Education in Nephrology & Geriatric Nephrology

Dr. Merchant's creative professional activities as a clinician teacher in the division of nephrology are mainly centered around curriculum building for geriatric and general nephrology. His academic focus is to create content in topics including CKD management in the elderly, palliative and symptoms management, prognostication, and goals of care with respect to dialysis modality choice. Over the course of 3 - 5 years, he plans to expand this teaching across provincial and national platforms, and rigorously evaluate the curriculum. He will also be engaging in cross departmental teaching including palliative care and geriatric residents and fellows.

About Us

Dr. Asad Merchant believes that teaching is a covenant between people. He is a believer in the constructivist theory that knowledge is built when we are challenged by a “surprise” situation that creates tension, and allows us to look at our environment in a new way, assimilating and adapting new information to construct new meaning. Since learning about social constructivism, He has adopted many of its tenets into his teaching world view.

Every learner has a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), and it is our responsibility to help them learn knowledge and skills that they would not be able to acquire independently. This is known as a cognitive apprenticeship. At the same time, he has tried to reconcile with the idea that knowledge can be fluid, and needs to be co-constructed with learners. The best learning occurs when we all bring our cultural, social and institutional experiences to the table, and look at problems from all angles, scaffolding knowledge and ideas to get closer to understanding.

Leadership

  • Dr. Asad Merchant
    Clinician Teacher - Nephrology Division, UHN

Awards

  • 2021

    Honour Your Hero

    Donations made in Dr. Merchant's name by two different patient families.

  • 2017

    Inaugural UHN Citizenship Award

    Awarded by the University Health Network.

Publications