Anesthesia and Critical Care

[pigskincrunch]

I am interested in Anesthesia/Critical Care. I anticipate wanting to run a SICU at some point in my career. Does anyone have insight into Anesthesia programs with a strong emphasis on critical care? Perhaps at an institution where the SICU is run by Anesthesia?

All responses are appreciated, and happy hunting.

Scott

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[undecided05]

of the palces that I interviewed, I felt that UCSF, MGH, and U of Chicago were the strongest ICU programs. Also good places on the trail were Stanford, UCLA, UT-Houston. Just my opinion.

 

[OldManDave]

I am interested in Anesthesia/Critical Care. I anticipate wanting to run a SICU at some point in my career. Does anyone have insight into Anesthesia programs with a strong emphasis on critical care? Perhaps at an institution where the SICU is run by Anesthesia?

All responses are appreciated, and happy hunting.

Scott

From my interview days, 2002, I recall Penn St, Univ FL & Dartmouth having strong ICU fellowships. Myself, I am planning to do my ICU fellowship at Dartmouth once I finish gas.

 

[GSorBust]

I have a friend applying for anesthesia interested in critical care. From what he has told me, interest in critical care fellowships is at an all time low. Few people want to go into the field, as the lifestyle/pay are substantially below what you can get in general private practice anesthesiology without doing a fellowship. So, competition for ICU fellowship spots at even the "top" programs is very limited. I wouldn't choose a residency solely because it has a strong critical care training (as you only do 2 months in the ICU during your residency). I would choose a residency based on the overall training quality/location/resident satisifcation, then apply for an ICU fellowship at one of the top programs after you finish. That being said I would add UPitt to the list of strong ICU programs - one of the first in the country to have anesthesia run the show, and arguably the best.

 

[jocwyo]

Washington University in St. Louis has a fantastic critical care department. All of the residents I spoke to were very satisfied w/ their experiences there.

 

[VentdependenT]

From my interview days, 2002, I recall Penn St, Univ FL & Dartmouth having strong ICU fellowships. Myself, I am planning to do my ICU fellowship at Dartmouth once I finish gas.

Nice. OMD, how did you ultimately decide that a critical care fellowship was for you. I really dig the field.

 

[gaslady]

Nice. OMD, how did you ultimately decide that a critical care fellowship was for you. I really dig the field.

I have also heard good things about MGH and Dartmouth. The CA-3 year is fairly flexible in how you schedule it so you easily could increase your amount of ICU time then as long as the institution was decent units. I think it would be a valuable experience to train at one institution and do a fellowship at another.

 

[OldManDave]

I have a friend applying for anesthesia interested in critical care. From what he has told me, interest in critical care fellowships is at an all time low. Few people want to go into the field, as the lifestyle/pay are substantially below what you can get in general private practice anesthesiology without doing a fellowship. So, competition for ICU fellowship spots at even the "top" programs is very limited. I wouldn't choose a residency solely because it has a strong critical care training (as you only do 2 months in the ICU during your residency). I would choose a residency based on the overall training quality/location/resident satisifcation, then apply for an ICU fellowship at one of the top programs after you finish. That being said I would add UPitt to the list of strong ICU programs - one of the first in the country to have anesthesia run the show, and arguably the best.

Excellent points! And, I meant to include UPitt myself. I would also argue it to be one of the top, if not the top, CCMed program. But, as you say, anesth going into CCMed is at an all time low & essentially, the fellowships are not competitive in the least, even at the top places. Matter of fact, many programs are allowing IM/CCMed or Pulm/CCMed fellows occupy anesth/CCMed slots to avoid loss of funding due to persistently unfilled slots.

Pick your gas residency choices for the quality of the gas training. Then, you can basically have your pick of the CCMed fellowships.

 

[OldManDave]

Nice. OMD, how did you ultimately decide that a critical care fellowship was for you. I really dig the field.

Vent,

I have a long history in the ICUs - 10 years of PICU/adult ICU as a resp therapist prior to med school. So, I know I love the ICU environment & feel very much at home there. Now, that is not to say that I do not have a massive quantity to learn before I am as comfortable as a physician as I was an an RRT, but my past does afford me the luxury of knowing the "inside poop" before testing the waters. And, as expected - this is my second ICU rotation (1st as a surg intern/2nd as a CA-1), I still thrive on the ICU environment.

 

[Creamfly]

Vent,

I have a long history in the ICUs - 10 years of PICU/adult ICU as a resp therapist prior to med school. So, I know I love the ICU environment & feel very much at home there. Now, that is not to say that I do not have a massive quantity to learn before I am as comfortable as a physician as I was an an RRT, but my past does afford me the luxury of knowing the "inside poop" before testing the waters. And, as expected - this is my second ICU rotation (1st as a surg intern/2nd as a CA-1), I still thrive on the ICU environment.

Cool. I was an RRT in an adult ICU/Flight team for the last six years. Now, MSI, I've thought about anesthesia for quite awhile. OldManDave, did you know right away anesthesia? Did RRT on your resume help you at all or did it not really matter? Just curious.

 

[sean wilson]

If you were to pursue CC from an anesthesiology-based perspective, will you be less likely to find a job in open or primarily MICUs? I ask this because I believe that pure SICUs are relatively uncommon compared to either of the aforementioned units. I too am very interested in running a unit and am contemplating a fellowship for that purpose.

 

[OldManDave]

Cool. I was an RRT in an adult ICU/Flight team for the last six years. Now, MSI, I've thought about anesthesia for quite awhile. OldManDave, did you know right away anesthesia? Did RRT on your resume help you at all or did it not really matter? Just curious.

I did not know immediately, but definitely suspected it. At the end of my MS3 year, I was most intrigued by anesthesiology. However, I has significant interest in both ER & surg. I did sequential electives in each, anesth last, & knew before I even started the anesth elective that gas was to be my eventual home. Resp did not guide me there, but those skills prove massively valuable every day, with every pt.

As far as it helping me during the application process...as with every one else, the screen is by board scores, clerkship grades & letters of rec. So, your RRT time is not enough to get you past that. However, if you do surpass those hurdles, then your RRT time, in my humble opinion, can only serve in your favor.

 

[2004gasman]

Hey all,

I also am considering a Critical Care Fellowship when finished. I'm currenty an Iowa resident and we have around 6 months total SICU time during our residency. The SICU is under the careful watch of the Anesthesia department, so it has a pretty good reputation around the hospital. We usually do 2 months our intern year, 3 weeks CA-1, and 2 three weekers CA-2 and CA-3 year. You get quite a bit of responsibility and a lot is expected out of you as an Anesthesia resident when compared to the "other" residents (usually surgical residents of various kinds). But, you learn a lot and become a better Anesthesiologist as well.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Idiopathic]

What kind of $$ can a critical care doc make?

 

[Idiopathic]

bump...anyone?

 

[InductionAgent]

What kind of $$ can a critical care doc make?

Here's a link to some job offers - the starting salaries mentioned range from 90k to 180k/yr, with a promise of better upon obtaining partner. I concur with the sentiment that critical care is something that anesthesia-trained docs do for the love of the job, since they could make more $$$ elsewehere.

http://www.physicianrecruiting.com/content/critcare/critical.shtml