Nephrology in Spain
	José Mª Alcázar Angel Luis Martín de Francisco

1. History of Nephrology

The Spanish Nephrological Society (SEN) was created in 1964. In its early years, various prestigious professors of Internal Medicine participated, such as Jiménez Díaz, Gilsanz and Ortiz de Landázuri (1). In the years that followed, however, the society's board of directors came to be comprised exclusively of nephrologists. This remains the case today.

On February 18, 1977, Nephrology was approved as an independent medical specialty. In order to formally achieve a specialization in Nephrology, a four-year residency period is required, one which adheres to a model for the training of medical specialists designed by the Education and Health Ministries. In this moment the Nephrology National Commission will discuss to increase up to five years the training in Nephrology in order to achieve acknowledgment in renal vascular radiology (ecodoppler in particular) practical basic science applied to nephrology and other subjects.

During the first year, medical residents work and participate in Services for Internal Medicine and medical specialties such as Cardiology, Intensive Medicine and Infectious Diseases. Beginning in the second year, they join Nephrological Services, complying fully with a program designed by the National Nephrological Commission (www.senefro.org). Each year, a fixed number of actual positions (40 to 70 per year) in Nephrology are offered. Currently, the number of nephrologists working in public and private institutions is estimated to be around 1,100.

SEN has published NEFROLOGIA (www.grupoaulamedica.com/web/nefrologia/nefrologia.cfm), a monthly journal, since 1981. It organizes an annual Congress, and since 1996 it has had a web page on the Internet (www.senefro.org).