Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine Fellowship

Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine Fellowship

The Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine Fellowship is an ACGME-accredited training opportunity with two positions per year. Our mission is to train future leaders in critical care in a multidisciplinary environment across two high acuity, high volume medical centers whose complementary missions help shape intensivists ready to take on the challenges of modern critical care while shaping the future of our field.

Training takes place at two major teaching hospitals: Keck Hospital  of University of Southern California (KMC) is a 480 bed hospital owned and operated by the University of Southern California and which serves as the university’s flagship quaternary referral medical center. Keck Hospital’s ICU ecosystem is part of the USC Critical Care Institute including the Keck Surgical ICU which in 2025 was one of just 3 ICUs in the United States recognized by the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s ICU Center of Excellence initiative. Fellows spend significant time in the Cardiothoracic ICU and dedicated Mechanical Circulatory Support ICU as part of Keck’s Cardiovascular Institute, providing exceptionally high acuity, complex care with strong training in mechanical circulatory support (including ECMO, Impella, durable LVAD, and IABP support) and transplant care.

Anesthesia Critical Care Medicine fellows will rotate on teams with a mix of medical students, residents, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and fellows from other disciplines including Pulmonary Critical Care, Surgical Critical Care, and Neurocritical Care. They will work as part of an attending-led, multi-disciplinary critical care team comprised of critical care board-certified Anesthesiologists, Surgeons, Neurologists, and Emergency Medicine physicians.

Los Angeles General Medical Center is a 600-bed facility and a high volume Level 1 Trauma Center which includes a 30 bed state-of-the-art surgical ICU where both acute surgical and trauma patients are managed. LAGMC is also home to the largest Burn ICU in the LA County system. The complex and diverse patient population provides training in the management of trauma and the full spectrum of surgical specialties for adults and children as well as high risk obstetrics. LAGMC is the largest hospital in the LA County Department of Health Services and continues to operate as a critical, safety net hospital for the second largest metropolitan area in the United States.

By integrating training at each facility, our fellows receive exceptionally broad exposure to both common and complex pathology, varied and high-risk patient populations, and gain an understanding of how critical care can be delivered across the landscape of cutting edge healthcare.

Program Highlights

• Weekly, systems based didactics centered around faculty-led lectures following the ACCM core content.
• Monthly multi-disciplinary critical care lecture series bringing together all of USC’s CCM programs to discuss core, big picture topics.
• Longitudinal Critical Care Ultrasonography curriculum including both didactic and hands-on sessions designed to cover both essential skills and advanced topics as an option for fellows interested in taking the National Board of Echocardiography’s CCEeXAM.
• In-unit and OR-based TEE opportunities.
• Annual, multi-day Mechanical Ventilation Bootcamp for new fellows
• Mechanical Circulatory Support Simulation Sessions
• Monthly Morbidity, Mortality, Improvement, and Patient Safety meetings where fellows are active contributors to the review and improvement of our practice.
• SICU and CTICU Journal Clubs.
• Case Conferences with our Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine colleagues.
• Opportunities to engage in resident education (didactics, cadaver lab, and more), medical student education at the Keck School of Medicine (including case discussions).
• Annual Grand Round Session for the Dept. of Anesthesiology on a critical care topic of the fellow’s choice.
• Monthly meeting with the program director to check in regarding experience and current/upcoming goals.

Additional Benefits

• Competitive Salary as part of a union.
• Housing stipend (see union website for details)
• CME Funds (see union website for details)
• Complementary Membership to the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists
• 4 weeks of vacation
• Dedicated time to present scholarly activity at national meetings

We review applications on a rolling basis and generally offer interviews for dates in January, February, and March. While we consider later applications, we strongly prefer early application to the program for this reason.

Curriculum Outline

• Cardiothoracic/Vascular ICU and Mechanical Circulatory Support ICU (4 months)
• SICU (3 months)
• Trauma/Burn  ICU (1 month)
• Medical ICU (1 month)
• Neuro ICU (1 month)
• Electives (2 months)

Electives vary though most fellows are recommended and opt to spend time with our infectious disease and nephrology services. Popular other options have included TTE, OR/TEE, nutrition, palliative care, heart failure, electrophysiology, and pulmonary hypertension. Research time can also be considered depending on the project in mind.

Current Fellows 2025-2026

• John Baker, MD (Residency: University of Florida)
• Megan Fischer-Colbrie, MD (Residency: LAGMC/USC)
• Sabrina Bawa, MD (Residency: University of Connecticut)
• Christian Hernandez, MD (Residency: UCLA Reagan/Olive View)

Recent Alumni

• Michael Franczak, MD
• Steven Johnson, DO
• Mahfuzul Majumdar, MD
• Aaron Whitby, MD
• Adam Penman, MD
• Jane Moon, MD

Graduates of our fellowship program have gone on to work in a variety of practice environments regionally and nationally in both academic and community settings.

Eligibility/Application

Candidates should be eligible for a California medical license and have completed an ACGME-approved residency in Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, OBGYN, or Surgery. Emergency Medicine-trained physicians completing this fellowship will complete a 2^nd year per the agreement between ABA and ABEM in order to sit for the critical care board exams after the completion of the second year.

Anesthesiologists interested in pursuing dual ACCM and Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesia (ACTA) fellowships, please make this selection on SFMatch (SF Match – Residency and Fellowship Matching Services) and also contact the Cardiac Anesthesia Program Director, Dr. Tara Humphrey.

Contact

Interested individuals should contact:
Matthew Wiepking, MD
Program Director, Critical Care Medicine
Clinical Associate Professor
Department of Emergency Medicine
Department of Anesthesiology
Associate Medical Director of the Mechanical Circulatory Support ICU
1450 San Pablo Street, Suite 3600
Los Angeles, CA 90033
Email: [email protected]

Caroline Caldwell
Program Coordinator, Critical Care Medicine
1450 San Pablo Street, Suite 3600
Los Angeles, CA 90033
Email: [email protected]