Surgical Critical Care Fellowship Program

The Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA is a one year ACGME approved fellowship involving patient care, education, and research. Temple is a Quaternary care urban level one Trauma Center and an ABA verified Burn Center with a very active surgical critical care service.  Our program provides an exposure to a broad variety of critically ill surgical patients and the fellowship is entirely based at Temple University Hospital. The goal of the Fellowship is to produce academic leaders in the areas of surgical critical care and trauma. Under the guidance of a strong clinical faculty, fellows will master complex surgical critical care and trauma management.

Upon the completion of this one-year Fellowship, fellows will have acquired the necessary knowledge and experience to be eligible to sit for the certifying examination for Added Qualification in Surgical Critical Care given by the American Board of Surgery. 

Clinical Training

All the clinical training is based at Temple University Hospital which is a Quaternary Care Center with 560 beds, 99 ICU beds, and has a level one Trauma Center with more than 2500 trauma visits yearly.  The majority of the time is spent in our Surgical Intensive Care Unit which is a state of the art 19 bed critical care unit with more than 1500 admissions yearly and treats critically ill patients from the surgery, vascular, transplant, thoracic, trauma services as well as from the surgical subspecialties such as orthopedics, ENT, OMFS, and OB/GYN.  Other rotations include the Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit where the fellow is exposed to patients requiring cardiac assist devices and ECMO, as well as the trauma service which has a high percentage of penetrating injuries.

Scholarly Activity

The Temple Surgical Critical Care Fellowship Program offers many opportunities for scholarly pursuits. During monthly section research meetings, fellows are encouraged to initiate new projects. These projects are conducted in partnership with department faculty members, other residents, medical students and a wide range of Temple specialists.

An Outstanding Faculty

Temple’s Section of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care Faculty members are excellent clinicians and dedicated educators who create an environment of inquiry and scholarship. The department prides itself on its collegiality, team-based approach to care, and close-working relationships between faculty and house staff. This helps trainees lay the foundation for a successful career as clinicians while also fostering academic growth through exploration of research and educational opportunities.

Faculty:

• Amy J Goldberg, MD, Dean, LKSOM
• Jeffrey Anderson, MD
• Jessica Beard, MD, FACS
• Michael Cline, MD
• Elizabeth Dauer, MD, FACS-Associate Program Director, Surgical Residency
• Christina Jacovides, MD
• Zoe Maher, MD, FACS
• Cristina Novak, MD
• Patience Ofori-Darkwa, MD
• Abhijit S Pathak, MD, FACS, FCCM-Program Director, Surgical Critical Care Fellowship
• Lori Rhodes, MD
• Thomas Santora, MD, FACS, Interim Chair, Department of Surgery

Application Process

One position is available each year in Temple’s Surgical Critical Care Fellowship Program. Qualified applicants should meet the following prerequisites:

• Completion of an ACGME-accredited general surgery residency
• Board eligible or certified by the American Board of Surgery
• Established ability to educate medical students and residents

The fellowship participates in the NRMP match and all applications for the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship program must be submitted through the SAFAS website where there are also important application dates and deadlines.

Interviews are held between June and September. Invitations, interview confirmations, and other correspondence will be sent via email.

Stipend Scale and Benefits

View information on the stipend scale and benefits for fellows.

Additional policies and materials can be found on the Temple Graduate Medical Education website.

Current Fellows

• 2023–2024: Katherine Shelton, MD

Recent Graduates

• 2023: Dorothy Liu, MD – Attending Physician, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA
• 2022: John Tierney, MD – University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 
• 2021: Christopher Decker, MD – Temple University Hospital – Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
• 2020: Nakesha King, MD – Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
• 2019: Ryan Lucero, MD-OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio

Contact Us

Division of Surgical Critical Care
Temple University Hospital
Parkinson Pavilion -4PP
3401 N. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19140
Phone: 215-707-7032
Fax: 215-707-2990

Program Director
Abhijit Pathak, MD, FACS

Program Manager
Tiffany Copeland-Hughes
[click-for-email]