I graduated from a pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship in 2012 and started my career as a pulmonary and critical care medicine attending in Austin, Texas, with a private practice group called Pulmonary and Critical Care Consultants of Austin, or PC3A. We were a well-respected group that practiced high-quality medicine with close attention to detail and a passion to care for the sickest of the sick. PC3A’s mission intrigued me, so I took a leap of faith and joined them with the hope that one day a medical school would come to Austin and I could focus on education.
My decision turned out to be correct when funds were approved for the medical school in 2014. I began to take more education leadership roles at the medical school and began planting the seeds with my group to take on more educational responsibilities. Momentum for more training programs steadily gained, and my thirst to start a pulmonary and critical care medicine training program grew.
The COVID-19 pandemic stunned the world, and Austin was not spared. The fallout highlighted the shortage of pulmonary and critical care medicine physicians in the Central Texas region, providing even more impetus for a training program. PC3A eventually joined with Ascension Medical Group, allowing for a tight partnership with Dell Medical School.
As the world began to emerge from the pandemic, I was granted the opportunity to become the program director of a brand new pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship, something I have been waiting for since 2014. I pledge to work night and day to make this training program the absolute best that it can be, and I will make it my mission to train my fellows to the highest standards of pulmonary and critical care medicine.
Sincerely,
Koonj Shah, M.D.
Program Director