Updated 8/7/2009

UT Southwestern / Parkland Memorial Hospital 

Program Director
Herb Phelan, M.D., F.A.C.S. 

University Affiliation
University of Texas - Southwestern 

 

Hospital Data Beds 990  Trauma admissions (annual) 5,000  ED visits (annual) 150,000  ICU beds 20		Fellowship Data Year begun 1986  Fellowship positions 4  Duration 1 or 2 years  RRC Certified Yes  Trauma faculty 12  Blunt trauma 78% Penetrating trauma 22% Surgical procedures (annual) 4,000  Trauma procedures 23% General surgery procedures 77%
Fellowship Types Trauma Only Critical Care Only Trauma+CritCare Acute Care Surg

Qualifications of Applicant
The Fellowship Selection Process: A fellowship candidate must meet the following criteria: (1) Have completed training and holds an M.D. or equivalent degree (2) Is board eligible or board certified in General Surgery. Selection is based on interviews with UTSW faculty. Requirements for Application: (1) Completed application (2) 3 letters of recommendation (3) Enrollment in match. To Apply: Candidates should submit an application and three letters of recommendation to the address below no later than September 15 for enrollment in the following year. Successful applicants will be contacted for an interview. 

Description of Program

Purpose

1. To provide extended post-surgical training in trauma surgery and

surgical critical care.

2. To satisfy the American Board of Surgery requirements for

obtaining certification of Added Qualifications in Surgical Critical

Care.

Three fellowship tracks are available:

TRACK 1. An ACGME-approved one year experience consisting of the

following:

6 months Parkland Memorial Hospital SICU. The fellow will be primarily

responsible for a spectrum of critically ill surgical patients. All

patient management will occur under the direct supervision of an

attending physician. There will be one night of in-house call

responsibility for the SICU per month. Operative experience will be

gained during this portion of the rotation through the coverage of

Saturday trauma/emergency general surgery (EGS) call at the chief level

with call to be rotated between the fellows.

2 months Parkland Memorial Hospital trauma/EGS service. The fellow will

formally rotate on one of the Parkland Memorial Hospital trauma/EGS

services where he/she will function at the level of chief resident. All

patient management will occur under the direct supervision of an

attending physician. In-house call will be every third day and every

sixth night. The fellow will actively take part in trauma resuscitations

and the operative management of traumatic and emergent general surgical

conditions. These busy services each average 90 cases per month.

2 months cardiothoracic surgery, Dallas VA. The fellow will participate

in the management of critically ill thoracic and cardiothoracic patients

in the Thoracic Intensive Care Unit (TICU) at the Dallas VA. The fellow

will function in partnership with a Cardiothoracic Fellow and under the

dual supervision of a cardiothoracic and a critical care attending

physician. During this rotation, the fellow's time will be evenly

split between the TICU and the operating room in order to allow the

fellow to gain experience with thoracic surgical techniques on a service

which averages 190 open heart and 120 general thoracic procedures per

year.

2 months critical care electives. The fellow will be given a choice

between neurosurgery, burns, pediatric ICU, medical ICU, transplant ICU,

or an additional month on the Parkland trauma/EGS service. During any of

these elective choices, the fellow will be functioning under the direct

supervision of an attending physician.

TRACK 2. This two-year track is similar to the AAST recommendations for

Acute Care Surgery fellowships. The first year will be identical to

track 1. The second year will consist of the following:

3 months Parkland Memorial Hospital SICU. The responsibilities will be

the same as those of year 1.

9 months electives. The fellow will be granted considerable flexibility

by the Program Director to tailor the elective experiences to his/her

individual needs. Fellows will be allowed to choose from a combination

of hepatobiliary/pancreatic surgery, vascular/interventional radiology,

further months assigned to the Parkland Memorial Hospital trauma/EGS

service while functioning at the level of chief resident, burns,

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), or neurosurgery. All elective

months will be conducted under the direct supervision of an attending

physician. Should the fellow desire, an MPH or graduate courses in

clinical research through UT-Southwestern's Department of Clinical

Sciences are available through this track.

TRACK 3. This two-year track is an exciting recent addition to our

fellowship experience. The first year will be identical to track 1. At

the completion of the first year of training, the fellow's designation

will be changed to that of Clinical Instructor and the trainee will

assume a junior faculty position for the remaining 12 months of his/her

commitment. Institutional privileges will be granted and the Clinical

Instructor will function at the level of a junior attending with

complete autonomy for a defined period of 12 months. A senior faculty

member will function as a source of around-the-clock backup should

technical or judgmental assistance be desired on the part of the

Clinical Instructor. The Clinical Instructor will rotate between

staffing the Parkland trauma/EGS services (including attending level

in-house trauma call), the Parkland SICU, and spending up to 3 months on

electives. During the elective months, the Clinical Instructor will be

supervised by an attending physician from the respective sub-specialty

service. Salary is set at the mid-point of the range between fellow and

assistant professor. Should the fellow desire, an MPH or graduate

courses in clinical research through UT-Southwestern's Department of

Clinical Sciences are available through this track. A prerequisite for

matching into this track is that the fellow be eligible for Texas

licensure.

General Description of the Fellowship

The large majority of the fellow's clinical responsibilities will be in

the surgical intensive care unit at Parkland Memorial Hospital. A

minority of time will be spent at the Veterans Administration in Dallas,

TX. The fellow will be directly supervised by faculty in all the

surgical intensive care units.

The critical care fellowship emphasizes clinical care. Upon completion

of the fellowship, the fellow should have succinct knowledge of

cardiovascular and pulmonary physiology and pathophysiology, ventilatory

care, as well as cardiovascular monitoring and interpretation. The

fellow will be competent in the management of multisystem trauma

patients, recognition and treatment of major postoperative problems in

surgical patients, and an appreciation of the critical care management

of specialty patients including neurosurgical and cardiothoracic. A

distinct effort has been made to increase the operative experience to

the most permissible under ACGME requirements. Finally, fellows will

receive certification in the Advanced Trauma Operative Management (ATOM)

course.