PULMONARY , ALLERGY , AND CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE QUARTERLY UPDATE
SPRING 2024
FEATURE STORIES
UAB Pulmonary Fellowship Fosters Individualized Learning by Andy Currie As the field of pulmonary medicine has evolved dramatically since 2020 , faculty at UAB have revamped the fellowship training experience to better meet the needs of its learners . Its primary goal ? To provide more individualized training for future pulmonologists .
? We wanted to expand our fellowship program to let our fellows see the breadth of our subspecialty . We also wanted to be able to train fellows for a variety of different careers ? physician-scientists , clinician-educators , master clinicians and community doctors ,? said program director Tracy Luckhardt , M . D .
The general pulmonary fellowship is led by Luckhardt , a Professor in the Division of Pulmonary , Allergy and Critical Care Medicine . George ? Marty ? Solomon , M . D . serves as associate director of the program .
" We re-wrote the curriculum to be a more faculty-driven , didactic program ," Solomon explained . " Fellows can see the full spectrum , from research to clinical care , for a particular condition ."
The trainee experience is divided into roughly equal parts of master clinician / didactic type case-based lectures and fellow-led presentations of either journal clubs , case conferences , or didactic talks of their choice . While training , fellows experience programs in environmental medicine , COPD , interstitial lung disease , cystic fibrosis , and lung cancer , from both a research and patient care perspective .
? We have also launched a critical care medicine fellowship and an interventional pulmonary fellowship ,? Luckhardt said .
The Critical Care Medicine Fellowship , led by Program Director Sheetal Gandotra , M . D ., trains physicians in procedures like airway management , paracentesis , basic bronchoscopy , percutaneous tracheostomy , and arterial access . Critical Care fellows train in the hospital ICU , while also rotating on ECMO , VA , and tele-ICU services .
? Dr . Gandotra led an initiative a year ago to develop a multidisciplinary critical care curriculum ,? Luckhardt said . ? Now , we have two hours a week dedicated to this multidisciplinary critical care curriculum , which is attended by our pulmonary critical care fellows , our critical care
Tracy Luckhardt , M . D . Photography : Steve Wood
fellows , anesthesia critical care , neurocritical care , and sometimes trauma critical care .?
The UAB Interventional Pulmonology program , directed by Hitesh Batra , M . D , offers a multidisciplinary approach to a wide range of pulmonary and pleural diseases . IP fellows work in close collaboration with medical oncologists , radiation oncologists , thoracic surgeons , ENT surgeons , pathologists , and radiologists , which allows for well-rounded training .
? We are unique in that we have the facilities and expertise to offer the full range of interventional pulmonology procedures and provide comprehensive and expedited diagnosis , treatment , management of complications , and thorough follow-up care ,? said Batra .
The division ? s fellowship programs are not only expanding in terms of medical information and training , but also in demographics and representation .
? Our current first-year class has two fellows who are underrepresented in medicine out of six . Our incoming class matched four women out of six available spaces , in a field where only about 30 % of your applicants are female ,? Luckhardt said . ? I am excited to have a class that is predominantly female coming in .?
PULMONARY , ALLERGY , AND CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE