Curriculum

We emphasize a comprehensive understanding of physiology and pathophysiology, knowledge of advanced life-support systems and collaborative, multidisciplinary patient care. 

In our program, you’ll learn to develop a strong foundation of knowledge of pediatric critical care medicine (PCCM), while gaining confidence in the proficiency necessary for providing clinical care to critically ill infants, children and adolescents in a compassionate, professional and ethical manner.

You will gain technical proficiency with invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures necessary for providing critical care while developing administrative and management skills necessary to direct a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). You will learn the principles underlying medical practice and health systems.

You will learn the skills needed to effectively teach physicians, nurses and other members of a multidisciplinary health care team and will be able to effectively utilize a team-oriented approach to both clinical and academic PCCM and to recognize the importance of this approach.

Our training teaches you the necessary skills to evaluate the medical literature as it relates to PCCM and allows you to further your body of knowledge in PCCM by performing clinical and laboratory research.

You will develop competency in clinical practice during your first year of fellowship training. The majority of the clinical training is accomplished in this year of the program, during which you will focus on formulating diagnoses and learning management principles.

You will focus on the acquisition of procedural skills and you will learn to coordinate care with other members of multidisciplinary teams.

You will participate in discussions about complex ethical, social issues in caring for seriously or terminally ill children — and have the opportunity to put this knowledge into practice.

You may participate in transport of severely ill or injured children from other hospitals.

You will spend one month early in the academic year on anesthesia elective, practicing advanced airway management and learning the pharmacology of various anesthetics, sedatives and neuromuscular blockers. 

You will also have the option of completing a month-long observership with Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s (CHP) transplant team during your first year.

During the second year of training, you will expand on experience attained in the first year and will explore additional roles of an academic clinician.

You will assume a greater role in coordinating care and will become more autonomous, but will still receive close input from PCCM faculty. 

You will be given time to explore the roles of an academic clinician: clinician-researcher, clinician-educator or clinician-administrator. 

You will complete the appropriate research paperwork for your investigations. Trainees pursuing the clinician-educator role will devote time to developing and expanding an educational program.

You will spend one month in the cardiac ICU of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHP), where you will care for children and young adults with both congenital and acquired heart disease.

As rotating fellows, you are tasked with overnight call and patient management responsibilities on par with Pittsburgh’s own trainees. Oishei Children’s Hospital fellows will assume as much autonomy and responsibility as the CHP fellows.

In your third year, you will demonstrate full ability in clinical practice, complete a research project/scholarly activity and expand on any adopted roles as a clinician-educator or clinician-administrator. 

The PICU attending may supervise you in a more remote fashion, as appropriate.

Time will be allotted for you to serve in a “pre-tending” role, in which you direct rounds, supervise junior residents and fellows and perform all activities of an attending physician.

Simulation plays a major role in our curriculum. You are exposed to high-fidelity scenarios recreating shock, cardiopulmonary arrest, airway emergencies and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.  

Lower-fidelity sessions focus on particulars of informed consent, delivering bad news and dealing with difficult patients and families.  

Sessions are supervised by faculty with extensive training and experience in simulation education, and over time you will be encouraged to “step behind the camera” and lead your own scenarios for residents, junior fellows and ancillary ICU staff.  

Our didactic curriculum contextualizes your clinical training, prepares you for your certification exam and keeps you current in our field.

You will be given instruction on adult learning and teaching methodology to make you the very best teacher that you can be. You will be responsible for both formal and informal education sessions, as well as bedside instruction and outreach to other areas of the hospital.

In your supervisory role, you will encourage residents, students, nurse practitioners, and physician’s assistants to present their full care plans, ask questions, participate in family conferences and perform simple procedures. 

You will lead bedside teaching during PICU rounds, including teaching techniques in active listening and answering questions.

You will learn how to make assignments of dedicated resident lectures and critical care conference presentations on topics of physiology and pathophysiology and how to assign morbidity and mortality conference presentations and journal club/evidence-based medicine presentations.