Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship
The purpose of the fellowship is to prepare board eligible or certified internists for a career in clinical and/or academic Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship
The purpose of the fellowship is to prepare board eligible or certified internists for a career in clinical and/or academic Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
Overview
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and its affiliated teaching hospitals offer a 3-year training program in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. The medical school faculty of over 40 full time hospital-based Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep clinicians and scholars provide a broad and diverse environment for clinical education and research training. Three hospitals participate in the clinical program: Rhode Island Hospital, the Providence VA Medical Center, and The Miriam Hospital. Research training may be hospital based or conducted on the University campus. Four fellowship positions are offered each year for training in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Additional years for research training via a T-32 grant are encouraged to appropriate candidates who wish to pursue an academic career in Pulmonary Medicine. Positions for the fellowship are filled through the National Resident Matching Program for Pulmonary Diseases.
The purpose of the fellowship is to prepare board eligible or certified internists for a career in clinical and/or academic Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. In all aspects of the educational program, the fellow is encouraged to develop an attitude of scholarship and the intellectual curiosity to remain in the informational forefront of the discipline throughout a career. Training is carried out in a scholarly academic atmosphere that provides a wide exposure to clinical Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine as well as clinical and basic science research.
If you’re looking to find out what Rhode Island has to offer for your time outside of the hospital, please visit the Life in RI page or the Internal Medicine Residency’s Why Providence? page.
Our Fellows
PGY-4
Ameen Al-Aghil, MD
Medical School: Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar
Residency: Internal Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Fellowship: Geriatric Medicine at at Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical CenterMohammed Alsaud, DO
Medical School: New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: Internal Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Morningside and WestElsa Kassardjian, MD
Medical School: St. George's University School of Medicine
Residency: Internal Medicine at Albany Medical Center
Maham Vaqar, MD
Medical School: Aga Khan University Medical College, Pakistan
Residency: Internal Medicine at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
PGY-5
Sahil Chaddha, MD
Medical School: Drexel University College of Medicine
Residency: Internal Medicine at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences CenterTekle Didebulidze, MD
Medical School: Tbilisi State Medical University Faculty of Medicine, Georgia
Residency: Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Brigham, Salem Hospital
Fellowship: Sleep Medicine at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical CenterUzair Malik, MD
Medical School: Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, School of Medicine
Residency: Internal Medicine at Albany Medical CenterHarsha Taluru, MD
Medical School: M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, India
Residency: Internal Medicine at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences Center
PGY-6
Emma Albert-Stone, MD
Medical School: University of Massachusetts
Residency: Internal Medicine, University of MichiganJacob Brown, MD
Medical School: St. George’s University
Residency: Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Rutgers UniversityAlexis Jacobson, MD
Medical School: University of Massachusetts
Residency: Internal Medicine, Brown University, Rhode Island Hospital
Former Fellows & Initial Position Post-Fellowship
Medical Education
Our fellows have a structured curriculum over the course of their three years of training, providing a foundation of knowledge in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine before moving to develop in-depth expertise. During their first year, our fellows partake in a procedural simulation course, attend an ultrasound teaching course in Boston, and complete a “summer lecture series” to rapidly provide this foundation. Then, throughout their training, fellows attend a weekly three-hour protected educational period for program didactics, as well as multiple other recurring conferences as stated below, in order to provide breadth and depth of knowledge. The fellowship also provides resources for asynchronous learning and board preparation. It is also our philosophy that honing teaching proficiency is a vital skill and an essential aspect of fellowship training. Each fellow, therefore, is encouraged to participate in the training of Internal Medicine residents and medical students in a variety of ways. Fellows prepare lectures and formally present at multiple conferences during their training, including division grand rounds, research conferences, journal clubs, morbidity and mortality conferences, and shared conferences with trauma and surgery critical care, cardiology, and thoracic radiology. Fellows present informal conferences to residents and medical students rotating on the pulmonary elective and the ICU. Additionally, many of our fellows participate in the small group teaching sections of the medical school Pulmonary Pathophysiology course.
Clinical Experience
Our Pulmonary/Critical Care Fellowship Program is a 3 year, ACGME certified training program that includes intensive instruction in clinical medicine. During their 3 years, our fellows will gain extensive experience with in-patient and out-patient pulmonary medicine as well as critical care training in ICUs that range from general community based to the highest-level tertiary care ICU in the region. Pulmonary education will include extensive exposure to pulmonary hypertension, interventional pulmonary, interstitial lung diseases, cystic fibrosis, advanced sleep disorders, pulmonary physiology, as well as general pulmonary diseases. Critical care training will give fellows experience in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, state of the art ventilator technique, trauma critical care, neuro-critical care as well as general medical critical care. If desired, fellows can take extra clinical months for training in elective topics which can occur at our institution or at other institutions. Our program emphasizes competence at a wide variety of pulmonary and critical care procedures and our fellows typically graduate proficient in endotracheal intubations, pulmonary artery catheterization, chest tubes, and many advanced elements of interventional bronchoscopy including endobronchial ultrasound.
Who We Are
Graduate Medical Education
Research
Direct involvement of fellows in a structured research program is a cornerstone of our fellowship training. We believe this experience enhances scholarly development, builds a foundation for logical and critical thinking, and fosters lifelong habits of continuing scholarship. A central goal is to cultivate interest in and prepare fellows for careers in academic medicine. Through their research experience, our fellows:
- Learn the design and interpretation of research studies
- Develop skills in research methodology, biostatistics, and data management
- Build competence in scientific writing, abstract preparation, and manuscript publication
- Complete training in the responsible conduct of research and research ethics
The research curriculum is structured across all three fellowship years, with dedicated protected research time in each year. In the first year (1 month research), fellows are introduced to the research program, identify a primary research mentor and topic, begin assembling a Mentor Committee, and start work on their Career Development Plan. The second year provides 7 months of protected research time and marks the start of active investigation. Fellows present their research plan at the Brown Research Conference in the fall, begin monthly check-in meetings with the Associate Program Director for Research in January, and complete Responsible Conduct of Research training. In the third year (6 months research), fellows focus on completing their projects and disseminating their work. In the fall, fellows present at Brown University Health Research Day and submit original abstracts to the American Thoracic Society or another national meeting. The Brown Research Conference presentations, T32 applications, and final Mentor Committee meeting all occur in the spring. By the end of the third year, fellows are expected to have submitted at least one peer-reviewed first-authored publication.
Research and scholarly activity opportunities span the full spectrum of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine, with projects available across basic science, translational, and clinical investigation. Fellows have access to research infrastructure at Rhode Island Hospital (including the Coro Laboratories and the Center for Advanced Lung Care), The Miriam Hospital, the Providence VA Medical Center (home of the CPVB COBRE), and Brown University. Ample opportunities exist for joint projects with investigators outside the division.
It is expected that fellows will contribute to 1–2 original projects during their training, culminating in peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national meetings including ATS, CHEST, or SCCM. Fellows are also expected to submit an abstract of original research to the annual Brown University Health Research Day and present at the Brown Research Conference.
Fellows who wish to pursue an academic career are encouraged to apply for the Brown Respiratory Research and Training Program (BRRTP, T32 HL134625) in their third year of fellowship. This is a two-year post-doctoral research training program done after the completion of the three year fellowship, which provides 75% protected research time, sponsorship of a graduate degree through Brown University, and mentored preparation for NIH K awards and foundation fellowships. Applicants interested in an academic research career are encouraged to express this interest in their fellowship application.