Critical care fellowship conferences + ongoing education at Tufts Medical Center

Our academic year begins with the foundational Summer Lecture Series, designed to equip new fellows with essential knowledge for a strong start to their fellowship. Following this, fellows actively lead two core conferences: Case Conference and Journal Club.

Throughout the year, additional conferences provide comprehensive exposure to the breadth of critical care medicine. These include Morbidity and Mortality Conference, Pulmonary Hypertension Conference, Pathology Conference, Tumor Board, and the combined Rheumatology-Pulmonary ILD Conference.

This robust conference schedule fosters ongoing learning, critical discussion and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Structured critical care fellowship rotations + balanced call schedule

Our fellowship schedule is thoughtfully designed and updated annually, incorporating fellow feedback to optimize clinical experience and work-life balance. Weekend call responsibilities are distributed evenly among all trainees to maintain fairness.

A dedicated in-hospital intensivist provides overnight coverage for the MICU alongside residents, ensuring continuous expert supervision. First-year fellows complete a two-week block of weekday night shifts in-house to gain critical overnight experience. Additionally, all fellows participate in one weekend overnight shift during their fellowship.

This balanced schedule supports progressive autonomy while maintaining strong faculty presence to guide fellows through complex clinical scenarios.

Clinical training in critical care medicine at Tufts Medical Center

Our critical care fellowship offers broad clinical training across multiple intensive care units, preparing fellows to manage complex patients in diverse settings. Through hands-on experience, expert mentorship and interdisciplinary collaboration, fellows develop advanced skills in diagnosis, treatment and procedural care.

Our fellowship delivers comprehensive critical care exposure across diverse ICU settings, preparing fellows for independent practice in complex clinical environments. We emphasize progressive autonomy, advanced procedural competence and close collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.

Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU)

The MICU is a closed unit staffed by pulmonary/critical care attendings, fellows, residents and medical students. Fellows manage a wide range of medical and neurological critical illness, gaining expertise in bedside procedures including bronchoscopy, central line placement, pulmonary artery catheterization, ultrasonography and mechanical ventilation. Fellows also lead teaching rounds, reinforcing their academic development.

Coronary Care Unit (CCU)

Fellows focus on the management of critical cardiac conditions, including cardiogenic shock and mechanical circulatory support. Close collaboration with cardiology teams allows fellows to refine their skills in managing acute coronary syndromes and complex arrhythmias, integrating pulmonary and cardiac critical care principles.

Areas of concentration

• Mechanical circulatory support: Care of patients on V-V and VA ECMO, including post-transplant and cardiogenic shock cases.
• Pulmonary hypertension: Hands-on experience in right heart catheterization and inpatient management at a designated center of comprehensive care.
• Interventional pulmonology: Advanced airway and pleural procedures with optional certification in EBUS and training in Ion Robotic Bronchoscopy.

Clinical opportunities + educational objectives

We expect fellows to progress through ACGME Milestones in:

• Patient care
• Medical knowledge
• Systems-based practice
• Practice-based learning and improvement
• Professionalism
• Interpersonal and communication skills

Fellows advance these competencies year by year, tailored to each rotation’s specific learning goals.

Comprehensive critical care fellowship curriculum with hands-on ICU training

Our program is designed to provide fellows with the essential knowledge and skills needed to excel as critical care physicians, all under close supervision. Fellows rotate through a variety of ICU settings, gaining firsthand experience in how critical care medicine adapts to different environments.

Training includes extensive exposure to mechanical circulatory support devices across the Medical ICU, Cardiac Care Unit and Cardiothoracic ICU. Early in the year, fellows receive dedicated airway management training to build confidence and competence in intubation.

Fellows are expected to perform endotracheal intubations in the ICU at Lowell General Hospital while refining other procedural skills such as bronchoscopy, right heart catheterization, chest tube placement and other common ICU procedures.