Trauma/Surgical Critical Care Fellowship
Message from the Program Director
The Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care has long been one of the many strengths of the Department of Surgery at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. As part of one of the nation’s busiest trauma centers, we provide care to patients with a wide array of injury patterns and mechanisms. We recognize the most effective way to deliver exceptional care to a large number of critically-injured patients is to cultivate residents and fellows that strive for perfection in the complete management of the trauma patient, from the resuscitation room to the follow-up clinic.
Each year, we pride ourselves in selecting a diverse group of talented surgeons to join our fellowship. Through our curriculum, the fellows follow evidence-based practices to serve as a foundation for their future careers. The curriculum consists of didactics and clinical learning. Didactics are delivered in a variety of formats, ranging from participation in the weekly trauma lectures to the hospital’s trauma/surgical critical care performance improvement committee. This variety allows the fellows to develop not only as students, but also as teachers. It insures they take evidence based medicine from the lectures and apply it to improving the team’s performance through patient safety and bedside care.
The UTHSC Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care has been a pioneer in cutting-edge research for decades. Secondary to this academic productivity, Memphis is recognized on a global level as experts in multiple areas of trauma and critical care. Every year, our residents, fellows and faculty publish original research in high-impact journals and present their findings at national conferences. Our large-volume trauma center affords the fellows the opportunity to pursue any research question they wish to ask. Our faculty are approachable and enthusiastic about mentoring those fellows interested in clinical research to help develop a baseline academic portfolio.
We are proud to have trained some of the nation’s best trauma surgeons. Given the reputation of our program, our graduating fellows are highly recruited. Our graduates take a variety of career paths, from the general surgeon who takes the occasional trauma call, to the military surgeon treating our nation’s injured soldiers, to the leader of a large academic trauma center. Our program will train you for whatever your career goals may be. We invite you to be part of our tradition in Memphis.