Residents practice hands-on skills at the Resident Boot Camp, attracting 152 incoming pulmonary and critical care fellows.
The ATS Fellows Track Symposium, Resident Boot Camp, and Student Scholars Program have become so popular with early career professionals that attendance has increased each year.
ATS President Atul Malhotra, MD, says the Society endeavors to attract the best and brightest to pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.
“People define their careers early on. In 1990, when I walked into an intensive care unit for the first time, it felt like home,” Dr. Malhotra says. “There was an excitement and passion that never went away. My hope is that people who come to the International Conference see how exciting it is. Then in 10, 15, 20 years, we’ll have new leaders emerging from these programs.”
Friday and Saturday’s Resident Boot Camp with 120 faculty members drew 152 residents. Boot Camp Chair Brendan Clark, MD,
University of Colorado, Denver, has been involved throughout the program’s three years.
“The lectures allow us to attract leaders in pulmonary and critical care medicine,” Dr. Clark says. “The breakout sessions are important because they provide an opportunity for faculty and fellows to sit down with each other and ask questions they might feel apprehensive about asking at their home institutions. The hands-on portion is the highlight, and it combines clinical context and procedures.”
Barb Chini, MD, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Ohio, pediatric course chair, noted that the ATS doubled the capacity for the pediatric track to 24 due to interest.
“We’re grateful to the ATS for supporting this project. It has been fantastic, the residents are excited, and this is why we went into academic medicine,” Dr. Chini says.
Shalini Dixit, a fourth-year medical student at the University of California, San Francisco, was among the 67 students attending the Students Scholars Program, which gave her an opportunity to take part in the Boot Camp and FTS.
“As someone who is going to be a resident, I think it will be helpful to have some of these experiences,” Ms. Dixit says.
This year, 225 fellows took part in the FTS, which attracted attendees from around the world, says FTS Course Director Deborah Shure, MD, of Miami, Florida.
Beyond the geographic reach of the FTS, Sleep Pillar Co-Chair Barbara Phillips, MD, University of Kentucky, Lexington, says she appreciated how fellows and residents mingled on Friday and Saturday, and that the sleep specialty was gaining greater attention.
“The ATS has walked the walk that we are about pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. I am seeing that pulmonary fellows understand that sleep will be part of their practices,” Dr. Phillips says.
The FTS is supported by educational grants from Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc., AstraZeneca LP, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, and Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The FTS also received in-kind support from FUJIFILM Sonosite, Inc.
The Resident Boot Camp is supported by educational grants from Olympus Corporation of the Americas. The Resident Boot Camp also received in-kind support from Ambu, BD, ERBE USA, Inc., FUJIFILM Sonosite, Inc., Getinge Group, Hill-Rom, nSpire Health, Inc., Medtronics, Micro Direct, Inc., Monaghan Medical Corporation, Olympus Corporation of the Americas, Philips Respironics, Smiths Medical, Teleflex, and Verathon.