Curriculum

The program provides flexibility in curriculum focus to allow achievement of each trainee’s individual learning needs:

Below is the tentative rotation plan for the first year:

  • Introduction/Orientation: 2 weeks
  • MICU (Medical ICU): 2–2.5 months
  • PICU (Pulmonary ICU): 2–2.5 months
  • Inpatient Pulmonary Consults: 2–2.5 months
  • Bronchoscopy: 2–2.5 months
  • Elective: 2 months

All rotations are structured in two‑week blocks, running either from the 1st–15th or 16th–31st of each month. This table shows the number of blocks for each fellow.

During the second year, the schedule expands to include GSV Night Float and BRS Pulmonary Consult. Non‑medical ICU rotations will also become available at that time.

Below is the tentative rotation plan once we have both first‑ and second‑year fellows in the program.

We will add BRS ICU once our third cohort of fellows begins. Below is the tentative rotation structure at that point, when the program reaches full capacity.

Please note that the schedule and elective offerings may change based on feedback and availability.

  • Anesthesiology
  • Allery/Immunology
  • CT Surgery
  • Interventional Pulmonary
  • Lung Cancer
  • Pulmonary Ambulatory Medicine
  • Pulmonary Hypertension/Advanced Heart Failure
  • Rheumatology
  • Sleep
  • Thoracic Radiology
  • Non-medical ICU – Neuro ICU, Surgical ICU, Cardiovascular ICU, Cardiac Care Unit

Additional elective rotations can be developed to align with fellows’ educational interests and career goals.

The core curriculum conference series will be delivered in a weekly academic half‑day format. Sessions will take place every Thursday from 1 PM to 4 PM, during which fellows are fully relieved of clinical duties. Faculty or an Advanced Practice Provider will manage the pager/on-call phone to preserve protected educational time.

Academic half‑day will include faculty‑led didactic lectures and a broad range of fellow-led conferences, such as thoracic oncology case conferences, thoracic radiology case conferences, lung pathology case conferences, clinical case conferences, board‑review sessions, journal club, and ultrasound case conferences. Fellows on inpatient consult and bronchoscopy rotations are also expected to attend the Chest Board/Lung Nodule Conference every other Thursday morning from 7 AM to 8 AM.

In addition to these weekly sessions, simulation training, research and quality‑improvement conferences, and morbidity and mortality conferences will be held quarterly.

The program will also include a dedicated curriculum in critical care echocardiography and simulation, providing structured training in advanced hemodynamic assessment, procedural guidance, and crisis‑management scenarios.

Fellows are expected to actively engage in scholarly activities, working closely with the GME Research & Quality Improvement and Scholarly Activity teams. Dedicated research blocks are allocated throughout all three years of training.

Fellows attend a pulmonary continuity clinic one half-day per week throughout all three years of their fellowship. This clinic experience is conducted at the NGPG (Northeast Georgia Physicians Group) Pulmonary Office. Clinics are canceled during non-elective ICU and night float blocks.

Fellows will have education sessions by the GME Director of Wellness periodically as part of their didactic series. Additionally, fellows will have a chance to participate in a GME level wellness-committee that will focus on advocating for resident/fellow wellness.

Core Rotations

 A major strength of our program is the presence of two closed Medical Intensive Care Units at the Gainesville campus: a 16‑bed MICU and a 24‑bed Pulmonary ICU. Fellows function as junior attendings, with the Critical Care team providing overall direction and oversight of patient care.

Beginning in the second year, fellows will also rotate through non‑medical ICUs, including the Surgical/Trauma ICU, Neurointensive Care Unit, Cardiovascular ICU, and Cardiac/Coronary Care Unit. Throughout these rotations, fellows gain extensive procedural experience through direct bedside supervision and simulation, and they develop proficiency in point‑of‑care ultrasound (POCUS) for diagnostic assessment and clinical decision‑making.

Fellows also acquire experience managing a wide range of mechanical life‑support systems, including V‑V and V‑A ECMO, LVADs/RVADs, external ventricular drains, and intracranial pressure monitoring.

To support wellness and reduce extended in‑house call, the program incorporates dedicated night‑float blocks.

Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville is a well-established tertiary referral center that provides care to a demographically diverse and medically complex patient population. Pulmonary consult service offers extensive experience in diagnosing and managing conditions such as obstructive lung diseases, pulmonary infections, thoracic malignancies, interstitial lung diseases, pulmonary hypertension, and sleep-related disorders. The pulmonary consultation team consists of an attending, fellow, and residents, ensuring comprehensive learning and patient care. Fellows gain proficiency in independently evaluating chest imaging (X-ray, CT, PET/CT), pulmonary function tests, and other diagnostic testing.

Northeast Georgia Medical Center at Braselton is a 188-bed hospital located approximately 30 minutes from NGMC Gainesville campus. This is also the principal site of exposure to cardiopulmonary rehabilitation.

Fellows become proficient in flexible bronchoscopy, linear and radial endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), navigational/robotic bronchoscopy, indwelling tunneled pleural catheter insertion, thoracentesis, and small and large bore chest tube insertion. They also gain exposure to rigid bronchoscopy, tumor debulking, airway stenting, and endobronchial valve insertion and removal.

NGMC Gainesville serves as the primary site for pulmonary procedures and bronchoscopy rotations. Additionally, fellows perform bronchoscopy procedures during their inpatient consult rotations at NGMC Braselton.

Fellows attend a pulmonary continuity clinic one half-day per week throughout all three years of their fellowship. This clinic experience is conducted at the NGPG (Northeast Georgia Physicians Group) Pulmonary Office. Clinics are canceled during non-elective ICU and night float blocks.

We are developing Niche Subspecialty Clinics, which will be available to PGY6 fellows during their elective and research blocks. These niche clinics will focus on Interstitial Lung Diseases, Pulmonary Hypertension, Interventional Pulmonology, Sleep Medicine, and Obstructive Lung Diseases.