AHN’s ID-CCM Fellowship: The Merits of Dual Training and Treating a Diverse Population

We are continuing our new series, Media Day, where we spotlight individual medical institutions and infectious disease (ID) programs. Today, we spotlight the Allegheny Health Network (AHN) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

AHN has a unique program in the US that offers a full ID and critical care medicine (ID-CCM) fellowship. This 3-year training program combines the training of the 2 medical specialties. The ID-CCM curriculum includes the following:

• Inpatient consultation service: This includes general ID, solid organ, bone marrow transplant, and burn intensive care unit (ICU).
• HIV continuity clinic: This is held for half a day each week in the first 2 years of fellowship.
• Ambulatory electives: These are general ID, travel medicine, and tuberculosis clinic.
• Rotation electives: These include infection prevention, antimicrobial stewardship, microbiology, international medicine (Guyana), and research.
  

AHN’s fellows have dedicated ICU rotations in their second year to help transition to the third year of fellowship, which is predominantly critical care medicine, but time is provided for supplemental training on the ID service.

The combined curriculum provides clinical experience of both specialties, especially in recent years, when there was overlap of care related to COVID-19 in patients, with severe cases being treated in ICUs, according to one of its current fellows.

“I feel infectious disease and critical care have both come into the limelight post COVID-19, because they were the 2 specialties that were needed the most during that time,” said George Bchech, MD, an ID-CCM fellow at AHN.

Bchech points to the benefit of being in a big city hospital environment, noting that they see a variety of cases.

“Just being situated in a large city such as Pittsburgh, we have been privileged in seeing varying patient populations and infections,” Bchech said.

Bchech says he recently saw 2 cases of malaria as well as patients dealing with the consequences of the opioid epidemic. “Patients come in with wounds that need limb amputations, [and I have seen] patients with ruptured valves because of endocarditis or bloodstream infections,” he said.

Bchech was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society as part of the Drexel University College of Medicine chapter.

“I'm grateful for my program director, Dr Nitin Bhanot, for nominating me for this honorable medical society. What it stands for is leadership, community, continued medical education, and research,” Bchech said. “And to be able to be part of such a prestigious organization, which represents medicine as a whole...I'm honored to wear that badge with pride.”

In the next episode, Deeksha Jandhyala, MD, discusses how her team works to prevent infections and provide clinical assistance for transplant candidates.