DHC Pediatric Lecture Series 2026 - Beyond the City Limits: Pediatric Kidney Transplantation in Rural America



Date & Location
Tuesday, September 8, 2026, 8:00 AM - Saturday, September 8, 2029, 9:00 AM

Credits
AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ (1.00 hours), ANCC Nursing Contact Hours (1.00 hours), ASWB Social Work Credit(s) (1.00 hours), CME-Designated Participation Credit (1.00 hours)

Overview

This Pediatric Lecture Series will discuss important pediatric topics that may lead to the improvement of child health from an individual, health care system and/or societal level. This presentation will provide an overview of the multidisciplinary medical care of pediatric kidney-transplant recipients, including the longitudinal management required before and after transplantation, along with a brief discussion of the surgical approach to pediatric kidney transplantation. We will also examine how rural pediatric transplant care differs from the urban experience.

Presenters

Abraham (Abe) Matar, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Transplantation
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

Dr. Abe Matar grew up in Florida; he completed his general surgery residency at Emory University in Atlanta, including a two-year research sabbatical in transplant immunology at the Emory Transplant Center. He subsequently completed an abdominal multi-organ transplant surgery fellowship at the University of Minnesota, with training in adult and pediatric transplantation. Currently, Dr. Matar is an abdominal transplant surgeon and Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Transplantation here at Dartmouth. His clinical practice includes adult and pediatric kidney transplantation and dialysis access. He has a basic science lab where he studies transplant rejection and therapeutic drug development, while his clinical research interests include identifying and addressing barriers and inequities faced by rural transplant patients. Dr. Matar most enjoys practicing in Northern New England because rural transplant patients and their families are so appreciative after transplantation.

Michael C. Chobanian, MD
Medical Director, Solid Organ Transplantation
Program Director, Pediatric Transplantation
Associate Professor, Surgery and Pediatrics
Dartmouth Health; Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

Dr. Chobanian has practiced as an adult and pediatric nephrologist and transplanter for more than 40 years. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, completed residencies and fellowships at Dartmouth, the University of Virginia, and Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Chobanian spent his first 10 years in academia at the University of Wisconsin, where he met transplant visionary Folkert Belzer, who developed the UW Preservation Solution for organs and the perfusion pump to transport organs long distances. He came to Dartmouth to direct the Transplant Program in 1997, instituting one of the first programs worldwide to use a single anti-rejection medicine to maintain transplants without negatively impacting their outcomes.


Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this learning activity, participants will be able to:

  1. Describe the longitudinal multidisciplinary medical care required for pediatric kidney-transplant candidates and recipients, including key considerations before transplantation and during post-transplant follow-up.
  2. Summarize the fundamental surgical approach to pediatric kidney transplantation, including recipient evaluation and perioperative considerations.
  3. Compare the experiences of rural and urban pediatric kidney-transplant patients and families, including how geography, travel burden, access to specialty services, and care coordination may shape the transplant journey.

Accreditation

In support of improving patient care, Dartmouth Health is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team. 

American Medical Association (AMA)
Dartmouth Health designates this Enduring Material for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. 

American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)
Dartmouth Health designates this Enduring Material for a maximum of 1.00 ANCC contact hours.

Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB)
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Dartmouth Health is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this course receive 1.00 general continuing education credits.

Social Worker Account Setup
If you wish to apply for ASWB credit, you will need to enter your license number in your CE Profile by following these steps:

  1. Log in to Dartmouth Health's CE portal (https://dh.cloud-cme.com).

  2. From the My Account Menu, select Profile.

  3. Ensure your degree and profession are accurately reflected.

  4. Enter the state license type, License #, and Expiration date.

  5. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click Submit

All other learners may claim CME-designated participation credit. Consult your professional licensing board regarding the applicability and acceptance of CME-designated participation credit for programs certified for credit by organizations accredited by Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Education.


Registration/Requirements for Successful Completion
You may claim credit for successful completion of this online course. In order to claim credit, you must follow these steps:

  1. Click the Register tab above. If you are not logged into your account, you will need to log in. Use the Forgot Your Password? button if you need to reset your password.

  2. Register for the activity.

  3. Click the Content/Tests tab and then View Content to view the recording. View the entire presentation.

  4. Complete the Post-Test (attestation - return to the Content/Tests tab to find it).

  5. Click the Complete Evaluation button, or click My Account in the menu bar; then click Evaluations.

  6. Complete and Submit the Evaluation.

Bibliographic Material

Provider Contact Information

Provider contact information for questions regarding accreditation of the activity:

Center for Learning and Professional Development
ACE Office
Dartmouth Health
[email protected]