Our division is proud to give a hearty round of applause to faculty member Timothy Yau MD, the creator and moderator of the Washington University in St. Louis Nephrology Web Video Series. The series has accumulated 10,000 views in just under 9 months since its debut on YouTube!
Tim Yau MD, WU Nephrology YouTube Mastermind
A “personal interest” in online video gaming inspired Dr. Yau to use live video streaming to help educate the next generation of nephrologists. “Streaming is such a powerful tool to spread information to a huge audience, and I thought that nephrology (and medical education in general) could benefit from this,” he says. “Renal pathology in particular made a lot of sense for this format because of the images and the discussion.”
Dr. Yau observed that fellows often struggle when they have to interpret images in front of their peers. The format of the teaching series is a sort of flipped classroom, where viewers can learn in a more relaxed environment. “I’ve tried other formats but this one seems to be the most popular,” says Yau. In the pathology teaching episodes, a renal fellow assumes the role of a pathologist in reading a biopsy and rendering a diagnosis while being guided by renal pathologist Joseph Gaut, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Pathology & Immunology. There is no lack of material to discuss. “Even if I continued solely with renal pathology, I have another 20 videos that I could record,” says Yau. However, he would like to incorporate into the series more CPCs, basic physiology discussions, and interviews with some of the giants in nephrology such as Eduardo Slatopolsky, MD, Emeritus Professor of Renal Diseases in Medicine. The series is endorsed by the Renal Fellow Network, AJKDblog and NephronPower.
When asked about his Twitter handle @Maximal_Change, Dr. Yau explains that it is a nod to his online video gaming experience. It has been his “gamer tag” since he was a nephrology fellow and is an homage to minimal change disease, a kidney disease that causes nephrotic syndrome. However, says Yau, “So far no one has understood the reference in the gaming community.”
Check out the series and subscribe to the official WU Nephrology YouTube Channel!
