Anesthesia critical care fellowship

[afteranesthesia]

I will be an intern in my Anesthesiology residency this summer. I've read some of the past threads on fellowship application timing, and it is all a bit confusing and happening earlier and earlier. It seems people apply at all different times, though.

When do people apply to critical care fellowship? What are known to be the strongest critical care programs with the best training? Hopkins? UCSF? Vandy? Wash U?

Are there any specific things programs look for in a fellow that I should be doing/planning during residency?

I realize I'm only an intern, but I'd rather start off on the right foot with my goal in mind.

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[Stank811]

Look for a fellowship that allows you to obtain TEE certification after your training...so this means the fellowship should allow you to get experience with TEE/TTE reads and procedures during the fellowship. Also make sure they perform a wide variety of procedures (VADS, ECHMO, hypothermic protocol, etc) and expose you to a wide variety of intensivists (medical, neuro, surgical, cardiac, etc). Another important thing to look for is flexibility...do you essentially function as another resident on the ICU team. Can the resident call schedule function with out you...the answer in my opinion should be yes. Look for a program that treats you as junior staff more so than a senior resident.

 

[afteranesthesia]

Look for a fellowship that allows you to obtain TEE certification after your training...so this means the fellowship should allow you to get experience with TEE/TTE reads and procedures during the fellowship. Also make sure they perform a wide variety of procedures (VADS, ECHMO, hypothermic protocol, etc) and expose you to a wide variety of intensivists (medical, neuro, surgical, cardiac, etc). Another important thing to look for is flexibility...do you essentially function as another resident on the ICU team. Can the resident call schedule function with out you...the answer in my opinion should be yes. Look for a program that treats you as junior staff more so than a senior resident.

Great advice! Thanks - care to program name drop who does these things well? Clearly, I'm going to try to do well on ITE exams, and I am fortunate to be training at a top program, so I hope to be competitive for a great fellowship position.

 

[Icefrog]

Right now, CCM fellowships do not have a central application process like the Match. You will have to e-mail each program or look up on their website to see when they start accepting applications and how to apply.

When programs start accepting applications varies, but generally they can start as early as 18 months prior to your anticipated start date. This means if you plan on going straight into fellowship after graduating, you can expect to start submitting applications around December of CA-2 year. Of course, this would mean you'd have to get your recommendations and personal statement earlier, so it pays to plan ahead.

Also, CCM fellowships usually do rolling acceptances so that's another reason to plan ahead and apply early.

 

[bigdan]

I'm deeply biased as a Pitt anesthesia resident, but I think you'll find Pitt Critical Care Medicine is a very well regarded program.

If you're looking for TEE training, many programs are starting to offer the chance to get the requisite numbers of exams to sit for the TEE certification exam; Duke Anesthesia Critical Care offers a guarantee that they'll get you the numbers.

 

[afteranesthesia]

Thanks bigdan! Great feedback. I'll keep all this in mind. Glad to hear that about Duke and Pitt!

 

[VentdependenT]

I'm deeply biased as a Pitt anesthesia resident, but I think you'll find Pitt Critical Care Medicine is a very well regarded program.

If you're looking for TEE training, many programs are starting to offer the chance to get the requisite numbers of exams to sit for the TEE certification exam; Duke Anesthesia Critical Care offers a guarantee that they'll get you the numbers.

What type of practice are you in now? Academic? Private? How much unit do you cover? What type of units do you cover? Are you primary in ICU or consultant? If consultant is it to put out fires, liberate from vent, and call primary? How do you split unit coverage up? How much OR time are you doing?

Danka.

 

[afteranesthesia]

Thanks Vent! Good questions to ask. Appreciate the feedback.

Does Step 3 matter for critical care fellowship? I'm definitely intending to do well, but wondering what I should shoot for as far as number? What about ITE scores? What are considered great?

 

[VentdependenT]

Youd be well prepared rollin outta Pitt

Back in the day U Iowa was good.

My buddy trained at Yale and the unit experience there sounded terrible.

Northwestern has one but its mainly neuro-icu (common I believe) and seemed pretty chill.

My knowledge of anesthesia program gossip/experience has dwindled as you can imagine.

 

[VentdependenT]

Thanks Vent! Good questions to ask. Appreciate the feedback.

Does Step 3 matter for critical care fellowship? I'm definitely intending to do well, but wondering what I should shoot for as far as number? What about ITE scores? What are considered great?

NOBODY cares about your step III scores.

Do well on your ITE for YOUR sake. Stay off the radar. A decent letter and a phone call are infinitely more integral to landing a spot than ANYTHING else.

 

[bigdan]

Perhaps I shoulda been clearer: I'm currently an anesthesiology resident at Pitt. I am headed to University of Michigan for Critical Care fellowship (which seems like an awesome program, but I haven't been there yet!). Venty - I don't have a practice yet; I still do whatever others tell me to do.

 

[VentdependenT]

Perhaps I shoulda been clearer: I'm currently an anesthesiology resident at Pitt. I am headed to University of Michigan for Critical Care fellowship (which seems like an awesome program, but I haven't been there yet!). Venty - I don't have a practice yet; I still do whatever others tell me to do.

Kick ass dude!

 

[afteranesthesia]

bigdan - other than Michigan, Pitt and Duke - what programs did you think were stellar? Congrats on your fellowship position. Michigan will be awesome! I've heard Ann Arbor is a great town.

 

[IDPHARM]

Perhaps I shoulda been clearer: I'm currently an anesthesiology resident at Pitt. I am headed to University of Michigan for Critical Care fellowship (which seems like an awesome program, but I haven't been there yet!). Venty - I don't have a practice yet; I still do whatever others tell me to do.

Michigan is a great program. I am 6 weeks from being done with my CCM fellowship at Michigan. You won't regret it. And you can get your TEE numbers...I did and so did 3 other fellows in my program. The 2 other fellows elected not to do TEE b/c their were not going to do cardiac as attendings in their jobs next year.

 

[NunoBR]

I'm an anesthesiology resident and TEE certification confuses me. When you guys talk about certification do you mean testamur/basic or advanced?

 

[lushmd]

I'm an anesthesiology resident and TEE certification confuses me. When you guys talk about certification do you mean testamur/basic or advanced?

When Dan mentioned certain programs offering adequate TEE exposure to sit for the echo boards, he was referring to advanced.