Divisional Conferences

Although the program includes multiple sites, our faculty and trainees maintain close communication with each other through our weekly conferences.

• Core Curriculum Conferences - weekly
• Journal Club - monthly
• CPC Morbidity and Mortality Conference - monthly
• Pulmonary and Critical Care Divisional Conference - weekly
• Basic Science Research Conference – weekly
• Other Conferences

The Core Curriculum is presented weekly on Tuesday afternoon from 12:30-1:30 p.m at the “fellows conference”. Attendance at this conference is mandatory for fellows. During that time, Emory faculty presents a broad variety of topics pertinent to pulmonary disease/critical care medicine targeted to the training level of fellows. The curriculum for this conference lasts 18 months. The content and quality of these presentations are graded by the fellows and the topics and presenters are periodically reviewed to maintain optimal quality and focus of the curriculum.

The Pulmonary/Critical Care grand rounds is held afterwards from 1:30-2:30 p.m. This conference, whose attendees include all the fellows, pulmonary/critical care medicine faculty, internal medicine residents on rotations with our division, and selected nurses, PAs, etc., follows one of several formats described below.

One conference per month is Journal Club. During this hour a fellow is asked to select an interesting publication from the recent literature and review the background of the topic as well as the methodology, design, statistical analysis, results, and conclusions of the publication. This is a formal presentation lasting 45-50 minutes using powerpoint slides. Faculty in attendance ask questions and provide observations.

The second conference format that occurs in the Tuesday pulmonary/critical care medicine division conference on a monthly basis is the “Case Conference” which follows a CPC/Morbidity and Mortality format. During this hour, two fellows present a case they have seen using powerpoint slides. Typically the history, physical exam, and pertinent radiographic studies are presented. The fellow then selects a faculty member to discuss the salient features of the case and develop a differential diagnosis and/or diagnostic plan. After this discussion, the fellow then presents the diagnosis, pathologic material, course, and outcome of the case. All cases presented during this conference are compiled and available as a reference for members of the Division.

The third format for the Tuesday afternoon conference is “Faculty Topic/Clinical Research” presentations. Duirng this time, clinical faculty either (a) provide an in-depth review of a topic pertinent to pulmonary/critical care medicine or (b) present findings related to their ongoing clinical research projects including discussion of background, study design, epidemiology, analysis of data, statistics, etc.

In the fourth and final format for the Tuesday afternoon conference, the fellows present findings related to their ongoing research projects including discussion of background, study design, epidemiology, analysis of data, statistics, etc. Only 2nd and 3rd year fellows are expected to present in this format.

Every Thursday morning, 3 weeks per month, the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine hosts a Basic Science Research Conference. In this format, faculty from the Division or invited outside speakers deliver presentations related to basic science research. All fellows participating in research rotations are required to attend this conference.

Fellows are encouraged to attend the following OTHER CONFERENCES, although attendance is not mandatory.

1. Department of Medicine – Grand Rounds – Tuesdays – 7:30-8:30 a.m. - Emory University Hospital.

2. Monthly Multidisciplinary Conference at Emory University Hospital sponsored and organized by Dr. Tony Gal, a pulmonary pathologist. This conference is attended by pulmonary disease/critical care medicine fellows and faculty, thoracic surgeons, oncologists, and radiologists and cases are reviewed in a morbidity/mortality format. This conference is held montly from 7:30-8:30 a.m. on Thursday morning.

3. Other multidisciplinary conferences held weekly at selected sites and attended only by fellows on rotation at those facilities:

a. Grady Hospital – monthly ID – pulmonary conference
b. Grady Hospital – monthly radiology, pulmonary, pathology, thoracic surgery conferences
c. Emory Hospital – weekly anesthesia-pulmonary conference
d.  ILD weekly conference

e.  Sleep Medicine conference

e. VAMC – weekly multidisciplinary conference with participation from radiology, pulmonary, thoracic surgery, oncology, radiation therapy, and nuclear medicine services.