Christine Crana, MD, a pediatric nephrologist, says she knew nephrology, which involves taking care of the kidneys, was the right match for her during her second year of medical school. Her focus on pediatrics was another easy decision.
“Nephrology was the first specialty rotation I did in internal medicine. I just fell in love with it, and soon realized working with children was for me,” she says. “The conditions you come across are incredibly interesting and it’s rewarding to work with parents and the child. Chronic kidney disease can greatly impact your quality of life. I saw the great relationships that pediatric nephrologists formed with their patients in helping them understand the disease process and treat them.”
The kidneys, Dr. Crana explains, sometimes only present few or vague symptoms, so much of her work is like piecing together a puzzle.
“For kidney disease, it’s a lot of interpreting the history, exam, blood pressure, urine studies and lab results to gain a better understanding of a patient’s health,” she says. “The best thing about pediatric nephrology is that you can follow a patient through end-stage kidney disease requiring dialysis to kidney transplant. I love that transition where they take off and fly after transplant.”
Other conditions Dr. Crana commonly treats include hypertension, glomerulonephritis, nephrotic syndrome, genetic kidney conditions, kidney stones, and congenital anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tract, for which she works closely with pediatric urology colleagues.
To put children and parents at ease, Dr. Crana says she makes sure to give them enough time to go over all details of their diagnosis and care. “I’m told I have a calm demeanor and I try to use that in talking through everything with them. One of the most important things is to distill the kidney disease medical-speak into what they can easily understand,” she says.
