About the Course

This short course covers the aetiology, clinical presentation and management of adult polycystic kidney disease. 

Watch the introductory lesson below:

Foundation Programme Curriculum

This course covers the following Foundation Programme Curriculum areas:


10. Recognises, assesses and manages patients with long term conditions

11. Obtains history, performs clinical examination, formulates differential diagnosis and management plan

12. Requests relevant investigations and acts upon results

13. Prescribes safely

16. Demonstrates understanding of the principles of health promotion and illness prevention

About the Supervisor and Presenter

Dr. Elizabeth Forsythe

Dr Elizabeth Forsythe is a Genetic Clinical Research Fellow at UCL.

About the Authors

Dr. Yusuf Karmali

Fellowship Programme Clinical Lead

Yusuf is a Medics.Academy Programme Manager, Clinical Lead for the Medics.Academy Fellows Programme and a Foundation Year doctor, graduated from Barts and The London School of Medicine. Throughout medical school, Yusuf was awarded numerous prizes for outstanding academic achievement and he delivered high-quality peer-teaching through student-led societies, in which he held various positions of leadership. His passion for education led to him joining Medics.Academy in July 2018, where he started as a fellow and lead author on the clinical genetics course. He went on to become a member of the Medics.Academy team as a Clinical Programme Manager and then has been the Clinical Lead on the highly successful Medics.Academy Fellowship Programme. He is also part of the F|Docs Faculty where he leads teaching sessions for foundation year doctors, and also enjoys teaching medical students as part of the S|Docs Programme. His other interests include medical technology and health policy.

Sifan Zheng

Sifan Zheng is a third-year medical student at King’s College London and a Fellow at Medics.Academy. He is currently writing for the Clinical Genetics course and the Wiley Paediatrics at a Glance series and is the clinical product manager for Legacy. Sifan is keenly interested health policy and is currently the President of King’s Think Tank. He has directed research into migrant mental health, health systems transformation, and sanitation inequality. Through his medical research, Sifan has presented his work at national and international conferences.

Catrin Sohrabi

Catrin is a medical student at Barts and The London with an interest in the application of cutting-edge learning technology to the delivery of high-quality educational material in medicine. She is particularly passionate about combining her interests in surgery and scientific research with a future academically-focused career. Having authored content on the ENT and Clinical Genetics curriculum, she is keen to continue to inspire interest in teaching and education during her role as a Medics.Academy Fellow.

Course Curriculum

  • 1

    Polycystic Kidney Disease

    • Genetics of polycystic kidney disease

    • Introduction

    • Aetiology

    • Clinical presentation

    • Diagnosis and investigations

    • Genetic Advice

    • Management

    • Prognosis

    • Support group

    • Test yourself