Gregory House held board certification in nephrology besides infectious disease.
Nephrology is the medical specialty concerned with the kidneys, including kidney disease, fluid balance, electrolyte disorders, and related effects on the body. Infectious disease focuses on illnesses caused by pathogens and on complex infections. House’s combination of specialties helps explain his broad diagnostic range in the series.
House is usually depicted as the leader of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine rather than as a conventional nephrologist or infectious-disease consultant. His team investigates patients whose symptoms cross ordinary specialty boundaries, so his formal training is only one part of the diagnostic process.
Viewers sometimes identify House solely with diagnostic medicine, but the character’s biography specifies nephrology and infectious disease. Nephrology is also connected to the show’s recurring kidney-related cases and to House’s early professional career before he became head of diagnostics.