Fourteen fellows and six residents from five different departments came together in August for the fifth annual Critical Care Medicine (CCM) Boot Camp.
“This year we had an emphasis on simulation training with an expansion of our ECMO simulations,” said Peggy White, M.D., associate professor of anesthesiology and program director for the Department of Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine Fellowship. White organized the first CCM Boot Camp in 2019 with the goal of providing critical care medicine fellows from multiple departments with a common foundation.
White was joined in leading the training with Casey Carr, M.D., former anesthesiology critical care medicine fellow and current assistant professor of emergency medicine; Kristin Freeman, M.D., assistant professor of cardiovascular surgery; and Marc Maybauer, M.D., Ph.D., professor of anesthesiology and chief of the Department of Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine Division.
Sessions focused on airway and sedation, advanced cardiac life support and using the Impella device, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). ECMO is a technology that is being increasingly utilized in critical care medicine. Carr said one of the goals of this year’s boot camp was to have critical care fellows managing ECMO from day one.
“With a machine as complex as ECMO, simulation is a critical tool in teaching. Our fellows get to experience cannulation, initiation, and troubleshooting ECMO during our boot camp,” he said. “This allows them to practice at a high level, right at the beginning of their fellowship, and is one of the strengths and unique features of our training program.”
The first boot camp was a collaboration with the departments of anesthesiology, neurology, and surgery. Since then, it has grown to include emergency medicine fellows, cardiovascular surgery fellows, and anesthesiology residents rotating in critical care medicine.