A plain-spoken doctor in the field of kidney care

Sarah Street, M.D., Ph.D., was a professor before becoming a doctor. But in many ways, her current role as a kidney care specialist is still very much like being a teacher in helping patients better understand their condition and their care.

After working as a physiology professor, she entered medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Street had always been fascinated by the kidneys, but she found a communication gap between doctors and kidney disease patients.

“While in medical training, I realized that patients with kidney disease were often misunderstood and doctors felt kidney disease is often hard to understand,” Street says. “I wanted to be a nephrologist who can explain kidney disease and how the kidney works in plain and understandable language to patients and other doctors.”

She treats patients with chronic kidney disease, kidney stones, and genetic kidney disease while staying current on the latest ways to identify the causes of kidney ailments and how to treat them.

“There are so many different things that can go wrong with the kidney that it requires a detective-like approach to treating patients,” explains Street, who sees patients at the Mayland Medical Center and the Adult Outpatient Pavilion in downtown Richmond.

She enjoys getting to the bottom of what’s causing the symptoms her patients are experiencing as she seeks to provide value-based care that takes a patient-centered approach to providing the best possible treatment.

Among the initiatives Street is working on at VCU Health is helping develop a chronic kidney disease registry to better identify people with kidney diseases and genetic kidney injuries, so they can get an early diagnosis and the treatment needed to curb the progression of their illness.

Street was a teacher for about a decade in the health care field before joining VCU Health, and she’s continuing that kind of work here as a core educator in the Department of Internal Medicine, where she coaches and counsels the next generation of medical providers.

In addition to the opportunity to work with a diverse group of patients, Street was also drawn to VCU Health by the opportunity to prepare medical students to become “the doctors of tomorrow,” she says.

Street enjoys bringing clarity to complexity while guiding patients on the journey to better kidney health. She wants patients to feel comfortable asking her questions about their illness and their treatment. And she wants them to know she’s there to provide them the best possible treatment as part of their care team.

“More than anything, I want each patient to feel cared for and to know I’m engaged in all aspects of their care,” she says.

Outside work, Street focuses on fitness and home improvement projects. She also enjoys spending time with her partner and her dog and exploring new restaurants in Richmond.

Advice to Patients:

“Engage with your health care providers. We can help you navigate the complexity of the health care system.”