In our comprehensive fellowship program, you will receive a broad range of hands-on clinical experience and individualized instruction from nationally-known physicians and investigators in a collegial environment. This one-year program, a suppliment to a standard pulmonary fellowship, covers the essential knowledge and skills needed for interventional pulmonary practice.

Fellowship Experience

Our program provides superior training in a collaborative environment. We have specialty clinics across our medical campus, which is anchored by our 1,200 bed inpatient center UAB Hospital—the eighth largest public hospital in the nation. The hospital is in close proximity to the Birmingham VA Medical Center, UAB Hospital Highlands campus, and the Kirklin Clinic.

Patients come from all over the state to take advantage of our life-changing care, offering a diverse population and breadth of clinical learning opportunities. We approach medicine in a multi-disciplinary modality across a broad variety of conditions through mandatory and elective rotations. We accept applications through the Electronic Residency Application Service.

---

Clinical Training

We offer our fellows a unique opportunity to customize their curriculum by incorporating various subspecialty clinics that align with their special interests, broaden their clinical exposure, and achieve their career goals. These rotations focus on assisting fellows in achieving their professional goals while acquiring the skills, attitudes and knowledge to function as an Interventional Pulmonology physician. With three Interventional Pulmonary trainees yearly, fellows will round as a team and gain experience in navigating airways in the OR in their first year. Fellows also learn about lung mass workups and when advanced endoscopic procedures are necessary.

In the second and third years, fellows will get certified in Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) and other advanced bronchoscopic procedures, as well as learn pleural procedures such as thoracoscopy and intrapleural catheters. Additionally, fellows will train with thoracic and ENT surgeons, collaborating closely with medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, and radiologists. This comprehensive approach ensures a well-rounded training experience for Interventional Pulmonology fellows.

---

Teaching Conferences

Our training program is designed to offer fellows substantial teaching opportunities. Fellows are expected to educate medical students and residents, and they are encouraged to attend various multidisciplinary conferences.

The weekly Interventional Pulmonology Conference, led by the IP fellow, covers core topics, including case discussions, M&M, and journal club sessions, with enriching contributions from Vanderbilt University IP program attendees and occasional experts from other UAB departments. The Thoracic Oncology Tumor Board, led by the IP team, addresses clinical questions on thoracic malignancies through multidisciplinary discussions and live radiology and pathology image reviews. The Complex Airway Disease Conference involves specialists from various fields to develop care plans for patients with complex airway diseases. IP fellows are encouraged to attend the Thoracic Surgery Conference, which complements the IP conference curriculum.

All conferences are open to faculty, fellows, residents, students and staff, and are held in a hybrid format with the option to attend in-person or virtual via Zoom.

---

Research Opportunities

Research is an essential part of our training program, aiming to teach fellows sound methodology in designing and performing research studies, correct interpretation and synthesis of research data, development of work suitable for presentation at national scientific meetings and publication in peer-reviewed journals, and building a foundation for extramural funding applications for those interested in academic careers. Research may be in clinical or basic science projects depending on fellow interests. Presentation of their research findings at regional or national scientific meetings is strongly encouraged.

Fellows are required to complete a research project (or a mentored Quality Improvement project) and will be expected to present their work in the form of an abstract at a national meeting. Alternatively, a published review paper in the area of investigation would fulfill the requirement for scholarly activities. During their training, fellows may pursue a masters level degree to support their career plans.

Frequently Asked Questions