The mission of the fellowship program in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) is to train caring and competent intensive care physicians. Upon completion of our training program, they will be equipped to work in a demanding pediatric critical care environment as well as possess the knowledge and skills to pursue scholarly activity throughout their career.

Our clinical and academic critical care curriculum gives the fellows the tools to become skilled, well-rounded physicians and leaders in pediatric critical care medicine. We achieve this through a combination of supervised hands-on clinical training and experience, simulation-based training, flipped classrooms, didactic lectures and self-directed learning. Throughout their training, our fellows develop and demonstrate adeptness and proficiency in the knowledge, procedural skills and judgement required for the evaluation and management of children with critical illness and injury. We hone their professional demeanor, interpersonal skills and respect for patients and their caregivers as well their motivation and intellectual curiosity to maintain their expertise and advance the field of Pediatric Critical Care. 

Our fellows work in multiple ICU locations including our PICU (20 beds), CVICU (12 beds) and Intermediate Care Unit (15 beds) as well as rotations through the onco-critical care unit (eight beds) at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In the Le Bonheur PICU alone, we are responsible for an average of 1,700 admissions a year. Fellows are exposed to a wide variety of mechanical ventilation support and a full range of extracorporeal therapies. Our ECMO program has been recognized as a Gold ELSO Center of Excellence. Lastly, we work closely with our surgical colleagues to support critically ill or injured surgical patients, including providing ICU support for an active Level 1 Trauma Center and robust neurosurgical program.

The PCCM fellowship training program follows an ABP-oriented curriculum with protected educational time and access to mentored research at UTHSC or St. Jude. Our fellows participate in simulation boot camps, ultrasound training, ECMO course (didactic and simulation-based training) and communication/ debriefing training. Combined fellowship training is available with pediatric cardiology, hematology-oncology and infectious diseases.

Learn more about UTHSC's critical care medicine fellowship program and apply.

Fellow Awards

• Alyssa Smith – 2022 AAP Section on Critical Care Best Quality Improvement Award
• Timothy Flerlage – 2019 PALISI Fellow Presentation, Spring Meeting 2019
• Karan Karki – 2019 Outstanding Fellow Abstract Award, UTHSC Pediatric Research Day
• Madhura Hallman – 2018 Outstanding Fellow Abstract Award, UTHSC Pediatric Research Day
• Shyam Popat – 2023 AAP Section on Critical Care Scholarship for POCUS training, AAP National Conference and Exhibition, Washington, DC

Research Interests

• Severe Sepsis/Multiorgan Dysfunction Syndrome
• Pediatric Neurocritical Care
• Global Onco-Critical Care (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital)
• Social Determinants of Health/Adverse Childhood Experiences in PICU
• Artificial Intelligence in the Pediatric Critical Care setting
• ECMO-related research
• Palliative Care/End of Life Care
• ARDS