Fellowship Program Description

Thank you for your interest in our fellowship program.

The Pediatric Critical Care Medicine program is based at Rady Children’s Hospital of San Diego (RCHSD) and is affiliated with the University of California, San Diego UCSD). The fellows spend their clinical time at the Children’s Hospital campus.  Six to eight fellows are maintained annually, with three or four on clinical service at one time. The critical care staff consists of six pediatric intensivists, with one or two on service at a time. The critical care team is the primary service for all patients admitted to the PICU.

The RCHSD PICU offers a high-volume, high-acuity, diverse clinical experience with exceptional research opportunities. Fellows have an opportunity to care for children with the full range of life threatening disorders, as well as those recovering from cardiovascular, trauma, transplant, neurosurgical, airway reconstruction, and other major surgery. The fellowship is designated to give the trainee the knowledge, technical skills, and judgment necessary to care for the child who is critically ill, as well as provide training in research and administration. Fellows additionally have an active role in the education of residents, as all UCSD pediatric residents rotate through the RCHSD PICU. The fellow’s primary clinical responsibility is management of patients in the PICU, but also serves as an integral part of the trauma and transport teams. Research options at RCHSD and UCSD are excellent with opportunities available in both clinical and laboratory settings. A physician Director of Critical Care and Anesthesia Research as well as a dedicated PICU research nurse are integral in the research endeavors of the fellows. Approximately forty percent of fellow’s time is devoted to teaching and research.
 

CLINICAL HIGHLIGHTS

• 215-bed Children's Hospital with an Emergency Department
• 24 to 30-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
• 24-bed Intermediate ICU
• 6 Attending Intensivists
• 6-8 Pediatric Critical Care Fellows
• 3 PICU Nurse Practitioners
• 1-3 Pediatric Residents (PL-2 or PL-3) per month
• 10,000 CHSD admissions per year
• 18,000 Anesthetics per year
• 2000 Intermediate ICU admissions per year
• 1200 PICU admissions per year
• 1200 Trauma patients per year
• 1200 Transport admissions per year (by rig, fixed-wing, and helicopter)
• 500 Cardiovascular surgeries per year with both open and closed post-operative hearts
• Only major pediatric regional referral center for two counties
• Only designated regional Pediatric Trauma Center in the county
• Active ECMO program
• CVVHD equipped
• Closed unit (the critical care team is the primary service on all PICU patients)

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

• Physician Director of Critical Care and Anesthesia Research
• Dedicated PICU research nurse
• Structured clinical research course (see CREST) early in fellowship training
• 40% of fellowship time dedicated to research

FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

• 3 weeks paid vacation
• 1 week allotted for conference
• ATLS certification paid for by Trauma Department
• Professional Health / Dental / Vision for fellows and dependents
• Flexible transport call for supplemental income
• Meal allowance
• Location, Location, Location

Fellowship Application