Adult Surgical Critical Care Fellowship

The Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at Northwestern is a one-year ACGME-accredited fellowship for graduates of ACGME-accredited general surgery residency programs. The program accepts two fellows each year. Two features distinguishes our fellowship program: first, we create “Individualized Learning Plans” to accommodate the specific needs and aspirations of each fellow based on their chosen career trajectory. Second, we foster collaborative, multi-disciplinary and multi-specialty innovative educational programs and provide our fellows with immersive experiences through rotations on a number of diverse critical care units and related consulting services to provide comprehensive clinical experiences to manage all aspects of critical illnesses.

SCC fellowship rotations are based primarily at Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) in the heart of the beautiful city of Chicago next to the touristic Magnificent Mile. The Surgical Critical Care service manages critically-ill surgical patients including those from general surgery, trauma, vascular, thoracic, surgical oncology, urology, ENT, gynecology, as well as pre- and post-transplant patients.

NMH reputation as one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers continues as we develop additional world-class facilities and expanded clinical programs with our academic partner, Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. This is a 894-bed academic medical center hospital, with at least 115 ICU beds that is the primary teaching affiliate for the Feinberg School of Medicine and has nearly 1,900 affiliated physicians representing virtually every medical specialty. According to U.S. News & World Report (2019-20), Northwestern Memorial Hospital is the No. 1 hospital in Illinois and Chicago and is recognized among the top hospitals in the country ranking No. 10 on the Best Hospitals Honor Roll.

The goal of the Surgical Critical Care (SCC) fellowship training at Northwestern is to graduate SCC specialists who are able to fulfill and advance the clinical, administrative and research expectations of future leaders in SCC.

Graduates of the Northwestern SCC fellowship are expected to:

1. Implement best evidence-based practices that are cost-effective, adhere to patient safety principles and improve patient outcomes
2. Demonstrate advanced decision-making abilities during complex clinical situations
3. Operate effectively within multidisciplinary patient care teams
4. Practice effective and comprehensive communication skills with patients, families and teams of healthcare providers
5. Participate in quality control projects to achieve institutional and national quality benchmarks and improve patient outcomes
6. Design and conduct research projects that are relevant to the science of critical care
7. Develop essential administrative and managerial skills that improve resource utilization within the critical care unit and the institution
8. Illustrate competence in utilizing monitoring and support devices essential for patient care

The comprehensive curriculum was designed to ensure that fellows are prepared for independent practice as SCC specialists who are excellent and compassionate clinicians, thorough scientists and visionary leaders in the field.

Curricular elements for SCC fellowship at Northwestern were adopted from four main sources:

1. The Society of Critical Care Medicine (Guidelines for Advanced Training for Physicians in Critical Care, Crit Care Med 1997; 25:1601-1607)
2. The Surgical Critical Care Program Directors Society (Training and certification in surgical critical care: a position paper by the Surgical Critical Care Program Directors Society. J Trauma. 2010 Aug; 69 (2): 471-474)
3. The ACGME Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Surgical Critical Care
4. American Board of Surgery- Content Outline for the Certifying and MOC (Recertification) Examination

Educational Events

• Bedside multidisciplinary rounds (daily)
• Morning report (Monday-Wednesday every week)
• Multidisciplinary Critical Care Core Curriculum Series (once or twice a month)
• Multidisciplinary Journal Club (once a month)
• Pulmonary CCM (once a month)
• Anesthesia CC Conference (once a month)
• CCM Journal Club (once a month)
• Simulation Series (October - May)
• SICU M&M (last Wednesday of the month)

Rotations

• SICU
• MICU
• CTICU
• NSICU
• CCU
• Acute Care Surgery
• Nephrology
• ID
• Echo

This program is available to individuals seeking additional training in surgical critical care who have:

1. Satisfactory completed the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Steps 1, 2, and 3
2. Completed a United States ACGME-accredited residency program
3. Eligible for medical licensure in the State of Illinois

Candidates are asked to submit all application documents through the SCC and ACS Fellowship Application Service (SAFAS). Access the SAFAS application service and follow the Applicant Instructions located on the homepage. Requested documents are:

• Curriculum vitae
• Personal statement
• Three letters of recommendation, including one from your program director
• ABSITE scores
• USMLE scores

Housestaff training through McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University provides diverse and challenging clinical experiences and world-class education located in the heart of the beautiful city of Chicago. Learn more via the links to the McGaw website below.

• Why Northwestern?
• Diversity & Inclusion

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