Acute Care Surgery, Trauma, and Surgical Critical Care Fellowship Program
Training Surgeons in Acute Care Surgery and Critical Care
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's Fellowships in Acute Care Surgery and Surgical Critical Care provide strong clinical and academic training to surgeons seeking to emerge as leaders in the field. We accept one one-year Surgical Critical Care (SCC) fellow and one two-year Acute Care Surgery (ACS) fellow per year.
The one-year SCC program, which is accredited by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Residency Review Committee, focuses on a broad-based curriculum in trauma and surgical critical care with multidisciplinary exposure in four high-acuity intensive care units: the Trauma Surgical ICU, the Surgical ICU, the Cardiovascular Surgical ICU, and the Neurosciences ICU.
The SCC fellowship provides our fellows with high volume exposures in the surgical critical care of numerous complex specialties including transplant, vascular, neurosurgery, thoracic and trauma patients. Cardiovascular ICU rotations allow for complex management of cardiac surgery patients including management of ECMO, including ECPR for out of hospital cardiac arrests in the city of Boston. Graduating fellows will be also well-trained in leading-edge bedside echocardiography.
Overall, fellows receive a comprehensive educational experience in the management of complex patients using modern technologies and innovative techniques in advanced airway management, conventional and non-conventional modes of ventilation, invasive and non-invasive hemodynamic monitoring, permissive hypotension, hypothermic resuscitation, and continuous renal replacement therapy. Fellows can expect to graduate with broad-based clinical skills. Graduates will be board eligible in the Surgical Critical Care. We are proud that our graduates’ board pass rate is 100%.
The two-year ACS program is designed for those who wish to complete a focused Acute Care Surgery year prior to their SCC year. This includes rotations in high acuity emergency general surgery and trauma, as well as focused rotations to improve trauma exposure skills on services including Cardiac Surgery, Vascular Surgery, and Transplant Surgery. Other specialty exposures include OBGYN, Neurosurgery, Orthopedic Surgery, and Interventional Radiology rotations. Electives will be determined by whether the candidate has a primary interest in honing their advanced operative skills, preparing for a career in global surgery, or developing an academic research career. We have pioneered the use of robotics in emergency general surgery, with an option to complete robotic certification during fellowship.
A unique benefit of our two-year ACS fellowship is a one month international rotation in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. During this rotation, the fellow gets an immersive experience in international trauma methods and exposures as well as complex acute care surgery. Previous fellows have noted this as a highlight of the fellowship.
Successful candidates for both the one-year SCC and two-year ACS fellowships will have completed an ACGME-accredited general surgery residency and be board eligible in general surgery. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a 621-bed adult tertiary/quaternary facility and Level 1 Trauma Center, is a major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. It is part of the Beth Israel Lahey Health system of 13 hospitals, an organized system of quality healthcare serving individuals, families, and communities in New England. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School are Equal Opportunity Employers.
Applications to both the SCC and ACS Fellowships are accepted through SAFAS, with the application opening March 1 and closing July 31, 2024. Please email us with any questions.