Clinical Training

The Critical Care Medicine Department at the NIH Clinical Center offers 2-4 year fellowships in critical care medicine. The program is designed to provide clinical training in the care of patients with multisystem organ dysfunction and to produce independent clinical investigators through advanced research training. Programs designed to provide eligibility in dual subspecialties (e.g., critical care with pulmonary disease or infectious disease) can be arranged.

Sample Rotation might include:

• NIH Clinical Center M/SICU (6 months)
• Washington Hospital Center SICU (2 months)
• Washington Hospital Center MICU (1.5 months)
• Children’s National Medical Center PICU (1 month)
• National Naval Medical Center ICU (1 month)
• University of Maryland CCU (.5 months)

Didactic Components of Core Critical Care Lecture Material In-depth Orientation Lectures in July CCMD Conferences Monthly Journal Club Monthly Morbidity and Mortality Conferences Weekly Clinical and Research Lectures Monthly Case Presentation Conference with Navy and Walter Reed Other NIH Conferences Weekly acute code team simulation sessions Annual Critical Care Review Course Annual MCCKAP exam sponsored by SCCM Introduction to Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (senior fellows) Epidemiologic methods Ethical issues and regulation of human research subjects Monitoring patient-oriented research Preparing and funding a clinical research study Core Procedure Skills Procedural skills are learned through cognitive and practical activities: Airway Management Maintenance of an open airway in non-intubated patient Ventilation by bag-mask systems Tracheal intubation Management of pneumothorax Management of tracheostomy-acute and chronic care Bronchoscopy Pulmonary function tests Arterial blood gas analysis Ventilator management utilizing a variety of ventilator modes and mechanical ventilators Circulation Electrocardiogram interpretation Cardioversion-direct current and chemical Central venous catheters Transcutaneous and transvenous pacing Placement of arterial catheters Pulmonary artery catheterization Metabolic Initiation and management of continuous renal replacement therapies Nutrition assessment utilizing metabolic cart Neurological Indications for and management of ICP monitors.

Research Training

The Critical Care Medicine Department conducts active research programs in bedside clinical investigation, research in animal models, and molecular biology.

Full-time research activities commence at the beginning of the second year of the fellowship for fellows interested in the critical care subspecialty alone. For those interested in dual board eligibility, their second-year program is individually designed and consists of clinical rotations required for board eligibility in the particular subspecialties. After completion of a second clinical training, in either pulmonary medicine or infectious diseases, full-time research activities commence usually at the beginning of the third year.  Major topics of research interest within the Department include:

• The immunopathogenesis of septic shock.
• Studies of immune cellular function in shock lung, asthma, and other forms of severe pulmonary disease
  • biomarkers and novel therapies in pulmonary arterial hypertension
  • biomarkers of acute cellular rejection in heart transplantation
• Diagnosis and treatment of opportunistic infection
• Studies of immune cellular function and therapy of AIDS
• Biology and clinical effects of nitric oxide (NO)
  • acute lung injury
  • sickle cell disease
  • pulmonary arterial hypertension 
  • role as transcription regulatory factor
• Functional genomics of critical illness
  • human acute inflammation
  • animal model of septic shock and multiple organ failure
  • pulmonary arterial hypertension
  • solid organ transplantation
  • Emerging Infectious Disease

Qualifications

Qualified candidates must have completed 3 or more years of training in internal medicine or anesthesiology in the United States or Canada prior to entering the fellowship program. Eligible candidates must be US Citizens or US Permanent Residents. In some cases, a J-1 Visa may be accepted for training.

Applications

Applications are due by March 31 of the year prior to the academic year for which you are applying.

Applications consist of a curriculum vitae and three letters of recommendation.

Applications should be sent to:
Dorothea McAreavey, M.D.
Fellowship Program Director
Critical Care Medicine Department
National Institutes of Health
10 Center Drive, Room 2C145
Bethesda, MD 20892-1662
Fax: (301) 402-1213
Email: dmcareavey@cc.nih.gov

Curriculum vitaes may also be submitted online. For details, please visit the NIH Research and Training Opportunities Web Site.

For more information, please contact: (301) 496-9320.

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