Fellowship Program

Pulmonary and Critical Care

Rochester Regional Health

Director’s Letter

Welcome to the Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Program at Rochester Regional Health

Thank you for your interest in our fellowship program. Fellows in our program primarily serve patients at Rochester General Hospital. Rochester General is the premier teaching hospital in Upstate New York and the flagship hospital for Rochester Regional Health. Our system consists of five hospitals covering a 14-county area in Western New York State.

We are proud of the extensive clinical training that we are able to provide for the fellows in the program. Our primary goal is to produce clinically strong pulmonary/critical care physicians who leave this program ready to practice anywhere in our field. A broad range of rotations are provided to fellows in order to gain the necessary knowledge and skills to care for patients with lung diseases and a wide variety of critical illnesses. Fellows will gain experience managing a vast array of pulmonary diseases. In addition we perform over 350 bronchoscopies per year. This includes about 150 EBUS and 75 navigational bronchoscopies. With regard to critical care training, our fellows will get substantial experience in bedside ultrasound which includes a stipend and time to attend a national ultrasound course. The fellows in our program will obtain significant training in airway management. They will spend two weeks working directly with anesthesiologists in their first year and will work alongside critical care physicians well versed in airway management throughout their training. Fellows will also have the opportunity to gain experience in a wide variety of ICU procedures including Blakemore tubes, emergent transvenous pacers, central lines, pulmonary artery catheters, arterial lines, and chest tubes. Fellows also have dedicated time and mentoring to help pursue their clinical research interests. They have the opportunity to interact regularly with our thoracic surgeons, chest radiologists, and pathologists through regular conferences in addition to the daily interactions with these services.

Our faculty members are outstanding mentors, teachers, and clinical providers who have trained at some of the most renowned academic programs. We are all passionate about education and committed to providing the highest quality of care to our patients. We hope that you will consider our program and look forward to meeting you. Thank you for your interest. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Sincerely,

Todd J. Sheppard, MD
Fellowship Director

About the Program

Our mission is to provide a diverse and supportive community that fosters the growth of tomorrow’s clinicians as compassionate, knowledgeable and capable of enhancing lives and preserving health through education, wellness promotion, and research.

Goals of completing in the program:

  1. Develop the skills, knowledge and attitudes leading to proficiency in all the domains of clinical competency required by the fellow to assume personal responsibility for the care of individual patients, especially those that are critically ill.
  2. Embrace the concept of graded responsibility in patient care. Our aim is for the fellows to gain experience and demonstrate growth in their ability to care for patients and progressively assume roles that permit them to exercise those skills with greater independence and to develop competency to practice clinical pulmonary and critical care medicine independently.
  3. Develop the skill, knowledge, competencies and attitudes required to enter the unsupervised practice of clinical pulmonary and critical care medicine.
  4. Establish a strong foundation for continued professional growth.
  5. Learn the value of becoming part of a multidisciplinary team to achieve the goal of best patient care.
  6. To establish a caring attitude and sensitivity to the health care needs of a diverse society.

Advances in Clinical Medical Research & Healthcare Delivery (ACMRHD) is an Open access journal that publishes reports of original research, guidelines, case reports and series, narrative reviews, systematic reviews and commentaries on a broad range of topics. ACMRHD is most interested in manuscripts that will influence practice and address important advances in medical research, education and health care delivery.

Areas of Study

First Year Fellows

ROTATIONWEEKS
Orientation2
Pulmonary – RGH8
Pulmonary – Newark4
Chest Radiology2
Anesthesiology2
Thoracic Surgery2
MICU12
Allergy2
Interventional Pulmonary4
SICU/Neuro ICU4
Research Elective2
Vacation/CME4
TOTAL48

Second Year Fellows

ROTATIONWEEKS
MICU12
CCU4
Pulmonary – RGH4
Pulmonary – Newark4
Sleep4
Interventional Pulmonary8
SICU4
Research Elective4
Vacation/CME4
TOTAL48

Third Year Fellows

ROTATIONWEEKS
Pulmonary – RGH4
Pulmonary – Newark8
Interventional Pulmonary4
MICU8
Clinical Elective8
Research Elective12
Vacation/CME4
TOTAL48

How to Apply

All applicants must apply through the ERAS website. All applicants must have completed an internal medicine residency program within the United States. 

Applicants should contact their medical schools, or see the ERAS Web site for more information on this service.

Due to the number of inquiries we receive, we are unable to review any application information that is not submitted through ERAS.

We Require:

  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Letters of Recommendation
  • USMLE scores
  • Medical School Transcripts
  • Personal Statement

Benefits & Compensation

The following is a list of benefits granted to all fellows

Medical Insurance

Opportunity to enroll in one of two comprehensive medical insurance plans.

Dental Insurance

Option to purchase one of two plans.

Life insurance

Employer paid coverage equal to 1x salary with option to purchase added coverage up to five (5) times annual salary.

Vision/Hearing Plan

Option to purchase a vision & hearing plan.

Short-Term Disability

Residents are entitled to up to six months of pay in the event of an approved disability, compensated at 60% of the resident stipend.

Long-Term Disability

Residents are provided with long-term disability of 50% of resident stipend in the event of an approved long-term disability. Residents have an option to purchase additional long-term disability to bring the amount up to 66.67%.

EAP

EAP is free, confidential service for employees and immediate family members that provides assistance with everyday work and family issues, as well as more challenging personal concerns.

On-site Child Care

Child care programs are offered for children between the ages of eight weeks to pre-school, and a before and after-school program is available to serve employees and the community. Preferential consideration is given to Hospital employees based upon availability; these employees receive a discounted rate.

Retirement

Option to enroll in tax deferred annuity plan.

Paid Vacation / Holiday

Salaries are paid on a bi-weekly basis. The salaries for the 2023-2024 academic year will be: (salary + stipend)

$79,000

PGY-4

$83,000

PGY-5

$86,000

PGY-6

Faculty

provider photo

Josephine U. Adunse, MD

Critical Care Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease

Jayashri Bhaskar, MD

Critical Care Medicine, Pulmonary Disease

Ming-Yan Chow, MD

Critical Care Medicine, Pulmonary Disease

Frank Genese, DO

Critical Care Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease

Michael N. Gurell, MD

Critical Care Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease

Talal Kaiser, MD

Critical Care Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease

Laurie B. Lerner, MD

Critical Care Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease

Hanan Malik, MD

Critical Care Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease

Adel Obaji, MD

Critical Care Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease

Kate E. O’Connor, DO

Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease

Todd J. Sheppard, MD

Critical Care Medicine, Pulmonary Disease

Damanpaul S. Sondhi, MD

Critical Care Medicine, Pulmonary Disease

Why Rochester?

The Greater Rochester area, in the Finger Lakes region of New York, is a truly unique place to live and work. Rochester’s urban arts, entertainment and dining venues are complemented by surrounding suburban, rural and lakefront communities. This results in a wealth of options for work and play.

Contact Us

Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship

Monique Little
Program Coordinator

Email: PulmCritFellowship@rochesterregional.org