients. The length of the fellowship period should be no less than 24 months. It is essential for trainees to learn the management of end-stage organ disease and the specific indications and contraindications for organ transplantation. It is also importantfor the trainee to gain understanding of the function of the histocompatibility laboratory with respect to cross-matching techniques, PRA testing, and tissue typing.
Actual time spent in the histocompatibility laboratory is considered desirable.
It is essential that the trainee also have an intimate acquaintance with the laboratory and radiologic procedures used in the diagnosis of rejection, infection, and other problems. The trainee should also gain familiarity with the pathology of rejection, infection, and other problems. The fellow must also gain experience in the workup of living donors and in the procurement and preservation of organs obtained from cadaver donors. Finally, opportunities for participation in basic science research or clinical research is strongly encouraged.