The Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship offers a well-rounded clinical training program that combines hands-on patient care with an extensive curriculum that includes simulation-based learning, case-based learning, and didactics. Fellows are exposed to diverse inpatient and outpatient populations across a spectrum of diseases and conditions.

Fellows are allotted four weeks of vacation time each year and are expected to be available on an on-call basis for weekends.

Bootcamp

For the first few weeks of fellowship, our incoming fellows receive lectures about the fundamentals of pulmonary and critical care supplemented with case-based learning in the simulation center to prepare them for service. We also emphasize team building amongst all trainees and attendings with exciting activities.

Buddy system

Incoming fellows rotate with a senior fellow on each of our core services to learn the lay of the land. Senior fellows assist junior fellows with triaging critically ill patients, teaching and refining their procedural skills, and introducing their roles as PCCM fellows.

Core rotations

As part of our program, fellows undergo several core rotations designed to provide a well-rounded and diverse clinical experience:

Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU)

The Medical Intensive Care Unit is a twenty-bed unit supported by both resident and advanced practice provider (APP) services. Trainees gain extensive exposure to a wide range of “bread-and-butter” internal medicine cases, as well as complex and critically ill patients requiring advanced management. This rotation provides a strong foundation in critical care principles, interdisciplinary collaboration, and evidence-based decision-making.

Critical care outreach

During the critical care outreach rotation, trainees take a leading role in hospital-wide rapid responses and triage critical care consults from across the institution. They also serve as integral members of the Pulmonary Embolism Response Team (PERT), gaining valuable experience in the rapid assessment and management of acutely decompensating patients. This role fosters strong leadership, teamwork, and clinical judgment under pressure.

Pulmonary consults

The pulmonary consult service offers broad exposure to both common respiratory conditions and rare pulmonary pathologies. Trainees actively participate in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, including thoracenteses and pigtail chest tube insertions, while developing expertise in evaluating and managing complex pulmonary diseases in a consultative setting.

Night float

The night float rotation provides an opportunity to manage critically ill patients with a high degree of autonomy. Trainees triage new intensive care unit (ICU) consults, respond to rapid response calls, and make urgent management decisions overnight. This experience builds confidence in independent clinical reasoning, prioritization, and acute care decision-making.

Procedures

Trainees gain hands-on procedural experience throughout their rotations, performing advanced interventions such as robotic bronchoscopy, endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), and pleural catheter insertions. These opportunities reinforce procedural competence and familiarity with cutting-edge diagnostic and therapeutic techniques in pulmonary and critical care medicine.

Electives

In addition to core rotations, trainees may choose from a diverse selection of elective experiences designed to deepen clinical expertise and broaden exposure across subspecialty areas. These include:

• other intensive care units: cardiac ICU, cardiothoracic ICU, neuro ICU, surgical ICU
• interstitial lung disease
• pulmonary hypertension
• echo
• anesthesia
• radiology
• interventional pulmonary
• lung transplant
• external rotations also available

Simulations

Fellows are exposed to emergency situations such as massive hemoptysis, choking, hemodynamic instability, and respiratory distress via case-based learning. Simulation sessions build confidence of rapid but thoroughly processed decisions for unstable patients.

Conferences and Grand Rounds

Beyond hands-on clinical experience, fellows participate in a comprehensive series of conferences and grand rounds designed to foster critical thinking, interdisciplinary collaboration, and lifelong learning in pulmonary and critical care medicine. These include:

• Radiology Rounds: fellows on weekend service review pulmonary cases with teaching points
• Case Conference: fellows present an educational case they have encountered, followed by topical discussion
• Journal club: fellows present recent publications, learn to interpret and critique journals, and discuss applications to current practice
• Board review: fellows review self-education and evaluation of knowledge (SEEK) questions with core faculty
• Interstitial lung disease conference: multidisciplinary conference takes place between pulmonary, pathology, and radiology
• Pulmonary hypertension: our pulmonary hypertension specialists teach fellows key concepts
• Multidisciplinary conferences: fellows attend cross-specialty conferences, including tumor board, advanced lung disease, tuberculosis conference, and lung nodule
• Grand rounds: performed twice monthly, each fellow presents on advances in pulmonary and critical care medicine annually

Critical care echo

Fellows develop the skills needed to obtain and interpret appropriate ultrasound images to aid in the management of critically ill patients.

Ambulatory sessions

Fellows gain confidence in outpatient pulmonary management in a weekly continuity clinic. You will have exposure to pulmonary function tests (PFTs), cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), and pulmonary rehab.

Mentor–Mentee Program

Each academic year our mentor–mentee system pairs an attending physician with a fellow. Together, they develop individualized goals to support the fellow’s professional growth and clinical development.

Additionally, third-year fellows are paired with a first-year fellow to ease the transition into fellowship. This program provides guidance, support, and practical insight, helping first-year fellows adjust to their new roles and successfully achieve their goals.

Wellness Programs

Wellness is built into our culture—from holiday parties and birthday celebrations to meet-and-greet mini golf and time set aside to recharge. At NYU Langone Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, pulmonary and critical care fellows benefit from a supportive, team-driven environment with intentional wellness programming and resources designed to help you thrive both in and out of the ICU.