Curriculum

The HCA Houston Healthcare/University of Houston (Clear Lake) Surgical Critical Care fellows will administer the surgical critical care unit and appoint, educate, and supervise specialized personnel, and establish policies and procedures for the unit, and coordinate the activities of the units within the hospital with the appropriate level of supervision from board certified faculty members. Fellows will lead the patient care team in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit with the appropriate supervision of a board-certified faculty member. The fellow will serve as a role model and be responsible for educating and supervising specialized personnel, including respiratory therapists, nursing staff, surgical residents, medical students, and any other healthcare worker involved in providing the patient with optimal care. The fellow will collaborate with the Program Director, as director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, to establish policies and procedures for the unit. They will create policies and procedures regarding visiting hours, medication management, and communication guidelines.

The Surgical Critical Care fellows will function as the leaders of the SICU and will be charged with ensuring all their patients receive high-quality and safe patient care. The fellow will work directly with risk management and the quality department and be responsible for the coordination of care in the SICU and other units within the hospital. The surgical critical care fellow will be the first point of contact in the SICU within the hospital.

The fellows will be evaluated by their supervising faculty member on their ability to effectively and efficiently lead the patient care team. The supervising faculty will provide the fellow with daily formative feedback and a monthly formal written evaluation. The healthcare team that interacted with the fellow will have the opportunity to complete an anonymous multi-source evaluation that will assess the fellow’s ability to lead the SICU, communicate effectively, and demonstrate professionalism. The fellow will be able to access the supervising faculty members’ formal completed evaluations immediately and an aggregate report of the multi-source evaluations after four have been completed to protect the anonymity of the evaluator.

Each fellow will be required to complete a quality improvement project, a presentation, and/or a publication of a case report, original research, or review article during training. The research must be presented at a local, regional, or national scientific meeting or published in a peer-reviewed journal. The program will provide the fellow with financial support to attend meetings as needed. The program’s mission will be to graduate fellows with a passion and dedication to lifelong learning.

Clinical Responsibilities, Teamwork, and Transitions of Care

The program will highlight a team-based approach in which the roles, expertise, and patient needs will be thoughtfully assessed to assign specific responsibilities to each member of the healthcare team. The surgical critical care fellow will serve as the leader of the critical care team, making key decisions regarding patient assessment, treatment objectives, and care strategies. Responsibilities will be clearly defined for nurses, case managers, and the care team, based on their specialized skills and scope of practice.

Fellows will gain expertise in managing a broad spectrum of conditions that require surgical critical care, developing both clinical judgment and procedural competence. They will collaborate closely with the entire care team to deliver coordinated, safe, and high-quality care. Through structured guidance and increasing autonomy, the program will prepare fellows to become leaders in the field of surgical critical care.

Rotation Schedule