Pulmonary/Critical Care Fellowship Program
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
Department of Medicine

A. Conferences and Meetings
Numerous in-house conferences and seminars are available both within the Department of Medicine and the Pulmonary/Critical Care Division as well as other clinical and basic science departments within the College of Medicine. Required conferences for the pulmonary/CC fellow include medical grand rounds, medicine noon conference and two weekly pulmonary division conferences including core curriculum conference and clinical conferences (which includes case based as well as critical care and research conferences). Other conferences for research fellows include the Center for Lung Biology Research in Progress conferences, Distinguished Scientist Seminars and other College of Medicine seminars. The fellow will actively participate and present at some of these conferences as part of the educational program. A tuberculosis conference is held jointly with the Infectious Disease Division twice a month. At this conference are presented newly diagnosed patients with tuberculosis as well as difficult and complicated cases such as drug resistance, noncompliance, etc. Additionally, the Division actively participates in the Infectious Disease Conference held twice a month. The Pulmonary Division participates in the Tri-State Thoracic Case Conference held annually and attended jointly by the Thoracic Societies and fellowship programs in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama; fellows are required to present interesting and challenging cases. Fellows are expected to present results of clinical and/or basic research studies at appropriate national meetings such as the annual American Thoracic Society Meeting and the annual American College of Chest Physicians Meeting.

B. Teaching Responsibilities
Fellows are responsible for presenting topics at the noon medicine conference, as well as presentations to the pulmonary division at the weekly clinical conferences. In addition, fellows actively participate in the infectious disease and tuberculosis conferences. The fellow is an active participant in the teaching of housestaff and students on the clinical rotations.

C. Procedural Skills
The fellow will achieve clinical competence in non-invasive and invasive procedures including, but not confined to the following:

1. flexible bronchoscopy and accompanying procedures
2. oral/nasal intubation
3. ventilator management
4. thoracentesis
5. arterial puncture
6. placement of arterial and pulmonary artery balloon flotation catheters
7. calibration and operation of hemodynamic recording systems
8. supervision of the technical aspects of pulmonary function testing
9. progressive exercise testing
10. insertion and management of chest tubes