Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship
We are pleased to announce that on January 19, 2024, the ACGME has awarded Initial Accreditation to begin a three-year Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship with two Fellows at each level. The program will be recruiting this summer and will welcome its first Fellows on July 1, 2025.
Key Leadership
Radhika Shah, MD
Program Director Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship
Associate Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
Specialty: Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Intensivist
UT Erlanger Respiratory and Critical Care
Dr. Radhika Shah has been named the Program Director for our new Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship. She is also a pulmonologist and intensivist with UT Erlanger Respiratory and Critical Care. Dr. Shah completed her Internal Medicine residency at Yale New Haven Hospital, and her Pulmonary and Critical Care training at University of Maryland Medical center, with a focus on medical education and critical care simulation. Her clinical focus includes interstitial lung disease, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and obstructive sleep apnea.
Medical School: Rutgers Medical School
Residency: Internal Medicine, Yale New Haven Hospital
Fellowship: Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Maryland Medical
Center
Fellowship Coordinator II: Deborah Fuller (423.778.2998)
Anne Mainardi, MD
Associate Program Director, Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
Specialty: Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care
Dr. Mainardi sees patients in the office for a variety of pulmonology problems. She also attends on the pulmonology consult service for inpatient pulmonary needs, as well as in the Intensive Care Unit. She received training in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary and Critical Care at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
Dr. Mainardi serves as Associate Program Director for the Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship, working closely with the Program Director, Dr. Radhika Shah, to help administer the new fellowship.
Dr. Mainardi has published and presented research related to social determinants of asthma and particularly how substandard housing can contribute to poor asthma control. She served on the Health Policy Committee of the American Thoracic Society and is currently an editor for the journal Chest. She is active in resident education at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Chattanooga.
She and her husband and children enjoy hiking in the Chattanooga area and cooking together.
Education and Credentials
Medical Degree: Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA
Residency: Internal Medicine, Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT
Fellowship - Pulmonary & Critical Care, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Clinical Interests
Pulmonology problems
Inpatient pulmonology needs
Social determinants of asthma
Patrick Koo, MD
Division Chief, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
Associate Professor and Clerkship Director, Medicine
Department of Medicine
Specialty: Respiratory Medicine, Pulmonary, and Critical Care
Education and Credentials
Medical Degree: Ross University School of Medicine, Dominica, West Indies
Residency: Internal Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington,
CT
Clinical and Research Fellowships: Pulmonary and Critical Care, Alpert Medical School
of Brown University, Providence, RI
Dr. Koo specializes in research and treatment of sleep disorders, lung cancer, diaphragm disease, asthma, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, (COPD). Dr. Koo also serves as Medical Director of Erlanger's Pulmonary Function Lab.
Aaron Cohen, DO
Medical Director, MICU
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
Specialty: Critical Care and Internal Medicine
Education and Credentials
Medical Degree: Nova Southeast University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: Internal Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Fellowship: Critical Care , Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Clinical Training
Core Clinical Rotations
Pulmonary Consult Service
On the Pulmonary Consult Service, fellows will perform pulmonary consultations on patients with a variety of pulmonary diseases, including pleural diseases, lung cancer, inpatient manifestations of obstructive lung disease and ILD, and respiratory failure. Each fellow will become proficient in pleural procedures on this rotation.
Medical Intensive Care Unit
The Erlanger Baroness MICU is a 24 bed state-of-the-art, recently renovated unit. It is one of the highest acuity ICUs in the region. Fellows will be responsible for leading academic rounds in the ICU, supervision of residents and medical students, and performing basic critical care procedures (endotracheal intubation, bedside bronchoscopy, critical care ultrasound, central line placement). Fellows will learn pathophysiology , diagnosis, and therapy of high acuity critical care disease processes in a multi-disciplinary approach that includes residents, pharmacists, nursing, case management, palliative care, PT/OT, and respiratory therapy. Fellows will also learn the fundamental skill of ICU triage.
Pulmonary Procedures Rotation
Fellows on this rotation will be responsible for performing, under the supervision of a pulmonary attending, basic bronchoscopy procedures in the bronchoscopy lab. Fellows will become proficient in recognizing basic pulmonary anatomy, bronchoalveolar lavage, endobronchial ultrasound, and trans-bronchial biopsies. They will gain exposure to endobronchial valve placement, robotic navigation bronchoscopy, balloon dilatation, APC, cryotherapy, and stent placement. This rotation will also include understanding and interpreting pulmonary function testing.
Neuro Critical Care and Cardiac Critical Care
Fellows will be responsible for consultative and primary service care for neuro critical care and cardiac critical care patients through a close collaboration with the division’s critical care faculty and the neurology, neurosurgery, cardiology, and cardiothoracic groups.
Pulmonary Outpatient Continuity Clinic
Fellows will have a robust continuity clinic experience in the Pulmonary Clinic at Erlanger Medical Mall. Fellows will have their own patient panel and will see new and established patients. They will be exposed to a comprehensive patient population which includes dyspnea and chronic cough evaluation, COPD, asthma, sarcoidosis, ILD, pulmonary hypertension, lung nodules, lung cancer, and sleep apnea.
Curriculum
Block Schedule
First year fellows will begin our program with a boot camp consisting of basic introduction to Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, including basic didactics to introduce the specialty, simulation, and procedure training. The block schedule for core rotation content is listed below and is not inclusive of ambulatory and elective time.
| Core Rotation Content Areas | Duration |
| Pulmonary Consults | 6 months |
| Pulmonary Procedures | 4 - 5 months |
| Medical Intensive Care Unite | 6 months |
| Night Intensive Care | 3 months |
| Critical Care – Cardiac, Neurology, Surgical, Consults | 3 - 4 months |
| Research | 6 months |
The complete three-year block rotation schedule can be viewed via this link.
Conferences
Fellow’s Case Conference
Fellows will be responsible for presenting cases at this conference which demonstrate clinical and radiographic pulmonary and critical care principles. This a case- based, interactive conference is created to develop clinical reasoning skills within the scope of the specialty.
Didactic Conference
Fellows will receive up to date education from our faculty on Critical Care and Pulmonary topics essential for a successful practice in the field of Pulmonary and Critical Care, as well as success in board certification.
Thoracic Tumor Board
The Pulmonary and Critical Care Division participates in Thoracic Tumor Board every other week, a multi-disciplinary conference comprising of thoracic surgery, radiology, pathology, radiation oncology, oncology, pulmonology, and oncology navigators. Lung cancer cases are discussed in multi-disciplinary fashion to answer questions regarding diagnosis and management.
Pulmonary Radiology Conference
The Pulmonary and Critical Care Division also participates in Pulmonary radiology conference, a multi-disciplinary conference designed to discuss malignant and non-malignant pulmonary cases that require multi-disciplinary discussion with in-depth radiology review.
Internal Medicine Grand Rounds
Fellows will attend Internal Medicine Grand Rounds once a month, hosted by the Chair of Medicine. Topics include cutting edge Internal Medicine topics intended for continuing education for the entire Department of Medicine.
Physiology Conference
Pulmonary physiology conference will be held every other week and will consist of a discussion on complex physiology concepts through journal articles and interpretation of cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Articles are reviewed and discussed alongside pulmonary physiologists at Brown Medicine lead by Dr. Eric Gartman at the University of Limerick in Ireland though the help of video conferencing.
Clinical Care
The Pulmonary and Critical Care Division provides advanced care for patients with illnesses and diseases related to the lungs, breathing, and sleep. Our mission is to help all our patients live fuller, more active lives through education and excellent care, with a strong focus on quality, compassion, and state-of-the-art services. Our team of board-certified physicians offers highly specialized expertise to help prevent and reduce the incidence of pulmonary diseases and chronic conditions. Our Fellows will be an integral part of the Pulmonary and Critical Care health care team.
Clinical Services provided by the Division include:
- Diagnosis and treatment of chronic respiratory disease, including COPD and asthma
- Conventional and advanced mechanical ventilation for severe respiratory failure
- Advanced Bronchoscopy - Using linear and radial endobronchial ultrasound and APC/Cryo therapies for biopsy and debulking of tumor
- COPD Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Program (COPD) – Comprehensive resources to help patients cope with this disease that impacts 24 million Americans.
- Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program – Comprehensive program to help patients function at a higher level
- Lung Cancer Screening Program – Helping high-risk patients uncover disease when it’s most treatable
- ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) – Available at Erlanger Baroness Hospital
- Sleep Disorders – Helping patients with breathing-related sleep conditions such as apnea
- Pulmonary Critical Care – Advanced treatment for respiratory ailments
- Thoracic Surgery/Thoracic Oncology Surgery – Robotic, minimally invasive procedures for diseases of the chest cavity
- Lung Nodule Programs – Advanced techniques for lung and chest conditions
- Smoking Cessation – Helping patients beat the #1 risk factor for heart and lung disease
- Respiratory Care and Pulmonary Diagnostic Services at Erlanger North Hospital
- Pulmonary Function Testing
- Non-invasive ventilation (CPAP and BIPAP)
Research
Information about research opportunities and requirements are available via this link.