The Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Program at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston is a fully accredited program. It has been in existence since 1982 and has had forty-eight fellows who have completed the training program since its inception.

The program offers a three-year combined fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine, and has three positions available per year. Fellowship training focuses on developing clinical expertise as well as research skills in pulmonary disease, intensive care medicine, and allergic disease of the chest.  A high degree of flexibility is maintained in the program so the fellow can design a basic or clinical research experience leading to an academic career.  The first year is focused on clinical pulmonary and critical care medicine with subsequent years equally divided between pulmonary medicine and research. At the end of three years of fellowship, the applicant is eligible for the American Board of Internal Medicine certification in pulmonary disease and special competency certification in critical care medicine.

Each year, the Division receives approximately 125 applications for fellowship training.  Applications are submitted through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).  We require that a candidate:

• Be a graduate of a training program in internal medicine, which is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or those not trained in a program accredited by the ACGME have at least 3 years of internal medicine training prior to beginning a fellowship
• Have participated in a previous three-year graduate medical education program
• Have passed USMLE Step 3 exam (or the equivalent COMLEX Step 3 exam) before entering the residency on July 1 and/or have a current ECFMG certificate

We accept candidates who are US citizens or permanent residents (green card), and who have all types of visas. 

Faculty committee members review a prospective fellow's:

• Application
• CV
• Personal statement
• Three letters of recommendation
• USMLE transcript, and/or ECFMG status report)

Approximately 15% of the applicants are invited for formal interviews.  These interviews take place between February and May.  Our deadline for accepting applications through ERAS is mid-February.  As many faculty committee members as possible interview the applicants and the Program Director interviews each applicant. After the fellowship selection meetings, attended by all faculty members, the applicants are ranked in early May and the list of candidates is sent to the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).

Fellowship selection is based on the criteria of:

1. Academic record
2. Letters of recommendation
3. Personal interview

Our goal in trainee recruitment is to select individuals who we believe have a commitment to an academic career in pulmonary and critical care medicine, have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, and have shown leadership skills and collegiality during their previous training.