Critical Care in the Military

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Anyone have any info regarding critical care training in the military,locations, format, etc is it open to EM graduates, or strictly ANest, surg, im?

I practice Anes/CCM in the military. Trained on the outside. Several sites for the IM crowd on the Pulm/CCM pathway. As far as I know two sites for Anes/CCM (Texas and DC) and one for Surg/CCM (Texas).

In Navy land every Anes/CCM and Surg/CCM person I've met has trained on the outside.

As far as EM, I have no idea. I would leave that to someone with a bit more insight in .mil EM to answer. I would guess with US board certification for EM/CCM via ABIM in its infancy the .mil world will probably take a while before this really takes off.

Originally Posted by slycaper

Anyone have any info regarding critical care training in the military,locations, format, etc is it open to EM graduates, or strictly ANest, surg, im?

I'm an Army internal medicine resident and will be applying for a pulmonary/critical care fellowship. I can tell you that the Army has 2 sites for pulmonary critical care, Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio and the new Walter Reed in Bethesda. The Army also offers a 2 year "straight" critical care fellowship at Walter Reed, which accepts internal medicine and anesthesiology residents. BAMC can train (and has done so in the past) "straight" critical care fellows. In fact, that program is open to emergency physicians, which I know you asked about specifically. Army emergency medicine residents also have the option of being deferred to civilian programs for critical care training. I worked with one EM intensivist at Landstuhl (Germany) last year. He did his EM residency at BAMC and his critical care fellowship at Penn State. Sharp guy. Let me know if you want more specific information about BAMC or Walter Reed. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of specific information about the emergency medicine track, but I know that it exists in the Army. I can't speak for the Air Force or Navy, although all 3 services share pulmonary critical care training sites. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Commotio

I'm an Army internal medicine resident and will be applying for a pulmonary/critical care fellowship. I can tell you that the Army has 2 sites for pulmonary critical care, Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio and the new Walter Reed in Bethesda. The Army also offers a 2 year "straight" critical care fellowship at Walter Reed, which accepts internal medicine and anesthesiology residents. BAMC can train (and has done so in the past) "straight" critical care fellows. In fact, that program is open to emergency physicians, which I know you asked about specifically. Army emergency medicine residents also have the option of being deferred to civilian programs for critical care training. I worked with one EM intensivist at Landstuhl (Germany) last year. He did his EM residency at BAMC and his critical care fellowship at Penn State. Sharp guy. Let me know if you want more specific information about BAMC or Walter Reed. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of specific information about the emergency medicine track, but I know that it exists in the Army. I can't speak for the Air Force or Navy, although all 3 services share pulmonary critical care training sites. Good luck!

So have EM graduates also entered the critical care program or do they say that its open to them and none have entered? How many positions are there, does it vary to the needs of the Army? I'm enrolling in the Family Assistance Program (FAP), so after EM residency do you think it would be possible to enter straight into a critical care fellowship (military). Any other detailed info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Originally Posted by slycaper

So have EM graduates also entered the critical care program or do they say that its open to them and none have entered? How many positions are there, does it vary to the needs of the Army? I'm enrolling in the Family Assistance Program (FAP), so after EM residency do you think it would be possible to enter straight into a critical care fellowship (military). Any other detailed info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'll be honest with you, I don't know how many EM graduates have entered critical care fellowships. I worked with 1 person in Germany that went that route, and I know of 1 other graduate that did his critical care fellowship at Pitt. The number of active duty fellowship spots always depends on the needs of the Army. As far as your question about being able to go straight to a critical care fellowship from the FAP, I don't know the answer to that either. You might want to email the program directors at the Army EM residency programs. They are located at Madigan Army Medical Center (Tacoma, Washington), Brooke Army Medical Center (San Antonio, Texas), and Darnall Army Medical Center (Killeen, Texas). You should be able to find their email addresses and phone numbers on their respective websites. Wish I could provide your with more specific information, but EM is outside of my lane. I know much more about the IM to PCCM and IM to CCM routes.

Thanks for the info, I contacted Bethesda regarding their program and they said that they may let EM into their IM Critical Care program starting in 2014. I go the feeling that if I want to do CC I should probably do it as a civilian.

Originally Posted by Commotio

I'm an Army internal medicine resident and will be applying for a pulmonary/critical care fellowship. I can tell you that the Army has 2 sites for pulmonary critical care, Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio and the new Walter Reed in Bethesda. The Army also offers a 2 year "straight" critical care fellowship at Walter Reed, which accepts internal medicine and anesthesiology residents. BAMC can train (and has done so in the past) "straight" critical care fellows. In fact, that program is open to emergency physicians, which I know you asked about specifically. Army emergency medicine residents also have the option of being deferred to civilian programs for critical care training. I worked with one EM intensivist at Landstuhl (Germany) last year. He did his EM residency at BAMC and his critical care fellowship at Penn State. Sharp guy. Let me know if you want more specific information about BAMC or Walter Reed. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of specific information about the emergency medicine track, but I know that it exists in the Army. I can't speak for the Air Force or Navy, although all 3 services share pulmonary critical care training sites. Good luck!

Quick correction, the Critical Care fellowship for Anesthesiologists at Reed is a one year program, like most Anesthesiology/Critical Care fellowships.

Originally Posted by psychbender

Quick correction, the Critical Care fellowship for Anesthesiologists at Reed is a one year program, like most Anesthesiology/Critical Care fellowships.

Yeah, I suppose I should have clarified. My point was that there is a 2 year fellowship at Walter Reed. The IM and Anesthesia fellows do similar rotations, although they technically have separate programs and program directors. Several civilian straight CC fellowships take both IM and Anesthesia grads into the same program (UW, Pitt, Wake Forest, CCF, etc.), but the IM folks have to stick around for 2 years rather than 1.

Hey!
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Originally Posted by Commotio

I'm an Army internal medicine resident and will be applying for a pulmonary/critical care fellowship. I can tell you that the Army has 2 sites for pulmonary critical care, Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio and the new Walter Reed in Bethesda. The Army also offers a 2 year "straight" critical care fellowship at Walter Reed, which accepts internal medicine and anesthesiology residents. BAMC can train (and has done so in the past) "straight" critical care fellows. In fact, that program is open to emergency physicians, which I know you asked about specifically. Army emergency medicine residents also have the option of being deferred to civilian programs for critical care training. I worked with one EM intensivist at Landstuhl (Germany) last year. He did his EM residency at BAMC and his critical care fellowship at Penn State. Sharp guy. Let me know if you want more specific information about BAMC or Walter Reed. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of specific information about the emergency medicine track, but I know that it exists in the Army. I can't speak for the Air Force or Navy, although all 3 services share pulmonary critical care training sites. Good luck!

one unrelated question, im interested in doing CCM as a civilian(ID/CCM track) , but i want to join the Army reserve, what would be there for me in terms of practice opportunies? service etc? ive been reading the forum, and there are a lot of mixed feelings around...

Originally Posted by Commotio

I know much more about the IM to PCCM and IM to CCM routes.

Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but I'm interested in IM to PCCM. I'm Navy HPSP, and I want to know what the typical route of getting a fellowship in PCCM is. I know you can apply during your 2nd year of residency. How likely are you to get that? If not then, when? After your first utilization tour? Thanks all!