History
Since the beginning, the Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at Georgetown University has maintained a steadfast focus on innovation and education. Dr. Richard Waldhorn (Fellow, 81′) and his lab were instrumental in evaluating and implementing positive pressure ventilation in patients with obstructive sleep apnea in the 1980s, and Georgetown maintains a busy sleep lab to this day currently headed by Dr. Dina KiaNoury (Fellow ’00). Dr. Charles Read (Fellow, ’91) was tasked with bringing Interventional Pulmonary Medicine to Georgetown in 1995. Drs. Eric Anderson (Fellow ‘99) and Rebecca Krochmal continue to practice interventional pulmonary using the most cutting edge techniques, recently adding robot assisted peripheral lung nodule biopsy to their diagnostic armamentarium. Dr. Anne O’Donnell currently runs a world-renowned bronchiectasis program at Georgetown, with robust research and clinical volume. Since 2004, the division has held the clinical responsibility of running all critical care services at Georgetown, including the medical, surgical and neurosciences ICUs.
Education, both of our fellows and by our fellows, remains at the forefront of our program. Our faculty have also always served an integral role in the Georgetown Medical School, both in the pre-clinical and clinical realm. Dr. Ed Tsou was the long-standing director of Physical Diagnosis, and Dr. Ajeet Vinayak (IM resident ’04) is the course director of the Pulmonary Physiology module. Pulmonary and Critical Care faculty educate throughout the medical school, residency and fellowship. Our fellows continue to participate in education of medical students and residents. The Housestaff award for Excellence in Teaching by a fellow has been won by one of our fellows 13 times in the last 16 years. Last year, along with winning, every one of our fellows was nominated for the award!
The modern 3-year Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at Georgetown University Hospital was started in 1988 under the direction of Richard Waldhorn, MD (fellow ‘81) as Program Director and Hall Canter, MD as Division Chief. Prior to this time, a two year Pulmonary Fellowship was in place. Dr. Charles Read succeeded Dr. Waldhorn to become program director in 1995, when Dr. Waldhorn became Chief of the Division. Dr. Anne O’Donnell, MD became Chief of the Division in 2001 after Dr. Waldhorn became Chair of the Department of Medicine. Cristina Reichner, MD (Fellow ’05) succeeded Dr. Read as Program Director in 2014, after he served 18 years. Daniel Jamieson, MD took the reins of the program in 2020 as only the 4th program director since the Fellowship’s founding.