Pulmonary / Critical Care Medicine

About the program

Program Director: Tariq Cheema, MD
Accreditation: ACGME
Program Length:
Preliminary: 3 years (PGY4-PGY6)
Fellowship Compliment:
9 Pulm CCM Fellows (3 per year)
1 Nephrology/CCM Track Fellow (PGY6)
1 Cardiology/CCM Track Fellow (PGY6)
2 Infectious Disease/CCM Track Fellows

The Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program is a fully accredited three-year program designed to prepare fellows for dual certification in the subspecialties of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine. Our fellowship is designed with a strong emphasis on clinical management of patients with acute and chronic lung diseases as well as spanning all aspects of critical care medicine along with a strong emphasis on clinical research.

The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine evaluates and manages patients with acute and chronic lung disease. The division includes a comprehensive Bronchoscopy Laboratory with an expanding interventional pulmonology practice, Comprehensive Pulmonary Function Laboratory, Sleep Disorders Center, Hyperbaric Oxygen Unit.  Our 15 faculty members each have a unique interest that spans the realm of pulmonary, critical care, sleep medicine and research. The Division manages AGH’s 24 bed Medical Intensive Care Unit, and a 22 bed Neurosurgical IntensiveCare Unit.  Our Division Chief, Tariq Cheema, MD has a strong interest in COPD transformational care, and is a strong supporter of our fellowship.

The program is designed with emphasis on clinical evaluation and management of patients with acute and chronic lung diseases as well as critical illnesses.
During this three-year program fellows spend nine months on the Pulmonary
Consultation Service and six months on the Medical Intensive Care service.  Fellows spend dedicated time in the pulmonary lab working directly with our interventional pulmonologist.  These experiences are enhanced by a number of
required and elective rotations that include Cardiovascular/Thoracic ICU, Neuro
ICU, Trauma ICU, Sleep, Anesthesia, Radiology, and an Ambulatory rotation
including Allergy and a pulmonary rehabilitation experience as well as dedicate
research time.

The Pulmonary Critical Care Fellowship also offers a critical care track for AGH Infectious Disease Fellows, an AGH Nephrology Fellow and a Cardiology Fellow who is interested in becoming critical care board certified. For further information regarding our critical care track please see the attached curriculum and visit their web site for further details for applying.

Nephrology Fellowship program

Infectious Disease Fellowship program

Heart Failure Fellowship program

Program Mission

The Pulmonary Critical Care Fellowship provides an integrative,
collegial, inclusive and supportive learning environment while educating PCCM/CCM fellows to be devoted to providing passionate, responsible, ethical and humanistic care in the community.

Program Aims

• We aim to be an advanced comprehensive fellowship by providing clinical,
  procedural and didactic experiences for our fellows, enabling our
  graduates to become well rounded confident subspecialty physicians. We are committed to creating an inclusive culture centered on the patient with a focus on quality, safety and collaboration.
• We strive for quality core conferences integrating other subspecialties to
  provide a strong learning environment.
• We aim to provide an opportunity and environment for quality scholarly
  activities that will enhance professional growth.  
• We aim to educate subspecialists who are lifelong learners dedicated to serving their community in a professional and compassionate way while meeting their  own personal endeavors.
• We foster a collegial and supportive environment that
  promotes wellness, equity, tolerance, respect, diversity and inclusion. 

Director's Statement

Welcome! Our pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship program is a 3 year ACGME accredited subspecialty program established in 1976 with a long tradition and dedication to clinical training.

Our program offers an impressive blend of very common and very complex pulmonary and critical care disorders. This, in combination with excellent teaching and supervision by dedicated board certified faculty and support staff, creates a phenomenal atmosphere of learning and achievement.

Our fellows are some of the brightest in the country, and I along with the other faculty members and program coordinator are dedicated and committed to their education and success. Our fellows log 1,000+ procedures before graduation, are competent in all aspects of pulmonary and critical care medicine, and gain unique experience at our institution that will allow them to be leaders in our field.

We strive to deliver the highest quality patient care. We strive for an inclusive culture and are committed to the highest standards continuously learning, exploring new, better, creative ways to achieve excellence and be leaders in the health care industry.

We look forward to meeting you!

Contact us

Sharon Mastele
Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program Coordinator

Mailing address

Alleghency General Hospital, Medicine Institute, Center for Graduate & Undergraduate Medical Education

South Tower, 7th Floor 320 E North Avenue Pittsburgh, PA  15212

Phone:  (412) 359-5136 Fax:  (412) 442-2139

About Graduate Medical Education

The Pulmonary/Critical Care Fellowship program is part of the graduate medical education (GME) opportunities offered by the AHN Medical Education Consortium. Learn more about graduate medical education.