Letter from the Program Director

The Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care at the Drexel University College of Medicine offers two one-year positions in Surgical Critical Care for the academic year beginning July 2001. This fully accredited program spans four regional hospitals, two of which are Level 1 Regional Resource Trauma centers (the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital and Hahnemann University Hospital), one is a children’s hospital (St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children), and the last houses an adult burn unit (Crozer-Chester Medical Center).

At the completion of this rotation, the fellow will be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of the following bodies of information:
1. Shock states
2. Acute respiratory failure
3. Acid-base physiology
4. Hemodynamic monitoring and vasoactive agent therapy
5. Nutritional assessment and support
6. Management of common complications of critical illness
7. Prevention of ICU complications
8. Endocrine crises
9. Rational use of investigative testing
10. Infection surveillance and therapy
11. Critical Care of Traumatic Brain Injury

In essence, the Fellow will be able to recognize a patient with critical illness, stabilize the patient for diagnostic testing or therapeutic intervention, anticipate an expected clinical course and pursue a diagnostic evaluation when the patient deviates from that course. The Fellow will demonstrate a working knowledge of existing technology for monitoring patients in the ICU as well as on transport intra-and inter-facility. The Fellow will be able to present a concise narrative of the patient from a critical care perspective. The Fellow will be able to identify and treat common complications in the ICU.