Kidney Health Coach
Learn how to become a Kidney Health Coach. Kidney Health Coach is the American Kidney Fund's free, community health education program.
Are you passionate about preventing kidney disease? Do you enjoy educating others about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle? If so, our Kidney Health Coach program may be for you!
Kidney Health Coach is the American Kidney Fund's free, community health education program. The online Kidney Health Coach training course provides information about preventing, managing and treating kidney disease, as well as living a healthy lifestyle through a series of four modules.
- Module 1: Welcome and Kidney Basics
- Module 2: Chronic Kidney Disease Causes, Symptoms and Testing
- Module 3: Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease
- Module 4: Why this Matters and Next Steps
To become a Kidney Health Coach, you must complete all components of the online course (in English | en Español).
After successful completion, you will obtain a certificate of completion. Continuing education (CE) credits are available at no-cost to eligible health care professionals.
Para convertirse en un Kidney Health Coach, debe completar todos los componentes del curso en línea (en inglés | en español). Después de completar el curso con éxito, obtendrá un certificado de finalización. Los créditos de educación continua (CE) están disponibles sin costo para los profesionales de atención medica elegibles.
Online Course
Take the Kidney Health Coach Course
As a Kidney Health Coach, you will have access to the Kidney Health Coach online portal, which includes tools and resources to help you host education sessions. You will also receive support and guidance from dedicated AKF staff members leading the program. Coaches can find support and share their experiences through the connected community of Kidney Health Coaches doing similar work.
Como un Kidney Health Coach, tendrás acceso al portal en línea, que incluye herramientas y recursos para ayudarlo a organizar sesiones educativas. También recibirá apoyo y orientación de miembros dedicados del personal de AKF que lideran el programa. Los entrenadores pueden encontrar apoyo y compartir sus experiencias a través de la comunidad conectada de entrenadores de salud renal que realizan un trabajo similar.
Who can become a Kidney Health Coach?
Anyone interested in educating others about kidney disease can become a Kidney Health Coach. Although the program is helpful to those who work in the health field, you do not need to have a health background to become a Kidney Health Coach.
Why 'coach'?
Coaches have strong relationships with their team. Our hope is that as a Kidney Health Coach you will develop trusting relationships with the people you educate to prevent and fight kidney disease.
Connect with AKF staff
We are here to help. Email us at education@kidneyfund.org for support. We will do our best to respond to your inquiry within 7 business days.
Kidney Health Coach Advisory Council
The KHC Advisory Council collaborates with the American Kidney Fund to ensure the KHC content and related materials support the needs of coaches in their efforts to share kidney disease information with various audiences.
Meet the Kidney Health Coach Advisory Council
Candice Stephens
Candice Stephens is a kidney and pancreas transplant recipient. She was born and currently resides in Macon, GA. She graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree with a concentration in Accounting from Valdosta State University. She has over 17 years of accounting experience as an auditor and financial consultant; and is also a realtor with Century 21 Homes and Investments. She and her husband are the owners of Kobi Catering Company and Kobi Trucking. She founded Day After Foundation, Inc. in 2022, which is a non-profit organization that provides tools and resources to pre- and post-transplant patients. She is the Support Group Facilitator and mentor for the Georgia Transplant Foundation. Her hobbies include spending time with my family, traveling, reading, shopping, and volunteering.
Debbie Adam
Debbie Adam is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, and received her B.S. in Biological Sciences with Research Honors and B.A. in Spanish Language, Literature & Culture from The University of Maryland, College Park in the Spring of 2022. She co-founded and co-presided the University of Maryland chapter of the Kidney Disease Screening and Awareness Program (UMCP KDSAP) for 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 calendar years. Currently, she is an active member of the KDSAP National Communications Committee, where her role is focused on organizing cultural humility trainings and helping chapters across the nation with the implementation of kidney screenings. Debbie recently started as a first-year medical student at The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine this August and holds a vested interest in advancing community health education. She enjoys attempting to cycle and bake, and enjoys attending dinner parties in her free time.
Ethan Pham
Ethan Pham currently lives in Orange County, California where he attends Corona del Mar High School. He has shadowed a nephrologist at his practice for the past two summers and has also given Kidney Health Coach presentations at dialysis centers and a doctor’s office. Some of his hobbies include playing tennis, traveling, and running.
Jackeline Flores
Jackeline Flores, MD was born and raised in Guatemala where she obtained her Medical Degree and her master’s in science in Internal Medicine from the University of San Carlos of Guatemala. Her interest in Nephrology started in medical school and her additional exposure to patients with kidney diseases encouraged Jackeline to pursue a Nephrology Fellowship. She has 10+ years of medical experience and now lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Jackeline is currently in the process of obtaining her medical license and recapitulate her training in the US to continue her passion for Nephrology. In her free time, she likes to spend time with her husband, hiking outdoors, and listening to music.
Jamie Smythe
Jamie Smythe has been a public servant for the last 15 years, as a Paralegal and Notary Public. Since 2011, she has been a patient advocate. She dedicated her life to serving, educating, and advocating for the kidney community. Jamie invests in her continuing education and personal development. To be the best advocate she can be, she leads by example and shares information and resources she has received along the way. Jamie’s purpose is to leave a legacy of faith, hope and love.
Rhonda Hill
Rhonda Hill was born in Suffolk, VA and currently reside in Raleigh, NC. She is a Registered nurse (17 years) and a recent graduate from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington with her Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration. Her hobbies include photography, resin crafts, painting, woodworking, and house plants.
Tieranee Sturdivant
Tieranee Sturdivant is a proud human resources turned healthcare professional who strives to transform the current standard of kidney care for an underserved market! Her passion for serving this community stems from her mother being on dialysis and brother passing away from end-stage renal disease. She is interested in mitigating the disparities minorities face, particularly Black Americans, due to the increased likelihood of developing kidney disease. She has diverse experience in dialysis clinics, a hospital renal unit, and a value-based kidney care company. In her spare time, she loves to read, practice yoga, listen to inspirational podcasts, thrift shop for vintage items, and teach herself how to play the piano.
WallACE Green Sr.
WallACE Green Sr. is retired Navy, retired Virginia Employment Commissioner, and founder of Health & Awareness (H&A). H&A a non-profit 501c3 organization targets the underserved, seniors, and those suffering from health care disparities. As a Kidney Health Coach, a to time kidney transplant recipient and author of "Why Not Me" Prevention of Kidney Disease Health Guide, he advocates prevention and educates the facts of organ donation.
WallACE spent eight years on home dialysis. In 2013, he received his first kidney transplant gift. Unfortunately, the transplanted kidney was rejected due to BK virus after only a couple months. He started home to dialysis treatment again until the blessing of a second kidney transplant in 2015.
As a Donate Life Virginia and LifeNet Health Ambassador, he hopes all family organ donors can take some comfort in their loved one’s decision to give the gift of life in saving lives and enhancing the lives of as many as 157 people.
He is married to Sandra Green (his family caregiver), four children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. WallACE has an A.A. in Radio & TV, A.A. in Business and a B.S in Sociology from Saint Leo University.