Surgery · Fellowship Career
Surgical Critical Care & Trauma
ICU management for complex surgical and trauma patients; acute care surgery may add a separate second year.
Fellowship Length
1 year
After a qualifying residency
Prior Residency
General Surgery
5 years residency
Typical Post-MD Training
6 years
Residency + fellowship; alternative pathways may overlap
Attending Compensation
$408,558
Estimated Base Salary
Training Pathway
Medical School → Residency → Fellowship
A second acute care surgery fellowship year is optional and is distinct from the ACGME surgical critical care year.
Clinical Work and Procedures
- Resuscitation and shock care
- Mechanical ventilation
- Postoperative critical illness
- Trauma ICU leadership
Attending Compensation
$408,558
Estimated Base Salary
Broader critical-care physician category, not isolated to surgical or trauma critical care.
Schedules and Practice Settings
Surgical ICUs with overnight coverage, emergency surgery coordination and multidisciplinary rounding.
How to Prepare
During Medical School
Follow a trauma patient from resuscitation to ICU stabilization and a family meeting, including the post-operative course.
Research or Quality Improvement
Assess massive transfusion, postoperative sepsis or ICU handoff reliability.
During Residency
During surgery residency, develop ICU judgment, teaching and procedural safety; compare one-year SCC and two-year acute care surgery pathways.
A Question to Ask Fellows
Would you choose ICU management and emergency surgery over a predominantly elective operative practice?
Sources & Data Notes
Reviewed . Fellowship durations and entry routes summarize commonly accredited training pathways. Specific institutions can have different eligibility, early-entry and combined tracks; check program and board requirements for your cycle.
Fellowship Match selection is separate from the medical school residency Match. No residency competitiveness index, MD versus DO residency outcome, or fellowship acceptance percentage is assigned to these pages. National attending compensation uses a source-matched specialty estimate when available; Doximity and Medscape report total compensation, Marit uses smaller opt-in physician samples, and Salary.com models base salary from employer and third-party data. These measures are not interchangeable. Fellowship stipends depend on PGY level and institution.
For Surgical Critical Care & Trauma: Salary.com 2026, Estimated Base Salary for the reported “Critical Care Physician” population. Broader critical-care physician category, not isolated to surgical or trauma critical care. This is a national estimate, not a location-specific offer.
Schedules, example procedures, preparation tips and clinical roles are educational descriptions; responsibilities depend on training, practice setting and privileges. This is educational career guidance rather than individualized employment or training advice.