Critical Care Anesthesia Rotation
With regrets, our Critical Care Fellowship is currently not active.
The University of Virginia Department of Anesthesiology offers a Board approved critical care fellowship consisting of a minimum of one year and a maximum of two years specialized training beyond the basic residency. Successful completion of the first (or single) year of the program meets the American Board of Anesthesiology's requirements for "Special Qualifications in Critical Care Medicine". The Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) is the clinical environment for this fellowship. Stuart Lowson, MBBS is the SICU Co-Director and fellowship director. The SICU provides services to trauma, transplant, and surgical subspecialty patients. Bedside care is provided by residents from anesthesiology, general surgery, and obstetrics and gynecology. These residents are supervised by the critical care fellow and the anesthesiology/critical care medicine attending. All procedures are performed by the critical care medicine service. Collaborative care plans are developed in conjunction with the surgical attendings and chief residents. Active multidisciplinary critical care medicine is supported by a highly-skilled nursing staff, respiratory therapists, clinical pharmacists, social workers, physical therapists, occupational therapists and critical care nutritionists. Active consultation is available from cardiology, renal medicine, rehabilitation medicine and other services.
Other clinical opportunities for the critical care fellow are encouraged and include rotations to the medical intensive care unit, pediatric intensive care unit, neurosciences intensive care unit and the neonatal intensive care unit. Rotations on pulmonary medicine and cardiology are available if desired by the fellow and approved by the director.
Six to eight months of the fellowship is spent in the SICU. One month is allowed for vacation and sick leave. The Anesthesiology Department funds membership in the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the Carolina/Virginia Society of Critical Care Medicine, the International Anesthesia Research Society, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Support for attendance at one national and one regional meeting is provided by the Department for the critical care fellow each year. Secretarial help, office space and computer support are provided for Critical Care Medicine Fellows. Health insurance, white coats, laundry service and a $350.00/year book allowance are provided in addition to the fellowship salary.
The Department of Anesthesiology provides 24-hour attending coverage for the SICU. The group includes four critical care specialists, three with Boards in critical care medicine and one who is Board eligible. A trauma surgeon completes the critical care team.
The critical care medicine fellow is expected to complete a clinical research project leading to abstract presentation and paper publication. Fellows are encouraged to develop their own research interests and resources to pursue them are available in the department. Two-year fellows are expected to develop a laboratory research program utilizing local resources to begin projects. Collaborative laboratory work is encouraged.
After an initial orientation period the fellow call schedule allows significant time for academic pursuits. Fellows are assigned to present at various teaching activities in the Department of Anesthesiology as well as during group activities with other critical care fellows from other primary specialties. A didactic program for critical care fellows includes bi-weekly grand rounds with internal and invited speakers, a monthly critical care journal club, and a monthly presentation series specifically for the fellows. Anesthesiology/critical care medicine practitioners are ideally positioned to be the experts in "Perioperative Medicine" and if desired, fellows may spend some minimal time in the operating rooms, solidifying anesthesiology skills by doing their own cases and teaching residents principles of critical patient care.
To be considered for a critical care medicine fellowship, the applicant must have successfully completed the ABA's requirements for Board eligibility prior to beginning fellowship training. A completed standard residency application and two letters of recommendation must be submitted to the Department. Selective invitations for interviews are then offered to superior candidates. Successful applicants will be offered a fellowship position shortly after the formal interview. Successful applicants may beginning training at any time that is agreed upon by the fellow and program director.