Fellowship

Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care

Program Introduction
Welcome to our Texas Medical Board-accredited Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Fellowship Program through the UTHealth Houston McGovern Medical School.

Advanced Cardiac Critical Care Fellows are an important part of the ICU team led by the HCICU faculty, who are the primary physicians for our robust, challenging HCICU service. Daily bedside multidisciplinary rounds in the unit include the HCICU attending physician, advanced cardiac critical care fellow, pediatric critical care fellow, pediatric cardiology fellow, HCICU and CV surgical Advanced Practice Providers, Pediatric Cardiovascular surgeon, Pediatric Cardiologists, and ICU staff, including nursing and respiratory therapy.

Rounds are family centered, and include input from pharmacy, dieticians, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, child life, and chaplaincy services. Our goal is to provide personalized care for each patient, and allow the fellow to grow into the role of becoming a confident leader of the team by the end of the fellowship.

There is close patient care communication with the surgical team and consultant teams on these patients, which include postoperative open and endovascular aortic repairs of aneurysms and dissections, minimally invasive and open-approach cardiac valves, aortocoronary bypass and coronary artery bypass grafting, and congenital cardiac heart disease repair in the adult population, among other cardiac procedures. Postoperative huddles include ICU nursing, the anesthesia and cardiothoracic surgical teams, as well as our medical intensivists. Daily responsibilities include mechanical ventilator management, hemodynamic management, monitoring of respiratory and mobility processes, and chest tube management.

Facilities
Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital

Program Curriculum
Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Medicine fellows will rotate through key service lines across the Children’s Heart Institute in order to gain in-depth and personalized experience from both regional and national experts in each respective field to maximize training opportunity. Rotation schedules are individually tailored based on the experience, training/background, and interests of each fellow. Within our Heart Center ICU (HCICU), each fellow will begin serving as a front-line provider, with systematic autonomy progression as the year progresses. A sample rotation schedule for Pediatric Critical Care Medicine-trained fellows is as follows:

Rotation & Scheduled Time
HCICU 24 Weeks
Echocardiogram/Advanced Imaging 4 Weeks
Cardiac Catheterization 4 Weeks
Electrophysiology 2 Weeks
Heart Failure/Transplantation 2 Weeks
Cardiac Anesthesia, OR Perfusion 4 Weeks

Elective Rotation

E.g. Cardiology Consult Service, Adult Heart Failure, Adult Cardiac ICU, Fetal Imaging/Counseling, Palliative Care, Adult Congenital Heart Disease, Research
9 Weeks

Vacation 3 Weeks

Educational Conferences

Fellows will also have an opportunity to seek out training, mentorship, and networking at national-based meetings, including the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society (PCICS). Pending availability of the fellow, attendance at the yearly PCICS conference is prioritized in addition to attendance at the annual PCICS Advanced Simulation Bootcamp.

Fellows are also encouraged to participate in national and international journal clubs, including the PCICS Fourth Year Fellow journal club, and Webinar events through international societies such as ATS.

How to apply?
See instructions on The Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society website to apply!

Contact Us
For more program information please reach out to our Program Coordinator, Jeremiah Hawkins, [email protected]