The Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program
Brian W. Carlin, M.D., Program Director
Length of program: 3 years
Number of position(s): 9
The Pulmonary Disease Fellowship Program is a three-year program. Prospective applicants should have completed an approved medical residency program and be eligible for Pennsylvania medical license. Three fellows are accepted each year.
The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine evaluates and manages patients with acute and chronic lung disease. The division includes the Pulmonary Function Laboratory, Sleep Laboratory, Hyperbaric Oxygen Unit and Section of Respiratory Therapy. The Pulmonary Function Laboratory enables fellows to perform specialized physiologic studies, including exercise testing, arterial blood gas measurement, spirometry, lung volume measurement and diffusing capacity measurement. The Sleep Disorders Center enables fellows to gain experience in treating and managing those patients with a variety of sleep disorders.
The program is designed with a strong emphasis on clinical evaluation and management of patients with acute and chronic lung diseases as well as critical illnesses. During the three-year fellowship, fellows will spend time on pulmonary consultation, medical intensive care, cardio-thoracic/general surgical intensive care, neuro-intensive care, coronary care, infectious disease, and a laboratory/research rotation.
ICU rotations provide experience in managing critically ill medical and surgical patients. The consultation service affords an opportunity to coordinate procedural skills with a comprehensive patient diagnosis and treatment plan. Pulmonary fellows are responsible for supervising and teaching residents and medical students on all clinical rotations. The laboratory/research rotation, provides experience in bronchoscopy (including brachytherapy) and the performance and interpretation of pulmonary function tests, cardiopulmonary exercise tests and sleep studies.
Weekly academic conferences include Journal club, Medical/Surgical/Pathology
Pulmonary Conference, Lung Pathology Conference, X-ray, Research conferences, and weekly faculty lecture series.
Ambulatory Care Facilities
Fellows gain considerable outpatient experience in a variety of settings, including the
Chest Clinic, faculty offices, Sleep Disorders Center and Tuberculosis Clinic. These half day sessions allow the resident to gain knowledge in the diagnosis, management and treatment of patients with various types of lung diseases. Each patient is seen initially by the resident who will then formulate a differential diagnosis, diagnostic plan, and treatment plan. Subsequent patient follow up is then performed by the same resident and faculty member.
Related Disciplines
Fellows work closely with other physicians in each of the surgical and medical
subspecialties, specifically those in Cardiology, Infectious Disease and Cardiothoracic/General Surgery. A weekly multidisciplinary conference between the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Pathology, Radiology and Radiation Oncology is conducted. In addition, there also are monthly conferences with the Department of Pathology.
Research
During the training program, emphasis is placed on the fellows' participation in a
research project. The techniques involved with the formation of a hypothesis and the subsequent steps to test that hypothesis, including the use of various research tools are afforded within the division. Fellows are expected to participate significantly in at least one project during their three-year program and are expected to present abstracts at national meetings and submit their work for publication in peer-reviewed journals. A dedicated research fund is in place and adequate for supplies and equipment
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