Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Fellowship

We approach the education of critical care fellows with a well-rounded curriculum. New fellows participate in an orientation curriculum that includes local and regional simulation-based “bootcamps” focusing on clinical skills, teamwork and communication. A comprehensive didactic curriculum is provided during weekly conferences. The content is guided by the Critical Care Subboard of the American Board of Pediatrics content outline and includes fundamental physiology and applications to the practice of critical care. Recurring conferences address administrative aspects of critical care practice, ethics, neurocritical care, cardiac critical care and case-based physiology. Fellow participate in critical review of their practice via quarterly morbidity and monthly mortality conferences. In addition, regular journal clubs and research updates by division members offer an opportunity to evaluate innovative therapies and examine proposed mechanisms of critical illness. An active simulation program through the kidSTAR simulation center provides realistic immersion in physiology and team dynamics. Fellows also participate in monthly board review sessions which focus on topics covered in the previous month’s didactics to allow for spaced-repetition in learning. Fellows also have the opportunity to learn in a small group setting from various critical care faculty in twice monthly “chief rounds” sessions.

• Lurie Children’s Medical Education and Training
• Lurie Children’s Office of Pediatric Fellowship Programs

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine seeks to attract inquisitive, motivated fellows and is committed to providing them with every opportunity for success. We encourage a diverse and inclusive work environment that allows each trainee to achieve their personal goals.

For more information on Northwestern’s commitment to diversity, please see the McGaw Diversity & Inclusion page, the Northwestern McGaw Underrepresented Residents & Fellows Forum and Feinberg School of Medicine Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Pediatrics Diversity & Inclusion

The goal of the research experience is to provide fellows with the foundation for academic achievement through active participation in hypothesis-driven research under the supervision of an experienced mentor. Through completion of a scholarly project, fellows will demonstrate a basic understanding of the components of the scientific process, including analyzing medical literature, designing and implementing a study, data analysis and writing a manuscript. Fellows participate in a research curriculum taught through didactics, workshops, works-in-progress and formal research presentations.

Current and past fellows have pursued clinical, translational and basic science research, covering diverse topics such as energy estimation in critically illness, long-term outcomes of PICU patients and their families, microbiome, pharmacokinetics, causes and outcomes of cardiac dysfunction and medical education. Fellows are expected to present their work at a national meeting during the third year of fellowship. The faculty in the Division of Critical Care have a variety of research interests, including bioinformatics, ethics, patient and family experience, innovation, post-ICU outcomes, palliative care and inflammation. They often serve as mentors to the fellows.

• Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute Video
• Trainee Stories: Kyle MacQuarrie, MD, PhD Video

Our fellows care for patients in a 40-bed pediatric intensive care unit as well as a separate 44-bed pediatric cardiac care unit (CCU). The fellows are integral in the care of patients treated at Lurie Children's for a broad range of illnesses including level 1 traumas, solid organ and stem cell transplants, cardiothoracic surgery, otolaryngology and neurosurgery. Fellows develop the knowledge and leadership skills essential to becoming independent intensivists through clinical experiences such as direct patient care with multidisciplinary teams, directing medical control for the transport team and leading the code team. In addition to service time in the PICU and CICU, the fellows rotate in anesthesiology, the neurocritical care service and the interventional cardiac catheterization lab. Fellows are supervised in the PICU by a group of 18 critical care faculty members who provide 24/7 in-hospital coverage. In the CCU, fellows will work with faculty members who have training in both cardiology and critical care.

Clinical time is spread throughout the three years of fellowship training but is concentrated in the first and third years. The schedule is constructed to facilitate graduated autonomy and senior fellows work closely to supervise and support new fellows. Fellows do not take call during the week while on clinical service in the PICU to allow for continuity of patient care and team leadership. The night call schedule is designed to optimize continuity of research time during the second and third years of fellowship.

Applicants to the fellowship program should be certified by the American Board of Pediatrics in general pediatrics or in the process of completing an ACGME-accredited pediatrics residency program that will allow them to be board-eligible prior to starting fellowship.

Applicants must submit a CV, personal statement, three letters of recommendation, official medical school transcript and USMLE transcript. All documents should be transmitted through the ERAS system. Selection is completed through the NRMP fall pediatric subspecialty match. Fellowship interviews are conducted August to November of the year preceding the start of fellowship.

Key Personnel:

Program Director (Interim): Raj Basu, MD
Program Coordinator: John Norris
Scholarship Director: Conrad Epting, MD 
Educational Director: Sue Hong, MD

Discover the many ways our faculty are impacting children's health beyond the hospital.

Each year, as many as 20 third-year pediatric residents travel to Bugando Medical Center in Mwanza, Tanzania, to participate in an educational initiative that provides exposure to the management of complex pediatric diseases in a low-resource setting. Learn more about this extraordinary opportunity.

Housestaff training through McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University provides diverse and challenging clinical experiences and world-class education located in the heart of the beautiful city of Chicago. Learn more via the links to the McGaw website below.

• Why Northwestern?
• Diversity & Inclusion

Watch Our Videos

Discover Lurie McGaw Experience Discover Feinberg Learn More About Chicago Get to Know Streeterville

Meet Dr. Craig M. Smith, MD, Pediatric Critical Care / Neurocritical Care at Lurie Children's

Craig M. Smith, MD is a Pediatric Critical Care / Neurocritical Care Intensivist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

Smith's Video

Meet Dr. Marcelo Malakooti, Pediatric Critical Care at Lurie Children's

Dr. Marcelo Malakooti is an attending physician in the Division of Critical Care (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

Malakooti's Video

Lefkofsky Family Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

See how the team in the Lefkofsky Family Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Lurie Children's comes together to save the lives of the most critically-ill children.

Explore the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Meet Dr. Conrad Epting, Cardiac Intensivist, Heart Center at Lurie Children's

Dr. Conrad Epting, a cardiac intensivist in the Regenstein Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. He specializes in both cardiac critical care and critical care (Pediatric Intensive Care Unity).

Epting's Video