Frequently Asked Questions

We require seven rotations plus an orientation month to be completed in our core ICUs in the one-year curriculum and eleven plus an orientation month in the two-year curriculum. Additional moonlighting opportunities exist in our core ICUs throughout your fellowship. Additional ICU experience in community ICUs, the medical ICU, and neurosciences ICU are also included in the fellowship.

Motivated candidates must endeavor to become experts in resuscitation and multidisciplinary critical care. Your interview and letters of recommendations are critical. Your ITEs/board exam results will also be considered. Any publications will only help bolster your application.

We welcome applicants from both anesthesiology and emergency medicine training programs. Several of our faculty are duel boarded in Emergency Medicine and Critical Care. The Emergency Medicine tract includes a two-year curriculum including required EM attending shifts.

On your core rotations you are required to take seven days out of a block for night calls (7P-7A). These calls are in-house. You will mostly oversee residents and act as the “pre”-attending overseeing both the SICU and CTICU. There is a 24/7 in house attending to assist you in this role.

There is one required rotation away from UH Cleveland Medical Center, your community ICU rotation. This is completed at UH Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood. There are other opportunities on an elective basis outside of UHCMC including a burn rotation at MetroHealth, or community ICU rotations at UH Parma Medical Center and UH St Johns Medical Center.

We have a comprehensive multidisciplinary lecture series that cover all critical areas for the ABA/ABEM board exam in critical care. In addition, you will take two graded exams to gauge your progress: Multidisciplinary Critical Care Knowledge Assessment Program (MCCKAP) through the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) Critical Care In-Training Exam (ITE).

For those taking the ABA Applied examination, our department has multiple board examiners who are willing to do mock oral board exams.

We have an active cardiac surgery program allowing for ample opportunities to perform and read Transesophageal Echocardiograms (TEE). There is an elective available for intraoperative TEEs in which a large proportion of required exams are completed.

We have an interweaved point of care ultrasound curriculum throughout the year, taught jointly by faculty from critical care, emergency medicine, and cardiology. The didactic was constructed with the aim of preparing trainees to sit for the Critical Care Echo Boards, CCeExam.

In conjunction with ACGME/ABA standards, you will have 20 days allotted time off and 5 days of conference time per academic year. Vacation/meeting time is not restricted on any month or rotation. The department actively supports your attending of regional and national conferences.