Academics and Research

The fellows will master basic procedural techniques as well as make the transition from a resident to acting more as a specialist in the ICU.

By the end of their training, fellows will not only have had the chance to master common Critical Care procedures, but will also have had the opportunity to gain experience with more advanced and specialized procedures including:

• Airway management
• Bronchoscopy
• Point-of-care ultrasound
• Ventilator management
• Vascular access
• Pleural procedures, including thoracentesis and chest tube placement
• Extracorporeal life support management
• Right Heart Catheterization
• Burn Management
• Trauma Resuscitation

We encourage our fellows to seek out a mentor early in their training. Fellows present their research projects at one of the annual critical care conferences, often the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) Conference or the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Conference, or another conference of their choosing.

Those pursuing clinical research are encouraged to participate in the Rush Master of Science in Clinical Research program. This two-year, thesis-requiring graduate program trains health care professionals to perform and evaluate clinical research and prepares you to successfully apply for a National Institutes of Health K Award. A year of didactic lectures is followed by a year of mentored clinical research.

Fellows and faculty participate in two weekly conferences which are shared with the Pulmonary Department at the John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County. In addition, there are various other conferences that occur on a bi-weekly or monthly basis.

• Core Curriculum Conference
• Clinical Case Conference
• Journal Club
• Palliative Care Conference
• Morbidity & Mortality Conference
• Med/Surg Morbidity Mortality (multi-disciplinary)
• Emergency Medicine - Critical Care Medicine Grand Rounds
• Ultrasound Conference
• Internal Medicine Grand Rounds
• Critical Care Medicine Grand Rounds

The faculty and the fellows of the division are involved with educational initiatives throughout the university. This includes structured teaching in the medical school but also offers opportunities for interdisciplinary involvement with other departments including respiratory therapy, advanced practice providers and clinical nutrition.

In addition to teaching students throughout the medical center, our division is significantly involved with the training of our internal medicine and emergency medicine residents. Our intensive care rotations are consistently among the highest rated by house staff.