Clinical Services

PICU Subspecialty Expertise

The Critical Care Team serves the sickest of sick patients, so they must be well versed in treating a variety of conditions at a moment’s notice. They identify patient needs and connect them to specialized care. Areas of subspecialty expertise include, but are not limited to: cardiovascular surgery, congenital heart disease, pulmonology, hematology, oncology, neurocritical care, neurosurgery, gastroenterology, transplant medicine, and trauma. Advanced treatment modalities are also available in the PICU, such as invasive and non-invasive ventilation with access to high-frequency oscillatory ventilation; hyperbaric oxygen therapy; inhaled nitric oxide gas therapy; continuous renal replacement therapy; and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for neonatal and pediatric respiratory and cardiac failure.

collage of doctors in a surgery simulation

Pediatric Critical Care Transport Team

This team is also responsible for transporting medically fragile patients to Children’s Memorial Hermann, the premiere Level I Trauma Center in the area. As the birthplace of Life Flight hospital-based air medical transport service, Memorial Hermann has achieved mastery at safe and effective patient transport. In addition to physicians, the Transport Team is composed of at least one transport nurse as well as a respiratory therapist to ensure a well-rounded approach and positive outcomes. Fellows can also rotate through the Transport Team as a ride-along or elective rotation, however, those options are solely available with ground transport.

Visiting Scholars ObservershipGroup of doctors standing in a simulated PICU

Pediatric Critical Care is honored to be part of the UTHealth Houston Visiting Scholars Observership Program. Individuals who hold a high school or higher degree with an interest in a health care-related field and are seeking to observe (i.e. only to shadow, watch, and listen; no hands-on activities allowed) Pediatric Critical Care physicians may apply for the UTHealth Houston Observership Program. It is important to note that observers cannot provide clinical care, cannot perform any patient care, and cannot participate in or perform research, data collection or any other hands-on activities, yet the chance to watch and learn can be a transformative experience.