Welcome to Saint Peter’s University Hospital Pulmonary Disease Fellowship Program.

Saint Peter’s University Hospital offers comprehensive pulmonary services with a daily average census of 85 patients. There are five full-time pulmonary attending physicians allowing for an attending-to- fellow ratio of > 1:1. Fellows of the Division of Pulmonary Medicine will be exposed to a wide variety of pulmonary case types including, but not limited to:

• respiratory failure
• obstructive lung disease
• pleural disease
• pulmonary malignancy
• pre/post-operative pulmonary care

Saint Peter’s University Hospital has a 24-bed ICU with 24-hour coverage for care of most types of medical and surgical patients including those with sepsis and advanced respiratory failure. Ancillary services include a full pulmonary function laboratory, endoscopy suite and advanced simulation center. Saint Peter’s physicians perform a full spectrum of therapeutic and diagnostic pulmonary procedures including mechanical ventilation, thoracentesis, chest tube placement and management, bronchoscopy and bedside ultrasonography. The division has very close ties to the Department of Internal Medicine which hosts 12 residents per year.

Although the program only started in 2018, the program faculty has significant experience in teaching residents and fellows over many years. We have traditionally been involved in teaching through our affiliations with local residencies and fellowships, including Rutgers University’s Robert Wood Johnson Medical School campus. The current program director, Dr. Douglas Frenia, spent six years as associate program director of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at San Antonio Military Medical Center. Dr. Haris Rana also has played an important leadership and teaching role as the associate program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Saint Peters. Evidence of our commitment to teaching is the fact that our faculty has been awarded the Resident Teaching Award for seven of the past 10 years.

The program has five full time faculty members. Dr. Amar Bukhari is the Chief of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division. He has provided strong, stable leadership to our department for more than 20 years; he is an expert in the areas of asthma and maternal pulmonary medicine. Dr. Douglas Frenia serves as program director; he specializes in the areas of bedside ultrasound, endobronchial ultrasound and other advance bronchoscopy techniques. Sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are special interests of Dr. Rana, and he has played a pivotal role in creating hospital policy in these areas. Dr. Arjun Madhavan and Dr. Talha Khan are the clinical directors of the Simulation Center for Interprofessional Learning, which provides high-fidelity simulation with Man 3G, Sonosim and other advanced modalities. In addition, there are many excellent Saint Peter’s and community pulmonologists, oncologists, pathologists, radiologists and surgeons who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the program.

Our trainees receive superb education in the inpatient and outpatient pulmonary setting. Current rotations include pulmonary function testing, simulation, anesthesia, and sleep and cardiothoracic surgery. We have a state of the art, highly rated Endoscopy Suite with advanced technologies including endobronchial ultrasound, electromagnetic bronchoscopy and bronchial thermoplasty. Our award-winning hospital and clinic staff provide excellent support to fellows during training.

The program hosts or attends regular monthly education activities including journal club, board review, core lecture series, tumor boar, morbidity and mortality conference and grand rounds.

Educational Leadership:

Douglas Frenia, MD
Program Director, Pulmonary Disease Fellowship

Haris Rana, MD
Associate Program Director, Pulmonary Disease Fellowship.

Core Faculty:

Amar Bukhari, MD
Chief, Pulmonary Disease Division
Associate Chairman, Department of Medicine

Arjun Madhavan, MD
Site Director

Talha Khan, MD
Attending Physician

How to apply:

The Pulmonary Disease Fellowship at Saint Peters University Hospital is a two-year program that accepts two fellows per training year. Fellowship applications will be accepted and reviewed only via ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service).

The ERAS website can be accessed at www.aamc.org/eras

Our fellowship requirements are:

• Successful completion of USMLE steps I and II or COMLEX steps I and II
• Three (3) Letters of Recommendation (Letter from program director strongly recommended)
• Personal Statement
• ECFMG Status

For additional information, please contact:
Katherine Sellars
Fellowship Program Director
Department of Medicine
krodriguez@saintpetersuh.com