Critical Care Medicine Fellowship

Fellowship Director
Bryan Romito, M.D.

The Critical Care Medicine Fellowship in Anesthesiology offers a 12-month training experience for trainees who have completed an ACGME-accredited Anesthesiology residency program and a 24-month training experience for trainees who have completed an ACGME-accredited Emergency Medicine residency program.

Broad familiarity and expertise in the multidisciplinary approach to Critical Care Medicine will be emphasized.

In learning to be a consultant, the fellow must learn how to be a teacher. The Fellow will be asked to prepare formal lectures for Medical Student, Resident, and Fellow level conferences. The Fellow will also participate in quality improvement efforts at the Dallas VA Medical Center.

In the last several months of training, the fellow will be asked to act in the role of “Junior Attending” and will have increased responsibility in patient management decisions and teaching.

The Fellow will gain experience in ICU administration through observation and increasing responsibility for a number of administrative issues. The fellow will gradually share responsibility for bed triage, training of ancillary personnel in critical care and ongoing review of intensive care unit outcome data. When training is completed, the fellow will be familiar with the administrative issues involved in the running of an Intensive Care Unit.

Goals and Objectives

• Demonstrate competence and professionalism all aspects of the management of the patient with critical illness
• Provide evidence of proficiency in critical care procedures
• Demonstrate the ability to function as part of a multi-disciplinary ICU team

Clinical Sites

Dallas VA Medical Center
Parkland Memorial Hospital
Children’s Medical Center Dallas
University Hospital, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Site Rotations

Nine months of training takes place in the intensive care units at the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Parkland Memorial Hospital and Clements University Hospital. In order to meet the ACGME requirements, these rotations include four months of General Surgical ICU, one month of Medical ICU, one month of CCU and two months of Cardiovascular ICU. Direct faculty supervision is provided.

The remaining three months of training are electives of advanced clinical and clinical research based upon the fellow’s interests and abilities. Electives are also available in the Burn ICU at Parkland Hospital, Neurology/Neurosurgical ICU at Zale Lipshy University Hospital and the pediatric ICU at Children’s Medical Center. Fellows may also pursue concentrated training in echocardiography during the elective months.

Clinical Experience

Between the four primary institutions supporting fellow training at UT Southwestern Medical Center, the range of exposure to diverse patient populations and varying clinical care models provides a trainee the opportunity to gain experience with the vast majority of clinical scenarios he/she is likely to encounter as an Intensivist upon leaving the training program. The qualifications of the faculty and their dedication to teaching ensure an optimal experience for any motivated trainee.

Research

Given the institutional dedication to basic science and clinical research at UT Southwestern Medical Center, opportunities for participation in a trainee’s field of interest abound. Fellows will be mentored in a clinical research project during their training and encouraged to submit an abstract to a national meeting during the year.

Didactics

Didactics are emphasized with daily teaching rounds with attending Intensivists from the departments of Anesthesiology, Pediatrics and Surgery. Weekly participation with the TRISAT Critical Care Webcast Lecture Series will be combined with a minimum of two additional critical care didactic lectures by Critical Care Faculty each week during the year. Didactic lectures will focus on topics essential to preparation for the Critical Care Board Examination.

At this time we are not accepting or sponsoring any Training Visa(s).