Rotations and Curriculum - Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital
The Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship program organizes its training into 12 one-month blocks per academic year. Below is a breakdown of the monthly block schedule for each fellowship year, as well as the standard weekly and monthly clinical and educational commitments.
Monthly Block Schedule by Year
Year 1 (F-1)
- 3 months of Medical ICU (MICU) / Cardiovascular ICU (CVICU)
- 1 month of Surgical ICU (SICU)
- 2 months of Pulmonary Consults (PC)
- 1 month of Pulmonary Physiology/Sleep (PPS)
- 1 month of Pulmonary Subspecialty Clinic (PSC)
- 2 months of Research (R)
- 1 month of Procedures (P)
- 1 month of Night Float (NF)
Year 2 (F-2)
- 4 months of Intensive Care: Coronary ICU (CICU), CVICU, MICU, and Neurological ICU (NEICU) — 1 month each
- 1 month of Surgical ICU (SICU)
- 2 months of Off-Site Subspecialty Intensive Care: Advanced Heart Failure (AH) at The Ohio State University Hospital and the Akron Burn Unit (AB) — 1 month each
- 1 month of Pulmonary Consults (PC)
- 1 month of Pulmonary Physiology/Sleep (PPS)
- 1 month of Pulmonary Subspecialty Clinic (PSC)
- 1 month of Research (R)
- 1 month of Night Float (NF)
Year 3 (F-3)
- 4 months of Intensive Care: CICU, CVICU, MICU, and NEICU — 1 month each
- 1 month of Lung Transplant (LT) at The Ohio State University Hospital
- 1 month of Pulmonary Consults (PC)
- 1 month of Pulmonary Physiology/Sleep (PPS)
- 1 month of Pulmonary Subspecialty Clinic (PSC)
- 1 month of Research (R)
- 1 month of Night Float (NF)
- 1 month of Admin/Leadership
- 1 month of Elective (E)
Weekly Clinical and Educational Calendar
While daily schedules vary based on the assigned rotation, the program enforces the following weekly structures:
- Continuity Clinic: Fellows attend one half-day session per week at the Pulmonary Health & Research Center for the duration of the program, seeing an average of six patients per session.
- Subspecialty Clinic Block Structure: When assigned to the monthly Pulmonary Subspecialty Clinic (PSC) rotation, fellows spend nine (9) half-days per week in subspecialty clinics, in addition to their one half-day of continuity clinic.
- Didactics: Fellows attend weekly didactic sessions covering core concepts in Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine.
- Work Hours & Rest: The schedule strictly adheres to the ACGME 80-hour maximum work week limit. Fellows must have at least one day out of seven free of clinical work and educational duties, and an 8-hour rest period between shifts.
Monthly Core Conferences
In addition to weekly didactics, the academic calendar incorporates several robust monthly conferences:
- Pulmonary/Critical Care Case Conference: A multidisciplinary review integrating radiology and pathology.
- Journal Club: Critical review and discussion of recent and classic medical literature.
- Morbidity and Mortality Conference: A structured review of cases from the ICU and pulmonary services focusing on patient safety and systems processes.
- Research Seminar: Fellows present and critique projects with faculty guidance on study design and data analysis.

