Welcome to the surgical critical care fellowship

Maimonides Medical Center is a 650 bed tertiary referral hospital located in a densely populated multicultural neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. We are one of the largest independent teaching hospitals in the country, training over 500 residents and fellows each year. Our outstanding care has been recognized at state and national levels, and we are committed to providing clinical excellence, a patient-centered approach, and a culture of innovation to make a difference in our community. We are an American College of Surgeons verified Level 1 adult trauma center and the only ACS verified pediatric trauma center in Brooklyn.

Maimonides has a 13 bed Surgical Intensive Care Unit with over 1100 admission annually, as well as a 12 bed Stepdown Unit, both of which care for all surgical subspecialties, including emergency general surgery, colorectal, surgical oncology, hepatobiliary, bariatric, neurosurgery, vascular, thoracic, orthopedic, urology, ENT, and OB/GYN patients. The fellow benefits from these two units being administratively and physically connected, allowing them to gain experience in patient triage and hospital throughput to optimize resource utilization. We also offer elective opportunities through our MICU, Cardiothoracic ICU, Anesthesia, and Advanced Echocardiography rotations.

Mission statement and program aims

The Maimonides Surgical Critical Care Fellowship expects its graduates to become critical care specialists/intensivists who are well trained and fully qualified to practice in all clinical settings, in all community settings, and to thrive in both academic and non-academic programs. Through educational and clinical experience and mentorship, taking full advantage of the extensive opportunities to serve ethnically and culturally diverse communities, we will foster the fellow’s capacity to work with all patient populations whether they be in Brooklyn or internationally, be global citizens, and think collaboratively and compassionately as they apply clinical and administrative skills. The program mission aligns with that of the sponsoring institution: Maimonides Medical Center is dedicated to fostering healthy communities. We provide high quality, compassionate patient care and comprehensive community services. As a premier academic medical center, we are devoted to educating health care professionals, patients, families, employees and the communities we serve.
 
In order to meet our mission goals, we will:
Provide a broad spectrum of clinical critical care experience in a wide array of surgical and non-surgical specialties

• Structure the fellow’s training so that through graduated supervision they assume greater responsibility for all aspects of management of highly complex critically ill surgical patients, including non-clinical duties
• Supervise trainees to recognize their leadership roles as specialists in determining the triage and throughput needs of various critical care units and the hospital overall
• Support scholarly endeavors 
• Provide training and mentorship to be professional, competent, and compassionate clinicians
• Recruit and retain diverse faculty and trainees to best serve our diverse community

Curriculum

The fellowship program is designed to provide fellows with the comprehensive skills needed to become highly competent, compassionate, and effective critical care physicians. The curriculum encompasses all aspects of critical care, from the proper indications for admission and discharge, to triaging critically ill patients and ensuring optimal use of critical care beds. Fellows will work closely with nursing leadership to manage patient throughput and learn advanced resuscitation techniques, including shock management, mechanical ventilation, and the use of ECMO. The program also emphasizes the development of leadership skills, allowing fellows to effectively manage critical care teams while maintaining clear communication and collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.

Fellows will gain expertise in a wide range of critical care areas, including invasive and non-invasive hemodynamic monitoring, emergency cardiac care, and the safe use of medications. In addition to these clinical skills, the fellowship offers training in quality improvement processes, such as Morbidity and Mortality conferences, and preparing fellows to educate families on treatment options, prognosis, and risks. The curriculum also focuses on addressing ethical issues in the ICU, compassionate end-of-life care, and navigating the emotional challenges faced by patients and families during critical illness. Through this multifaceted approach, fellows will not only become proficient in critical care but also develop the leadership and communication skills essential for managing complex medical and surgical patients with empathy and expertise..

Research

The Division of Acute Care Surgery has recently recruited a full-time research coordinator to help with our expanding scholastic activities. Our surgical intensivists are engaged in a diverse range of research topics, including:

• Trauma triage and its effects on patient outcomes
• Outcomes in operative subacute subdural hematomas
• Whole blood implementation in urban trauma centers
• Skin color representation in Acute Care and Trauma textbooks
• Enhancing trauma triage with large language models (LLMs)
• Targeted therapies, such as DDAVP, for traumatic brain injury patients on platelet inhibitors
• Diagnostic tools for managing ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP)
• Injury prevention in pediatrics and young adults, including poison and crib safety and distracted driving education
• Patient safety improvements through QI/PI initiatives
• Injury patterns from micro mobility crashes
• Applying brain injury guidelines in pediatric non-accidental trauma
• Reducing colorectal surgical infections