Critical Care Track
From the Oregon Scholars Critical Care Chief...
Thank you for your interest in the Critical Care Medicine Program at OHSU. We are proud to offer two different routes to the ICU for anesthesia trained physicians. We offer a traditional 1-year post residency critical care medicine fellowship, and we offer our own 48 month, innovative, combined anesthesia residency and critical care medicine fellowship dubbed the Oregon Scholars Program (OSP). We are the longest running combined anesthesia/CCM program in the country, and as our fourth graduating class prepares to enter their final training year, I'm proud to say that our graduates have been very successful in finding positions in the private practice world, in academics, and continuing on to secure further training at competitive fellowships around the country.
The outstanding experience and success of our fellows is due in no small part to the excellent academic and clinical environment fostered by the department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine (APOM) at OHSU. The faculty of APOM are committed to turning out well-respected and effective peri-operative physicians, as evidence by the supportive environment and superb training afforded our CCM fellows. Our didactics include an anesthesia-CCM only, once monthly journal club and once monthly echocardiogram conference, as well as weekly multidisciplinary lectures taught by experts in their fields from throughout medicine. In the weekly lectures, we study side by side with our peers from medicine, surgery, cardiology, and neurology-CCM. We practice and train in a multidisciplinary setting supervised primarily by anesthesia trained intensivists, but also by surgery, neurology, and medicine trained intensivists as well. We have numerous elective options available in associated fields of study throughout the hospital. This multidisciplinary approach brings with it exposure to differing perspectives and promotes using our complementary strengths to provide excellent care while also offering a broad clinical experience. The faculty at OHSU are leaders in their fields in clinical and bench research and the research opportunities here are limited only by your interest.
OHSU is located on Marquam Hill, overlooking downtown Portland. Portland is known for its amazing selection of restaurants, more microbreweries than any city in the world, unique neighborhoods, forward thinking city planning, and a vibrant music scene. Whether you are an avid cyclist, budding artist, or just enjoy great people watching, there are countless ways to keep yourself busy in your off hours. Wine country, beautiful beaches, year round skiing, and rugged backwoods are all within an hour or so drive from the hospital. It is hard to imagine a better city to study and live in.
I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to study at OHSU and as a fellow in the OSP. I believe combining my critical care and anesthesiology training has provided an opportunity to observe and reflect upon how decisions in the OR impact patients throughout their recovery, making me a better anesthesiologist. The skills and knowledge developed in the operating room easily carry over to the ICU, helping to quickly build comfort and confidence when dealing with even the sickest patients. Finally, by spreading my ICU training over several years, I have had the opportunity to pursue interests that would have been difficult to fit into a 1-year fellowship, such as obtaining basic TEE certification. Please free to contact me with any questions you may have about our program or life in Portland.
Sincerely,
Critical Care Chief
Oregon Scholars Program
Curriculum
This track allows the scholar to complete the ACGME requirements for both anesthesiology and subspecialty training in critical care medicine. The curriculum is a combination of both our core anesthesiology program as well as our critical care fellowship program. Critical care experiences at OHSU will be obtained in both adult (SICU, Cardiothoracic ICU, Neuro-ICU, Medical-Pulmonary ICU) and pediatric (NICU, PICU; Telemedicine PICU) critical care units. Scholars will also be required to complete three one-month elective rotations in areas of medicine related to critical care (e.g. pulmonary medicine; infectious diseases) as part of the fellowship experience of the curriculum. The rotations will be structured to allow a balance between critical care and anesthesiology rotations. Scholars will complete the CA1 and CA2 years as residents, while the CA3 and CA4 years will have 12 months of rotations as critical care fellows, and 12 months as senior anesthesiology residents. Upon completion of the program, scholars will be eligible to sit for the initial certification examination of the American Board of Anesthesiology in Anesthesiology followed by the subspecialty certification examination in Critical Care Medicine.
This unique curriculum allows the scholars to obtain fellowship training in critical care medicine while continuing to have experiences in the core anesthesiology residency, compared to the traditional approach of 12 consecutive months of critical care. In addition, the spacing of the fellowship rotations in the PGY4 and PGY5 years allows for reflection on experiences, which is essential for optimal learning.
Sample Schedule
PGY-1: Two ICU rotations as internPGY-2: Two ICU rotations as anesthesiology resident
PGY-3: Two ICU rotations as anesthesiology resident
Three ICU rotations as Critical Care Medicine (CCM) fellow
PGY-4: Two months elective rotations as CCM fellow
Seven months as CA-3 anesthesiology resident rotations
Six ICU rotations as CCM fellow
PGY-5: One ICU elective rotation as CCM fellow
Five months as CA-3 anesthesiology resident rotations
