The Critical Care Medicine Department officially came into being on December 5, 2001.  With its creation, the University of Pittsburgh became the first medical school in the United States to develop a fully independent department dedicated to critical care medicine. Given the enormous contributions made by Drs. Peter Safar and Ake Grenvik to the development of critical care medicine as a bona fide field of specialization in medicine, it is only appropriate that the formation of the first CCM Department in the US happened at Pitt. During this past year Albany Medical College became the second medical school in the United States to set up a fully independent CCM Department, and several other schools are actively weighing this course.

The Department of Critical Care Medicine is continually expanding and now has 60 faculty members. In recent years, we have been recruiting on average five new faculty members per year. The Department is very much involved in all aspects necessary to maintain a thriving academic and clinical environment and plays a pivotal role in the safe and efficient care of critically ill patients in the UPMC Oakland hospitals. Our faculty members are also involved in various management committees in the System. The educational experience provided to both medical students and fellows is unsurpassed by any other institution in the country. The Multidisciplinary Critical Care Training Program (MCCTP) attracts highly qualified candidates every year. Research activities in the Department continue to grow. Established researchers are maintaining their funding levels in an increasingly competitive market and junior faculty members are establishing their independent careers in their fields of interest.

Mitchell P. Fink, MD
Professor and Chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine
Watson Professor of Surgery
Associate Vice-Chancellor for Translational Research and Commercialization
University of Pittsburgh