College of Medicine
UNMC_Acronym_Vert_sm_4c
University of Nebraska Medical Center

Curriculum

Fellow Presenting at Case Conference

The Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship is a three-year program that trains our fellows for successful careers.

Education is an important part of training and there is a schedule of core curriculum lectures, board review sessions, pro:con debates on clinical topics between dyads of fellows and faculty members, journal clubs, quality improvement (revised M&M) and research conferences. Simulations, didactics and resident and student teaching on clinical services are all part of the curriculum.

Our division is responsible for teaching foundational sciences to pre-clinical medical students and there are numerous small group knowledge and clinical skills sessions for fellows to facilitate as part of that course.

Fellows desiring a post-graduate certificate in clinical education may apply for the two-year Health Educators and Academic Leaders, which will require additional work outside the scope of the fellowship program.

At the completion of the three-year fellowship program, trainees are eligible to sit for Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine boards. Our five-year, first-time taker pass rate for both boards is 100 percent.

Most of our graduates have gone on to private practice but all have retained a desire to be involved in resident and student teaching based in part on their educational experience.

The mix of clinical experiences and didactics provided in this program provides excellent training for the subspecialist in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

  • Orientation – Approximately 30 lectures/discussion sessions covering topics from Pulmonary Physiology and Ventilator Management to Clinic Billing to Interpretation of diagnostic studies.
  • COPD – Nine lectures/discussion sessions
  • Cystic Fibrosis – Five lectures/discussion sessions
  • Asthma – Seven lectures/discussion sessions
  • Pleural Disease – Four lectures/discussion sessions
  • Cancer Evaluation and Management – Six lectures/discussion sessions
  • Lung Injury – Seven lectures/discussion sessions
  • Interstitial Lung Disease – Six lectures/discussion sessions
  • Lung Transplantation – Six lectures/discussion sessions
  • Multisystem Interactions – Five lectures/discussion sessions
  • Pulmonary Vascular Disease – Eight lectures/discussion sessions
  • Pulmonary Infections – 10 lectures/discussion sessions
  • Sleep Medicine – Seven lectures/discussion sessions
  • NeuroCritical Care – Seven lectures/discussion sessions
  • Miscellaneous Pulmonary Topics – Six lectures/discussion sessions
  • Miscellaneous Critical Care Topics – 16 lectures/discussion sessions
Our fellows select and discuss a journal article of interest in a monthly session attended by faculty and fellows. The purpose of the session is for fellows to learn to critique the study design and methods used to advance clinical care of patients and how the article might alter current practice.
This optional weekly conference is attended by the interventional pulmonologists and the fellow on the Advance Procedures rotation. It is a multidisciplinary conference for oncologists, pathologists, pulmonologists, radiologists and surgeons to discuss evaluation and management of patients with suspected or known cancer.
This conference occurs weekly and is presented by faculty, fellows on research and outside speakers on a variety of topics of interest to members of the division. On a quarterly basis, a Morbidity and Mortality Conference is presented. The faculty and fellows collaboratively complete an electronic Ishikawa Diagram to define the root cause of issues impacting the outcome and outline the steps to correct those issues.
One fellow is assigned each week to present an interesting case outlining evaluation and management. This may be a case where evaluation and management may not be clear and provides the audience an opportunity to offer suggestions for discussion. A review of the diagnosis and proper management is often presented.
A formal curriculum is delivered through a series of lectures and discussion sessions once or twice a week during the year for all fellows and four to five days a week during the summer for first year fellows. The curriculum is taught on a two-year cycle covering a large variety of topics in Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine.

Two-Week Rotations

Required rotations in pulmonary medicine include inpatient and outpatient consults, procedures, cystic fibrosis, sleep medicine and lung transplant. Required clinical rotations in critical care medicine include two medical ICU teams, CVICU, NeuroCritical Care Unit and Surgical Critical Care. Electives are chosen six months in advance and range from Pulmonary Hypertension and Right Heart Catheterization to Long-term Acute Care and Allergy to Thoracic Surgery.

Contact Us

Said Chaaban, MD
Fellowship Director

Keenan Taylor, MD
Associate Fellowship Director

Kelly Robertson
Fellowship Coordinator
Phone: 402-559-8115
Email

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