Message from the Program Director

Welcome to the McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. We have a clinically robust pulmonary and critical care fellowships (PCCM) centered at 5 different institutions in the world-renowned Texas Medical Center (TMC).

Our rotation sites are as follows:

  • Memorial Hermann-TMC is our large academic center and university hospital. It is the site of the majority of our subspecialty critical care as well as pulmonary and sleep training. It is one of the busiest Level 1 trauma centers in the country and a referral center for acute myocardial infarction, stroke, cardiac care and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
  • Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital (LBJ) is our county hospital that serves as a safety net for the community within the Harris Health Network. It is an opportunity to serve indigent patients with advanced pathology in both the critical care environment and pulmonary consultant roles.
  • MD Anderson Cancer Center is a unique experience with high-volume patients with cancer diagnosis as well as complications of cancer therapy. Pulmonary fellows perform pulmonary consultation services for cancer and sequelae related to therapies, and they are trained in advanced bronchoscopic and pleural procedures by dedicated interventional pulmonologists.
  • Kindred Hospital is a long-term acute care hospital, and it is an important experience for the fellows in inpatient pulmonary rehabilitation, management of tracheostomies and ventilator weaning in a step-down unit. The rehabilitation hospital represents an integral part for community pulmonary practices.
  • Memorial Hermann-TIRR is a new pulmonary consultative experience with exposure to one of the nation’s leaders in spinal cord and neurologic injury where fellows learn unique aspects of mechanical ventilation and pulmonary care of neurologic injury patients.

Our fellowship offers outstanding clinical training in an environment geared to support various career paths including community and academic settings. Our program is designed as follows:

  • Two (2) Distinct Fellowship Tracks : Categorical fellows rotate through a 36-month combined PCCM fellowship rotations, while our Critical Care fellows rotate through a 24-month curriculum. Our goal is to equip and empower the next generation of pulmonologists and Intensivists to care for patients through the entire spectrum of critical illness and pulmonary diseases.
  • Procedural Expertise: Our Pulmonary fellows are well-versed in basic and advanced bronchoscopic and pleural procedures. All fellows encounter subspecialty critical care patients in medical, cardiac, cardiovascular surgery, neurologic trauma, trauma surgery, and solid organ transplantation. Through rotations at Memorial Hermann-TMC, our fellows have exposure to high acuity cardiac critical care including mechanical circulatory support devices, including veno-arterial ECMO Fellows also gain comprehensive experience in the application and management of veno-venous ECMO for acute respiratory failure.
  • Career Development: Fellows on both tracks are thoroughly prepared to be future leaders in the ICU, and they are equipped for careers in either academic practice or private/community practice.  We provide comprehensive didactics as well as training in quality improvement and clinical research with our affiliated hospitals. In addition, our fellows also grow as educators throughout their fellowship, with significant exposure to teaching medical students, residents, and other fellows in critical and pulmonary topics, in procedural skills, including point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS).
  • Subspecialty Training: Additionally, our division is also home to an excellent Sleep Medicine fellowship, and our Pulmonary and Critical care fellows spend at least one month rotating throughout high-volume high-acuity sleep lab as well as outpatient sleep medicine. They will also gain exposure and participate in interventional pulmonary procedures at several sites including MD Anderson Cancer Center. Additional dedicated years for both sleep medicine and interventional pulmonary fellowships at present at our sites. Our trainees will interact and learn from subspecialty fellows, and for those with interest, mentoring for subsequent application can be arranged.
  • Scholarly Activity: Our fellows submit to and attend local, regional, and national conferences within the subspecialty to gain broader exposure to the disciplines. We support and encourage fellow publications with case reports, original research, educational innovations and quality improvement.

 

For further information on the Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine Fellowship, please contact:

Mark T. Warner, MD CMQ
Program Director, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship
6431 Fannin Street | MSB 1.434 | Houston, Texas 77030
713-500-5431 tel | 713-500-6829 fax
Mark.T.Warner@uth.tmc.edu

Tanja Calixto, C-TAGME
Program Manager, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship
6431 Fannin Street | MSB 1.434 | Houston, Texas 77030
713-500-6861 tel | 713-500-6829 fax
Tanja.Calixto@uth.tmc.edu