I'll be taking my critical care medicine (CCM) board exam on October 13, 2018 just over three months into my cardiothoracic anesthesiology fellowship. The American Board of Anesthesiology posts a content outline for the...

I've finished over three months of my critical care fellowship, and my has the time flown by! I've completed items 1 - 7 on my list of rotations and will be starting a two...

Compared to how I studied for anesthesiology, the topics I'll cover in critical care will be far different and more in depth. Yes, both fields have overlap in terms of knowledge base (hemodynamic management,...

Prevention of hypoxemia requires a protected, unobstructed airway and adequate ventilation which takes priority over managing all other conditions. How do you know the airway is adequate? The patient is alert, oriented, and talking...

As of yesterday, I'm officially certified in Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) for the next four years! This two day course was required and paid for by my critical care fellowship, so I wanted...

Procalcitonin (PCT) is a 116 amino acid peptide precursor to calcitonin, a hormone involved in calcium homeostasis. PCT increases significantly in the context of proinflammatory bacterial infections but remains low in viral and other...

The subcostal view on transthoracic echocardiography can be used to examine the inferior vena cava (IVC), a large valveless vein which returns blood from the lower body to the right atrium (RA). With spontaneous inspirations,...

Our thoracic ICU rotation is perhaps the most difficult rotation we have as anesthesia critical care fellows. For two weeks, we're q2 call (meaning on call every other day). The patients are super sick,...