Clinical Training Overview

Clinical training in pulmonary and critical care medicine includes the entire first two years of fellowship. The program accepts 7 fellows each year. The fellowship requires a minimum of three years in order to meet eligibility requirements for both pulmonary and critical care medicine boards.

The program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in both pulmonary and critical care medicine. The program is designed to produce a level of competence that will permit trainees to assume directorship of a Pulmonary Disease / Critical Care Service in a clinical setting, or to pursue an academic career. Ambulatory care training is performed in Bellevue Hospital and the New York Harbor Healthcare System chest clinics.

There are several ambulatory programs at Bellevue Hospital. The Bellevue Hospital Chest Clinic is directed by Dr. Linda Rogers. The Clinic accommodates 6,000 patient visits each year including patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, tuberculosis, and COPD. Second and third year fellows have weekly sessions in the Bellevue Hospital Chest Clinic. The Bellevue Hospital Asthma clinic is a separate clinic directed by Dr. Joan Reibman. This longstanding program, predominately serving individuals with moderate to severe persistent asthma, accommodates 3,500 visits per year.

Third year fellows have bi-weekly sessions in this program. The Bellevue Hospital WTC Environmental Health Center is one of three Centers of Excellence serving individuals who worked, lived, or cleaned up in the areas surrounding the former World Trade Center Site. Over 2,000 individuals have enrolled in this program. A special Sleep Disorders clinic is held on Wednesday afternoons, attended by the fellow on Pulmonary function laboratory rotation.

Pulmonary fellows also have the opportunity to attend the Occupational Medicine Clinic at Bellevue, directed by Dr. George Friedman-Jimenez. The New York Harbor VA Healthcare System has a weekly Chest Clinic for all first year fellows.