Why Iowa

The University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital is the only comprehensive health care center in Iowa offering the full range of Pediatric Critical Care (ECMO, VAD, CRRT). Unique to Iowa, our 28-bed unit includes the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (PCICU), both led by our faculty and fellows, and is a Level 1 Trauma Center. 

Fellowship Structure & Opportunities

Explore how our fellowship balances hands-on training, progressive responsibility, and diverse electives to prepare you for independent practice

Team Structure

Our unit operates as a PICU team and a CVICU team during the daytime, but one combined team at night. This structure allows fellows to work closely with both critical care environments and gain consistent exposure to high-acuity patients.

Night Float and Weekend Call

Fellows do night float Sunday-Thursday nights. Our fellows do not do 24-hour shifts in favor of traditional night shifts on Friday and Saturday nights. We have a backup call system that is utilized in the event of fellow illness or in times of high census/acuity.

Admission & Transport Responsibilities

Fellows serve as medical control for all admissions to the PICU, coordinating care and ensuring safe transfers from outside facilities. First-year fellows are closely supervised, while second and third year fellows manage most calls independently.

Elective Opportunities

Elective opportunities include rotations in or with the cath lab, echocardiography suite, burn unit, cardiothoracic surgery, PICC line/procedure, bronchoscopy, or additional research time.

Aditya Badheka tends to a patient in the PICU on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023. Patient consent form on file.

Curriculum

The 36-month curriculum is divided into approximately 18 months of clinical rotations and 18 months of research. Each rotation is 2-4 weeks in duration. 

First Year

  • PICU Days – 12 weeks
  • PICU Nights – 10 weeks
    • Total PICU Time –
      22 weeks
  • CVICU – 8 weeks
  • Anesthesia/Sedation – 6 weeks
  • Research – 16 weeks

Second Year

  • PICU Days – 8 weeks
  • PICU Nights – 8 weeks
    • Total PICU Time –
      16 weeks
  • CVICU – 8 weeks
  • Elective – 2 weeks
  • Research – 26 weeks

Third Year

  • PICU Days – 8 weeks
  • PICU Nights – 8 weeks
    • Total PICU Time –
      16 weeks
  • CVICU – 4 weeks
  • Research –
    32 weeks
Scholarly Work FAQ