Clinical Training

Temple pulmonary and critical care fellows receive intensive clinical training in all aspects of advanced medical, interventional and surgical care for patients with pulmonary disease. Clinical service is limited to 21 months out of the 36-month program. This allows for the prioritization of protected scholarly activities. 

Distinctive Training Opportunities at Temple

Advanced Lung Disease and Lung Transplantation Track
This track offers our fellows an immersive training at one of the largest lung transplant centers in the United States, with extensive exposure to complex transplant evaluations, peri-transplant management, organ procurement, and post-transplant care. The track provides a uniquely multidisciplinary and high-volume experience that prepares trainees to confidently manage advanced lung disease and develop expertise in all aspects of lung transplantation. This is an optional track open to all fellows starting their mid-second year and concludes at the end of their training.

Pulmonary and Vascular Disease
Our Pulmonary Vascular Disease (PVD) curriculum exposes fellows to the full breadth of advanced lung disease seen at Temple, including pulmonary hypertension (PH) across all groups with a particular focus on PH related to chronic lung disease, a nuanced and evolving area of the field. As the largest lung transplant center in the country, fellows encounter the complete spectrum of PH groups and disease severity in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. Fellows gain hands-on inpatient experience through PVD consult rotations with attending supervision and have the opportunity to refine their clinical expertise through dedicated PVD clinic with subspecialty experts. Our fellow-driven PVD conference features structured talks on landmark trials and complex case-based discussions focused on diagnosis, risk stratification, phenotyping, and management.

Interstitial Lung Disease
Our fellows participate in a twice-monthly multidisciplinary ILD conference, which draws referrals for complex and diagnostically challenging cases. Attendees include expert pulmonologists, rheumatologists, pathologists, and thoracic radiologists. Fellows take an active role, presenting a focused discussion topic at the start of each conference and interpreting chest computed tomography (CT) alongside the thoracic radiologist before the group reaches consensus on diagnosis and management.

Simulation
Our Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship offers a robust simulation-based training offered through our state-of-the-art simulation center. Fellows gain hands-on experience managing complex pulmonary and critical care scenarios, including airway emergencies, ventilator management, bronchoscopy, and resuscitation in a safe, high-fidelity learning environment. The curriculum also includes dedicated ultrasound training, allowing fellows to develop proficiency in point-of-care ultrasound for bedside assessment, procedural guidance, and critical care decision-making.

Sleep
Our PCCM fellows benefit from a dedicated one-week Sleep Medicine rotation each year, providing valuable exposure to a field that is closely integrated with pulmonary practice. During the rotation, fellows gain hands-on experience in sleep study interpretation, participate in sleep clinics with faculty and sleep fellows, and develop practical skills in the diagnosis and management of common sleep disorders. This experience equips graduates with the knowledge and confidence to recognize, evaluate, and manage sleep-related conditions encountered throughout their careers in pulmonary and critical care medicine.

Procedures
Our fellows develop broad procedural expertise across both the ICU and dedicated bronchoscopy suite, performing airway inspections, bronchoalveolar lavage, endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), transbronchial biopsies, stent placements and dilations, foreign body removals, ablations, and navigational bronchoscopy under direct attending supervision.

ECMO
Our fellows receive comprehensive exposure to both veno-venous (VV) and veno-arterial (VA) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) across the Medical and Cardiothoracic Surgery ICUs. Fellows work closely with surgical, perfusion, nursing, and multidisciplinary critical care teams during cannulation and throughout the course of ECMO support. They develop experience in the day-to-day management of ECMO patients, including ventilator and sweep gas adjustments, anticoagulation, circuit troubleshooting, hemodynamic optimization, complication recognition, and assessment for weaning and decannulation. This training also emphasizes the clinical judgment required for ECMO initiation, patient selection, escalation and de-escalation of support, and transitions in care, preparing fellows to evaluate candidacy and participate in complex, team-based ECMO decision-making.

Conferences
Our department Chair, Gerard J. Criner, MD, serves on the GOLD Board of Directors, the GOLD Science Committee, and as Director of the GOLD International COPD Conference, giving our program a direct connection to the global standard of COPD care. Second- and third-year fellows receive protected time to attend the GOLD International COPD Conference and the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Annual Meeting each year. For more information on education and events at the Temple Lung Center, visit Temple Lung Center Education and Events.

Service

Temple's Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship provides a wide range of learning opportunities in a variety of medical environments. 

Rotations include:

• Academic and Community Medical Respiratory ICU
• Cardiothoracic Surgery ICU
• Inpatient pulmonary
• Pulmonary Consult
• Inpatient lung transplant
• Pulmonary Function test / Cardiopulmonary Exercise test
• Sleep
• Pulmonary procedures
• Advanced pulmonary procedures
• Outpatient pulmonary medicine