Critical Care Medicine Fellowship
The Anesthesia Critical Care Medicine fellowship program at UCSF provides training to physicians who have completed residency training in anesthesiology and other eligible specialties per the ACGME. The Division of Critical Care Medicine is home to faculty from numerous disciplines including anesthesiology, pulmonology, nephrology, neurology, cardiology, cardiothoracic and trauma and acute care surgery. The diversity of the faculty strengthens the teaching program and provides fellows with exposure to broad-based approaches to the management of critically ill patients in medical, surgical, neuro, and cardiothoracic ICU settings. The fellowship is fully accredited by the ACGME for special qualifications certification by the American Board of Anesthesiology and a two-year track for those seeking certification through the American Board of Emergency Medicine. Our program has a long history of training leaders in the field of anesthesiology and critical care medicine.
The Clinical Experience
Fellows rotate through the Intensive Care Units at UCSF hospitals including UCSF Medical Center Moffitt-Long Hospital, and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, and participate in the care of all medical and surgical patients in the ICUs.
During their training, fellows become familiar with techniques of hemodynamic monitoring, circulatory support, and ventilatory management of critically ill patients, and become consultants in the comprehensive care of patients with multisystem organ failure. We have busy kidney, liver, heart, and lung transplant programs and fellows will gain exposure to advanced hemodynamic support modalities including both temporary and permanent LVADs as well as ECMO. Fellows play a critical role in the triage of patients both within the hospital and from outside facilities which builds experience in systems-level aspects of ICU care.
Additional elective experiences are available to all fellows in a wide variety of medical subspecialties, including Cardiology, Echocardiography, Pulmonary Medicine, Renal Disease, Palliative Care, Interventional Radiology, and Infectious Disease.
The Educational Program
We have an extensive educational program that includes both a daily, core ICU lecture series and a twice-weekly fellow didactic series that focuses on more advanced topics in critical care. Our fellows have opportunities to present at our weekly case conferences, our monthly interdisciplinary M&M which offers exposure to formal QI processes, and at our departmental grand rounds. Fellows frequently present their work at national meetings, as well.
Fellows are responsible for supervising and teaching residents at the bedside and are essential leaders of our ICU teams. Fellows have opportunities to lead ICU rounds which provides another opportunity for professional growth.
Our critical care ultrasound program continues to grow rapidly. We have state-of-the-art ultrasound equipment in each ICU and have a robust educational program that continues to evolve. Each fellow participates in an intensive two-day workshop with experts in critical care ultrasound comprised of both didactics and hands-on sessions with scanning on live models. We have a dedicated ultrasound didactic series and all fellows complete a dedicated ultrasound rotation to further develop advanced ultrasound skills.
A wide variety of research and quality improvement experiences are available, and a second year of clinical or research experience may be arranged depending upon educational needs and funding availability.
How to Apply:
We participate in the computerized match for CCM coordinated through SF Match. We also utilize their common application service. The common application can be found here. As part of your application we ask that you also submit the following materials to Bernadette Martin (email below) if not already included in your application materials:
Three original letters of recommendation (we strongly prefer that one of these come from your residency Program Director).
Copies of either USMLE (part I and II) or FLEX examination scores
Copies of ITE (In Training Exam) scores
Applications for a 2024-2025 fellowship position are due by March 1, 2023. We will review applications and offer interviews on a rolling basis. Our interview season runs from January through April 2023. Due to UCSF restrictions on campus visitation during the COVID-19 pandemic, all interviews will be conducted virtually this year. We regret that we are not permitted to arrange visits to campus.
**If you are applying for a position in both cardiac anesthesia and critical care medicine please visit the Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists Fellowship webpage for more information about how to apply. We ask that you submit the supplemental questionnaire in addition to your application.
Important dates for this year’s application cycle – SF Match Fellowship Match Calendar.
Some additional information about our program and UCSF GME:
- Information about the terms, conditions and benefits of an appointment at UCSF are here.
- A sample contract letter is here.
- You may visit the UCSF Graduate Medical Education website for more appointment information, contracts, policies, and guidelines.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to learn more about our program.
Kevin Thornton, M.D.
Program Director
Anne Donovan, M.D.
Associate Program Director
Bernadette Martin
Program Coordinator