For more information, please call 631-444-8329.
The fellowship has been recognized for its continued excellence by certification through the ACGME and the American Board of Surgery.
The program’s primary clinical site is Stony Brook University Hospital, which is a tertiary care facility serving as the only regional (Level I) trauma center for Suffolk County on Long Island, New York. It is an academic and regional medical center with a composite mission to provide excellent patient care, education, research, and community service. (Learn more about Stony Brook Trauma Center.)
Fellows serve as key team members of the multidisciplinary team that constitutes an IHI approach to the SICU (see Institute for Healthcare Improvement). Fellows also participate in the education of medical students and residents. Weekly didactic conferences, include a journal club which covers topics in intensive care and trauma, and an SCCPDS approved curriculum are just some of the modes of education used.
Our diverse patient population includes general and acute care surgery, trauma, vascular, neurosurgical trauma, cardiothoracic, OB-GYN, ENT, plastics, orthopedics, urology, and renal transplantation, in addition to occasional medical patients. This provides a diverse exposure and experience, so that the fellow is comfortable in taking care of sickest and most complex patients.
The Division plays an active role in the education of medical students, residents, and fellows at Stony Brook. We have trauma and critical care conferences. Our trauma attendings, who are certified instructors through the Committee on Trauma for the American College of Surgery, teach the Advance Trauma Life Support Course at Stony Brook for all entering surgical house-officers. We also teach in the general surgery residency curriculum and in the Surgical Skills Center.
EM-SCC Approved Program
The departments of Surgery and Emergency Medicine have developed a fellowship training pathway for Emergency Medicine Physicians in Surgical Critical Care. This is an ACGME accredited two year program that will prepare the participant for subspecialty certification in Surgical Critical Care. Emergency fellows will rotate through the SICU, Cardiothoracic ICU, Trauma, Acute Care Surgery, and multiple additional surgical specialties/subspecialties. In addition to preparing fellows for Surgical Critical Care certification, it is expected to prepare them for clinical, academic, and/or research careers in the Resuscitation and Critical Care Medicine.
Please see the following page for information about our GME Prospective Residency Program
General Surgery Resident Rotations
The Division provides general surgery residents with a wide range of experience on the following two rotations (click on them for detailed information):
The Division is very actively involved in education of medical students at Stony Brook. Scheduled conferences, including the weekly rotation conferences, are provided to enhance the experience of these future physicians.
Program Director
The Division offers an accredited one-year surgical critical care residency (fellowship). This residency is directed by Randeep S. Jawa, MD. Clinical responsibilities emphasize the management of the multiply-injured and critically ill patient. In addition, the fellow is expected to participate research and/or quality improvement.
In addition to the program director, there are seven other board certified or admissible attendings that have primary responsibility in the SICU on a weekly basis.
Trauma/Surgical Critical Care
- Polikseni Eksarko, MD
- Isadora Botwinick, MD
- Daniel N. Rutigliano, DO
- Steven Sandoval, MD
- Marc J. Shapiro, MD
- James A. Vosswinkel, MD
Stony Brook has the only Regional Trauma Center with Level 1 Designation in Suffolk County, with one of the highest survival rates in New York. This means that it has been designated by New York State to handle the most severe injuries and most complex cases. As the county’s only Level I Trauma Center, Stony Brook provides a level of care beyond the capabilities of the emergency rooms at local hospitals. In fact, patients who arrive at community hospitals with serious illness or injury are often transported to Stony Brook.
What does the Level I designation mean? Although the criteria differ by state, the trauma center ranking system (Level I, II, III, others) refers to the kinds of resources and the standard of care available, as well as the ability to handle a certain volume of severely injured patients. Level I is the highest designation, indicating that the most advanced care is available. Level I facilities such as Stony Brook are typically part of a comprehensive tertiary care facility that serves an entire region. They are able to provide 24-hour, in-house (as opposed to on-call) coverage by trauma surgeons, as well as prompt availability of care in specialties such as orthopaedic surgery, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, radiology, plastic surgery, oral and maxillofacial and critical care. Level I trauma centers also take a leadership role in injury prevention, public education and continuing education of trauma team members, along with participating in research and quality improvement initiatives.
Our SICU has been recognized locally and nationally for many initiatives and innovations in providing optimum patient care.
The program continues to grow with input from the attendings in surgical critical care and the fellows. Besides a rotation in the cardiovascular and thoracic ICU, electives in nephrology, echocardiography and trauma are offered. This provides the diversity and necessary experience based on the volume, as demonstrated by the performance of the fellows in all receiving board eligibility and certification when they have applied to the American Board of Surgery to take their critical care boards.
The multidisciplinary approach to the SICU patient makes the SICU a congenial and collaborative environment in which all members of the team play a role in the exemplary care provided.
- Selection of critical care fellows is made through the Trauma, Emergency Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care Division
- All applicants must be board eligible/certified in general surgery, anesthesiology. or emergency medicine
- A personal interview is required
- Applicants must have a New York State medical license by August 1 of the academic year they begin
- Successful completion of the United States Medical Licensure Exam (USMLE) Step 3 by the second attempt or Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Exam (COMLEX) Step 3 by the second attempt is required;
- Before the required interview takes place, three (3) letters of recommendation — one of which must be from the applicant’s chair or program director — are to be uploaded to the Surgical Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery Fellowship Application Service (SAFAS) website.
- The application deadline is July 31st for the fellowship starting August 1st of the next academic year. The SAFAS website must be used
- Questions concerning the application process should be directed to Dr. Jawa at 631-444-8329, fax (631-444-6176) or via e-mail.
