Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine Fellowship

Welcome to the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine Fellowship!

Thank you for your interest in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine fellowship program based in Oakland, California. The goal of our fellowship program is to provide broad pulmonary training combined with multidisciplinary critical care medicine training in an integrated health system that provides care for a diverse patient population. This fellowship is a three-year ACGME-approved program that seeks to train the next generation of pulmonologists and intensivists in the delivery of compassionate, high-quality care within a collegial and supportive work environment.

Our program is based at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center, a tertiary care referral center as part of Kaiser Permanente Northern California, which cares for a diverse population of over 4 million members. Kaiser Oakland Medical Center has a long history of clinical excellence and commitment to education with multiple residency and fellowship programs and diversity with representation in cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds reflecting the communities we serve.

Core inpatient and outpatient pulmonary and critical care rotations will be based in Kaiser Oakland. Our referral center provides subspecialty pulmonary needs for patients with cystic fibrosis or those who require advanced procedures (such as interventional pulmonary procedures or cardiopulmonary exercise testing). Fellows will also spend time at Kaiser San Francisco for rotations in pulmonary arterial hypertension and cardiovascular surgery, Kaiser Redwood City in a neurosurgical ICU, Highland Hospital in Oakland in a regional trauma ICU, and at the UCSF to gain experience in lung transplantation.

Fellows will participate in research and quality improvement projects. The research will primarily utilize retrospective data collected among the >4 million members in Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC), although clinical trials are also ongoing locally and regionally. Our fellowship program is equipped with a dedicated GME research project manager, a strong Division of Research with >50 investigators, >600 staff (analysts, project managers, etc.) and a dedicated bio-statistical unit for assisting with projects related to graduate medical education. Mentorship is available from knowledgeable research faculty with extensive project experience with KPNC and access to one of the world’s largest comprehensive data sets including procedure, pathology, radiology and comorbidity data.

Our fellowship program is a 36-month ACGME accredited training program that adheres to ABIM guidelines for training in pulmonary and critical care medicine. Graduates will be well-qualified leaders in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

Fellowship Application

The fellowship program accepts 2 fellows per year. All applications for the training program will be processed electronically through the ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service) website. Qualified applicants will be invited for interviews in September and October. The fellowship program participates in the NRMP (National Resident Matching Program), through which fellows will be selected. The program is strongly dedicated to the recruitment of a diverse training group.

Submission of applications to the program through ERAS begins in July. Please refer to the ERAS website for specific dates and instructions. Required application materials include the common application form (CAF), personal statement, minimum of 3 letters of recommendation (at least one must be from your residency program director), ECFMG certification (applicable to graduates of foreign medical schools), a color photo, and USMLE and medical school transcripts.

What to expect

• 15 days’ vacation and 5 days educational leave
• $3,500 housing stipend annually
• $1,000 relocation stipend (one time)
• $1,500 educational stipend
• $720 Health and Wellness stipend
• An iPhone to facilitate taking calls (there is a pager as a backup)
• Laptop with token that allows remote access to the electronic medical record and imaging

Below we have included an example of what a schedule looks like over the three years on average.