For medical professionals aiming to specialize in critical care, completing a fellowship is a crucial step. New York State, a hub for medical excellence, offers some of the nation’s leading Critical Care Medicine (CCM) fellowship programs. Among these prestigious institutions, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) stands out, offering a comprehensive and highly sought-after one-year CCM fellowship program designed to cultivate expert intensivists.
The Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program at MSKCC is dedicated to developing competent critical care practitioners who are not only adept at managing intensive care units but also contribute to the advancement of the field through clinical research. Education is at the heart of the CCM service at MSKCC, playing a vital role in nurturing future specialists. The program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), ensuring the highest standards of training.
Comprehensive Critical Care Education and Training
MSKCC’s CCM Service delivers state-of-the-art, life-sustaining care to critically ill cancer patients within its 20-bed adult Intensive Care Unit. Beyond the ICU, the service extends its expertise throughout Memorial Hospital with a 24/7 consultation and rapid response service. A core mission is to provide exceptional education and training for the next generation of critical care specialists and to actively engage in collaborative, multi-center research initiatives.
Each year, the CCM fellowship program accommodates 12 fellows, creating a dynamic mix of both one-year and two-year trainees. Fellows typically come from diverse backgrounds, including primary specialties in internal medicine and emergency medicine, and secondary subspecialties such as pulmonary, nephrology, and infectious disease.
The structure of the one-year CCM fellowship is meticulously designed to provide a broad and intensive clinical experience. One-year fellows complete a total of 12 months of clinical rotations across three distinguished hospitals:
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC): Seven months are spent at MSKCC, including a dedicated month in the operating room. This OR rotation is specifically designed to hone airway management skills, a critical competency for intensivists.
- New York-Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH) Cornell Medical Center: Three months are spent at NYPH Cornell, offering specialized rotations in:
- Cardiothoracic Surgery (1 month): Gaining experience in the unique critical care needs of patients undergoing cardiothoracic procedures.
- Surgical Trauma (1 month): Managing the complexities of critically ill trauma patients in a surgical setting.
- Neurocritical Care (1 month): Focusing on the specialized care of patients with neurological emergencies and critical illnesses.
- New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens (NYHMCQ): One month is dedicated to a community-based medical ICU rotation at NYHMCQ. This rotation provides exposure to a different patient population and healthcare environment, broadening the fellow’s perspective and skillset.
This carefully curated rotation schedule ensures that one-year fellows receive well-rounded training, encompassing diverse patient populations and critical care scenarios across different hospital settings within the New York City area.
The fellowship program at MSKCC follows a rigorous educational curriculum. This curriculum includes a core didactic lecture series, conferences led by visiting professors renowned in the field, fellows’ grand rounds to foster presentation and case discussion skills, and specialized workshops focusing on ventilator management and ultrasound techniques. Further enhancing the learning experience are journal clubs to critically appraise medical literature, simulation laboratory sessions for hands-on training in a safe environment, comprehensive ultrasonography training, weekly board review sessions to prepare for certification exams, and case review and morbidity and mortality conferences to promote continuous learning from clinical experiences.
Fellows are actively encouraged to participate in research endeavors, present their findings at local and national conferences, contribute to peer-reviewed publications, and engage in patient-safety and quality-improvement projects. This emphasis on scholarly activity ensures that graduates are not only excellent clinicians but also contribute to the evolving knowledge base of critical care medicine.
Clinical Excellence and Patient Care
The CCM team at MSKCC is composed of faculty, fellows, advanced practice providers (nurse practitioners and physician assistants), and residents, all working collaboratively to provide exceptional daily care. The 20-bed medical-surgical ICU and the larger 514-bed inpatient hospital benefit from the expertise of this multidisciplinary team. Patient care within the ICU is delivered by two dedicated clinical teams: a traditional house staff team and an advanced-practitioner team, both under the supervision of board-certified intensivists. Additionally, a Consultation/Rapid Response Team addresses the needs of acutely ill inpatients throughout MSKCC, and a Critical Care Center Consult Team extends care to patients in the Medical Stepdown Unit and provides consultation in the Neurological Advanced Care Unit. In 2021 alone, the CCM service managed approximately 1100 ICU admissions, over 2100 ICU consults, and over 2800 rapid response calls, demonstrating the high volume and complexity of cases handled.
Renowned Faculty and Collaborative Environment
The CCM faculty at MSKCC comprises 18 intensivists with diverse training backgrounds, including internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, anesthesiology, surgery, and palliative medicine. Faculty members hold appointments in the Departments of Medicine and Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, further linking the fellowship to a leading academic institution. The ICU environment is enriched by the presence of anesthesiology residents from NYPH-Cornell and medical students from Weill Cornell Medical College and other medical schools, fostering a vibrant learning and collaborative atmosphere. Supporting the clinical teams is a robust team of 40 NPs and PAs, 60 respiratory therapists, and dedicated support staff including a research nurse, nutritionist, social worker, patient care representative, computer programmer, and informatics specialist.
Cutting-Edge Research Opportunities
Research is integral to the CCM Service at MSKCC. The service actively conducts clinical trials focusing on critical areas such as sepsis/septic shock, pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and collaborates with national and international critical care study networks. Furthermore, the CCM service fosters internal research projects exploring novel biomarkers in critically ill patients, outcome studies related to chemotherapy and ethics consultations in the oncologic ICU, and analyses of intra-hospital and inter-hospital transports, rapid response teams, and ICU readmissions. The faculty includes nationally recognized experts in sepsis, integrated critical care organizations, the utilization and cost-effectiveness of CCM in the United States, ICU design, and point-of-care laboratory testing, providing fellows with unparalleled mentorship and research opportunities.
Exceptional Postgraduate Career Paths
Graduates of the two-year internal medicine–CCM and internal medicine subspecialty-trained fellowship programs have consistently secured desirable critical care positions in both community teaching and university-affiliated hospitals across the country. With over 140 fellows having completed training since 2000, the program boasts a strong alumni network. Pulmonary–CCM graduates have also successfully pursued further subspecialization in sleep medicine and interventional pulmonology at prestigious medical centers such as the Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, and Henry Ford Hospital, demonstrating the program’s versatility and the high caliber of its graduates. MSKCC CCM fellowship alumni have risen to leadership positions, becoming ICU directors, associate program directors of residency or fellowship programs, and departmental chairs, as well as taking on intensivist roles in large hospitals and private practice groups.
Apply to MSKCC’s 1-Year CCM Fellowship
The CCM Service at MSKCC welcomes applications from candidates with training in internal medicine, medical subspecialties (pulmonary, renal, and infectious disease), and emergency medicine or emergency medicine/internal medicine. The faculty is deeply committed to teaching and providing advanced subspecialty training, attracting highly qualified candidates from across the United States. If you are seeking a premier one-year critical care fellowship program in New York, MSKCC offers an exceptional learning experience.
Program Details:
- Length of Program: 1 year
- Number of Positions: Twelve
- Program Eligibility: Applicants must have completed a minimum of three years of ACGME-accredited residency training in internal medicine or emergency medicine in the United States.
How to Apply:
The MSKCC CCM Fellowship program participates in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Applications for the 2023 fellowship cycle can be submitted through ERAS starting July 15, 2022. Interviews are conducted from August through October.
Required Application Materials via ERAS:
- Three letters of recommendation
- USMLE exam results (Steps 1 and 2 (both CS and CK) minimum)
- Personal statement
- Research experience/publications/presentations
All CCM trainee selections are made through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). Registration with NRMP is required for participation and is available online at http://www.nrmp.org/.
For further inquiries, please contact the program coordinator. Take the next step in your critical care career – apply to the 1-year Critical Care Fellowship Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center today.
