In 1971, a group of young nephrologists fresh from their specialty training abroad founded a society that was to spearhead the development of renal care throughout the country, the Philippine Society of Nephrology (PSN).

The founding members were Dr. Filoteo Alano, President; Dr. Hilario Esguerra II, Vice President; Dr. Libertad Nazareno-Rosales, Secretary-Treasurer; and Dr. Ophelia Completo-Buot, Dr. Aurora Padolina-Perez, Dr. Ruben Basilio, Dr. Benjamin Atanacio, Dr. Adriano dela Paz, Dr. Elsa Jacinto, Dr. Cecilia Talusan and Dr. Antonio Talusan, Board Members.

The PSN hosted its first national scientific convention on May 25, 1974 with then Secretary of Health, Dr. Clemente Gatmaitan, Sr., as keynote speaker. Conventions were thereafter held every 2 years with distinguished speakers from all over the world. In 1985 however, due to the growing number of nephrologists and physicians involved in caring for patients with kidney disease, the conventions were held annually providing continuing quality medical education.

The Philippine Journal of Nephrology (PJN), which is the official scientific publication of the society began in 1986 with Dr. Filoteo Alano as editor-in-chief . The PJN is published regularly and serves as the avenue for local scientific research papers in the specialty.

As the number of specialists in nephrology grew the PSN realized the need for standardizing the quality of subspecialty training. Thus the society organized its Specialty Board (PSN-SB) and Training Program Accreditation Board (PSN-TPAB) in 1982. The PSN-SB is tasked with evaluating qualified graduates of subspecialty training programs for certification as a diplomate and their elevation to fellow, the society signifying peer acceptance. The PSN-TPAB is responsible for accrediting the subspecialty training programs of various hospitals throughout the country. All these in an effort to achieve the highest standards in the practice of nephrology and to ensure that training programs remain current and well-rounded in developing renal physicians with a strong academic orientation and interest in doing research while maintaining humane and compassionate patient care.

In 1990 the PSN spread its wings to cover the Southern Philippines with the formation of the Visayas-Mindanao Chapter. The Officers were Dr. Ophelia C. Buot, President; Dr. Vivina Chiu, Vice-President for Visayas; and Dr. Josefino Ramos, Vice-President for Mindanao. The following year the chapter successfully hosted the annual convention held in Cebu.

In 1991, the Society became actively involved in the Preventive Nephrology Program of the National Kidney Institute with Drs. F. Alano and I. Gueco leading this ambitious nationwide project of screening public school children for early signs of renal disease.

In 1995, the pediatric nephrologists of the society founded their own organization, the Philippine Pediatric Nephrology Society of the Philippines (PNSP) which is under the umbrella of the PSN. Through this endeavor the unique and highly specialized needs of the pediatric renal disease population may be more adequately addressed.

It was also in 1995, that the Kidney Biopsy Registry and Renal Disease Registry projects were conceived. The Society undertook these projects to be able to come out with objective data on the major renal diseases and the status of dialysis and renal transplantation in the country. These projects were spearheaded by Dr. Romina Danguilan and Dr. Benita Padilla and they have been presenting the annual registry reports. Presently the renal registry project has become a joint effort of the Department of Health, National Kidney & Transplant Institute and the PSN.

Starting 1997, the Society saw the need for additional Continuing Medical Education activities and closer interaction among its growing membership, thus regular Nephrology Fora were held about five to six times a year in various accredited nephrology training institutions. Regular Midyear meetings were also initiated in the month of November and held in Cebu (1997), Puerto Princesa (1998) and Boracay (1999).

The Society started to accept Associate Members in 1998 to enable it to expand its membership to include Nephrology fellows in training and other doctors interested in the practice of Nephrology.

In 1999, the membership approved the Mission and Vision Statement which will guide the PSN in all its activities for the coming years. During the last PSN annual convention in April 2000, the International Society of Nephrology sponsored a symposium on Tropical Nephrology through its COMGAN (Committee for the Global Advancement of Nephrology) Project.

In 2002, Dra. Rosales spearheaded the revision of the organiztional chart of the Society. It was also in this year that PSN took a lead in celebrating Kidney Month, which was previously led by the National Kidney and Transplant Institute. Launching of public awareness program and lay fora at different provinces were held.

Starting 2003, the PSN was given a mandate to accredit free standing dialysis centers. In relation to this, a workshop on quality assurance in cooperation with DOH and Philhealth were conducted. The workshop results set the tone for the quality assurance of free standing dialysis centers. Reimbursement of Philhealth for peritoneal dialysis patients was also proposed by the society to help the patients unload their financial burdens.

In the same year 2003, the Philipine Association for Renal Health (PAReH), was organized. This is an organization which is compose of kidney patients and individuals involve in renal care. This aims to establish in the country a unified support program to its member and to all Filipinos, through regular awareness and education campaign. It has been registered with the Security and Exchange Commission with the official website ilovemykidney.com.

It was also in the same year 2003 that, the International Diabetes Federation and the International Society of Nephrology involved the PSN here in our country on a global campaign on increasing awareness of the importance of screening for microalbuminuria in people with Type 2 diabetes. The worldwide Microalbuminuria Screening Day was held last Sept 13 among patients with Type 2 DM in several hospitals.

The Philippines also hosted the 14th Asian Colloquim last November 2003 which was held at Shangri-la Hotel.

Currently, the society has continued to expand with a present membership of 294 doctors, consisting of 105 Nephrology Fellows, 116 Diplomates, 73 Associate members all over the country who are providing patients with kidney disease the best in renal care.