Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship Programs

Interventional Pulmonology Fellowship Program

Overview

The interventional pulmonology (IP) fellowship at the University of Chicago offers training in advanced diagnostic bronchoscopy, complex airway disease, pleural disease, and therapeutic bronchoscopic treatments for benign lung disease alongside international experts.  In close collaboration with faculty from oncology, thoracic surgery, otorhinolaryngology, anesthesia, and critical care medicine, the interventional pulmonology service is actively involved in the diagnosis, management, and research of patients with malignant and benign central airway disorders, pulmonary nodules, and pleural disorders. Bronchoscopic procedures are also offered to manage patients with asthma, emphysema, massive hemoptysis, foreign body aspiration, mediastinal disorders, post lung transplant complications, interstitial, and infectious lung disorders.

Brief overview of the core curriculum

  • Structured competency-oriented curriculum: during this academic one-year IP fellowship, trainees will master materials from the AABIP’s educational resources and WABIP’s Bronchoscopy Education Project including but not limited to the use of validated assessment tools, reading materials, videos, checklists, and patient-centered exercises to gain factual knowledge, technical skills, and experience. Didactic lectures delivered by IP and non-IP faculty (i.e. Oncology, Thoracic surgery, Radiation Oncology) are scheduled every two weeks. The topics and learning objectives of these lectures are aligned with the IP Board Examination Review Course. Fellows will participate in and conduct original research, teach in a variety of settings, and actively engage in multidisciplinary management teams of benign and malignant chest disorders.

Procedures offered include:

  • Airway
      • Flexible and Rigid bronchoscopy with laser assisted mechanical dilation/debulking
      • Photodynamic therapy
      • Airway Stents: Silicone and SEMS stent insertion using flexible and rigid bronchoscopic techniques
      • APC/electrosurgery, cryotherapy, and balloon dilation
      • Percutaneous Tracheostomy
      • Foreign body removal with rigid and flexible bronchoscopic techniques
      • Endobronchial blockers and single lung intubation
  • Pleural
      • Flex-rigid pleuroscopy and rigid thoracoscopy for pleural biopsies and pleurodesis
      • Chest Tubes
      • Tunneled Pleural Catheter placement and management
      • Thoracentesis
  • Advanced Diagnostic
      • EBUS-guided TBNA
      • Navigational bronchoscopic techniques using flexible and robotic approaches with advanced imaging including new robotic platforms and real time REBUS-TBNA techniques
  • Bronchoscopic Treatments for Benign Disease
      • Endobronchial valve placement for prolonged air leak
      • Bronchoscopic Lung Volume Reduction
      • Bronchial Thermoplasty for Asthma
    • Responsibilities: in addition to their apprenticeship – style hands-on learning, trainees will study the Essential Bronchoscopist© series of books and the AABIP suggested reading list; participate in onsite and online courses pertaining to flexible, rigid, therapeutic and diagnostic bronchoscopy; demonstrate procedural skill and knowledge acquisition using assessment tools and checklists; conduct and publish original research, author a review article or book chapter on an IP topic; contribute to patient-centered exercises focused on problems commonly encountered in bronchoscopy; and, when requested, lecture to various audiences within the University of Chicago Medical system.

    Where do our fellows go?

    2022-2023 Nakul Ravikumar, University of Massachusetts, Baystate, Springfield, MA

    2021-2022 Grady Hedstrom, Private Practice, Minnesota Lung Center, MN

    2020-2021 Elliot Ho, Loma Linda University, CA

    2019-2020 Abhinav Agrawal, Northwell Health, NY

    2018-2019 Udit Chaddha, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY

    2017-2018 Jonathan Kurman, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI

    2016-2017 Sean Stoy, Private Practice, Minneapolis, MN

    2015-2016 Balaji Laxmanan, J&J, Lung Cancer Initiative

    2014-2015 Katarine Egressy – University of Virginia, VA

    University of Chicago Interventional Pulmonology Website:
    https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/conditions-services/lung-diseases/advanced-bronchoscopy

    Septimiu Murgu, MD, FCCP, DAABIP
    Professor of Medicine
    Interventional Pulmonology Fellowship Program Director
    Co-director of Bronchoscopy
    The University of Chicago Medicine
    5841 S Maryland Ave, MC 6076
    Chicago, IL 60637
    smurgu@bsd.uchicago.edu

    Kyle Hogarth, MD, FCCP
    Professor of Medicine, Director of Bronchoscopy
    The University of Chicago Medicine
    5841 S. Maryland Ave, MC 6076
    Chicago, IL 60637
    dhogarth@bsd.uchicago.edu

    Ajay Wagh, MD, MS, FCCP, DAABIP
    Assistant Professor of Medicine
    Interventional Pulmonology Fellowship Associate Program Director
    The University of Chicago Medicine
    5841 S. Maryland Ave, MC 6076
    Chicago, IL 60637
    awagh@bsd.uchicago.edu

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