The three-year pulmonary and critical care program consists of a diverse clinical experience which meets the directives of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) requirements and prepares our fellows for subspecialty board examination and certification.
Inpatient Experience
Inpatient hospital services of the Division are divided among three campuses, Banner – University Medical Center (UMC) Tucson, Banner – UMC South and the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System (SAVAHCS). Each venue offers Critical Care services in a closed ICU model (MICU) and Pulmonary Consult services. The Critical Care service is an admitting service for patients with a broad array of critical illnesses. The Pulmonary Consult service provides expertise in the management of acute and chronic pulmonary conditions for other admitting services upon request.
The MICU team is composed of an attending physician, pulmonary fellow, residents and medical students. The Pulmonary Consult service is generally composed of an attending and fellow and may have a resident or medical student. The Pulmonary Consult team provides consultative services to all programs and services within Banner – UMC and outside affiliates, while the SAVAHCS provides consultative services within the VA system.
In addition to these core services, fellows will also rotate through on a Procedures service, Thoracic Surgery and Lung Transplant service (MICU C), and will have the opportunity to rotate through a variety of electives. On the Procedures service, fellows will work with an interventional pulmonologist and gain firsthand experience in cutting-edge interventional pulmonary procedures to include but not limited to: airway management, rigid bronchoscopy, stent placement, argon plasma coagulation (APC), bronchial thermoplasty, pleuroscopy, pleural drainage catheter placement, endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), navigational bronchoscopy and percutaneous tracheostomy. The MICU C service is composed of a transplant or interventional pulmonology attending, a PA, and occasionally a fellow. Fellows will participate in the primary management of lung transplant patients, including new transplants and post-transplant complications, as well as the care of patients who are admitted for thoracic surgery. Elective opportunities are ample and are intended to enable fellows to develop and expand skills relevant to the practice of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
Outpatient Experience
Pulmonary Clinics are located at the Banner – UMC Tucson and South campuses and at the SAVAHCS. Fellows follow their own template of ambulatory patients in the Pulmonary Clinic under the supervision of an attending physician. All fellows attend clinic longitudinally throughout their three years of training. Interesting and/or difficult patients are reviewed during the weekly clinical conference. In addition to their continuity clinic, second and third year fellows rotate through our sub-subspecialty clinics to gain further clinical exposure to these patients. These clinics include: Pulmonary Hypertension, Lung Transplantation, Lung Cancer, Cystic Fibrosis, Interstitial Lung Disease, Sleep Medicine, Allergy and Immunology, and Palliative Care. Additional outpatient experiences include pulmonary function test interpretation, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, and pulmonary rehabilitation services.
Our program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
We are not approving any observerships at this time. Fellows are not able to sponsor observerships.
Recent Graduates: For Loan Forgiveness matters, please email forms directly to Banner: BHCorpPSLF@bannerhealth.com.
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