The Pulmonary Clinical Medicine Section (PCMS) was formed in 2014 with a mandate to expand and enhance the clinical pulmonary program within the Division of Intramural Research, NHLBI. A primary goal was to start a pulmonary clinical fellowship program to enhance the academic environment within the DIR and to create a pipeline of clinician scientists to grow the pulmonary program. We have continued our partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center to support a joint NHLBI/UMMC research fellowship track and a combined pulmonary/critical care medicine clinical and research training program. All of the UMMC PCCM fellows are scheduled to spend 4 weeks on the NIH pulmonary consult service as one of their clinical rotations. A combined research and clinical training curriculum is jointly developed between NIH and UMMC. Fellowship applicants are recruited through a separate Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) number affiliated with the UMMC PCCM fellowship application (http://umm.edu/programs/pulmonary/professionals/pulmonary-fellowship/nih-nhlbi-track. We continue to participate in the ERAS match and currently have a full complement of 3 fellows, one in each of the 3 years of training. Renovations were completed which added a 4th testing room and expanded testing capacity. An additional part-time technician was added. Further enhancements of the interface between the pulmonary function testing equipment and the Clinical Center electronic medical record (EMR) system were completed. Bronchoscopy capabilities were enhanced with greater access to anesthesia supported procedures by use of the Intermediate Care unit for pediatric procedures The pulmonary consultation service continued to provide expert consultations with support from a cadre of nurse practitioners and physician assistants who also rotate through the critical care unit. Capacity of this service has been enhanced by having clinical fellows on service for most of the year. Two of the three support staff (nurse practitioner and physician assistant) were transferred with another transfer pending (nurse practitioner) from the NIH Clinical Center Critical Care Medicine Department to NHLBI. This is representative of their full-time focus on the pulmonary consult service.
