Pulmonary Fellowship Resources

On intake, each fellow is assigned to one of seven Houses within the training program. The goal of the House system is to provide a personal degree of mentoring to each fellow. Two faculty leaders are assigned to each House, as is one fellow from each year of the training program. Each House meets quarterly for fun, food, and libation; these meetings also serve as informal opportunities to seek the counsel of some of our most engaged and experienced faculty on matters related to both personal and professional development. 

The Emory Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine is fortunate to have a significant footprint in the leadership in each of the three largest international societies that cater to our specialties. We have multiple faculty involved in committees for each of the American Thoracic Society (ATS), the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). We also have faculty on the SCCM Council and the CHEST Board of Regents. As a result, we have had great success getting our trainees engaged in these societies, not only as presenters as annual meetings, but also as active participants in their committee structures. These experiences have been invaluable for Emory fellows, both to afford them a presence on the international stage, and to enable networking with and mentorship from nationally- and internationally-renowned pulmonary and critical care faculty. 

Midway through a fellow's first year, they attend a focused career development course to inform them about different training options, to ensure a smooth transition from the first year of training into the senior portion of their fellowship. During this time, fellows will meet with many potential mentors to understand what role each faculty member plays in the overall workings of the division, the department, and the school, and how their training and experience helped them achieve their current position. Through this process, trainees will be introduced to a variety of career paths; the latter half of this first year of fellowship affords time for trainees to meet with division leaders and specific potential mentors to determine the best path for their senior years. 

The fellowship's Career Development Committee oversees fellow progress during the latter portions of training. After their first year, each fellow creates a mentorship committee that meets with them quarterly to review their progress and discuss their plans for the coming months; using this input, trainees' plans are continuously sculpted to achieve the outcome set for themselves at the beginning of their training. 

Pulmonary and Critical Care Didactic Conferences and Grand Rounds 

PCCM Grand Rounds occur each Tuesday from 7:30 - 8:30 a.m. Each week, the conference follows one of several different formats: 

• Journal club, in which fellows select an interesting publication from the recent literature and review the background of the topic as well as the methodology, design, statistical analysis, results, and conclusions of the publication. 
• Case conference, in which fellows present a case history, physical exam, and pertinent radiographic studies and then select a faculty member to discuss the salient features and develop a differential diagnosis and diagnostic plan. The fellow then reviews the clinical course, pathologic material, and outcome of the case. 
• Morbidity and Mortality conference, in which fellows review a recent case seen in the intensive care unit or inpatient wards during which an adverse outcome occurred. Fellows perform an in-depth analysis of potential contributors to that adverse outcome, and how they could be mitigated for future cases. 
• Faculty presentations, in which attending physicians provide an in-depth review of a pulmonary/critical care medicine topic or present findings of their ongoing clinical research projects including background, study design, epidemiology, analysis of data and statistical analysis. 
• Senior grand rounds, in which graduating fellows present a topic of their own choosing, relevant to their trajectory during their three-year commitment to the training program. 
• Visiting professor presentations, in which distinguished faculty from around the country lecture on a topic in their area of clinical or research expertise. 

Pulmonary and Critical Care Core Curriculum Conferences are presented weekly on Tuesday morning from 8:30 - 9:30 a.m., and from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. Multidisciplinary faculty present on a broad variety of topics pertinent to pulmonary disease/critical care medicine, targeted to the training level of fellows. The overall content is organized to cover in more depth topics that are relevant to clinical practice and the American Board of Internal Medicine’s certifying examinations in Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine. 

The Departments of Neurology, Anesthesiology, and Surgery each have their own critical care fellowships, and all four training programs have a single joint critical care conference on Thursday from 3 - 5 p.m. The content herein focuses solely on critical care, but will include more in-depth information on topics outside of internal medicine, including trauma, neurocritical care, and cardiothoracic critical care, in addition to more traditional medical critical care topics.  

Research Conference is held weekly on Thursday morning from 8 - 9 a.m., except during summer months. The conference serves as a showcase for fellows and faculty both within and outside the division to present work in progress and recently completed projects. All fellows on research rotations are required to attend. 

Fellows are encouraged to attend the following conferences, although attendance is not mandatory. 

Emory Department of Medicine Grand Rounds take place on Tuesdays during the academic year from noon - 1 p.m.

Other multidisciplinary conferences held weekly at selected sites and attended only by fellows on rotation at those facilities:

• Grady Hospital: Monthly ID-pulmonary conference 
• Grady Hospital: Monthly radiology, pulmonary, pathology, thoracic surgery conferences 
• Atlanta VA Medical Center: Weekly multidisciplinary conference with participation from radiology, pulmonary, thoracic surgery, oncology, radiation therapy, and nuclear medicine services 
• Emory Sleep Medicine Grand Rounds 
• Emory University Hospital Interstitial Lung Disease Conference Emory University Hospital Lung Transplant Conference 
• Emory University Hospital Tumor Board

Vacation

Fellows get three weeks of vacation during each year of fellowship.

Medical Meetings

Fellows are given time off and funding to attend one medical meeting of their choosing during the second year of training. Funding for meetings during subsequent years is contingent upon presenting at the meeting of interest.

Summary of Benefits - Medical House Staff

For a complete list of benefits to Emory University trainees, please visit Emory School of Medicine medical house benefits information.

For additional information on benefits, please contact:

Human Resources Department
Emory University
Atlanta, GA 30322
404-727-7613