Management and administrative issues in critical care medicine

North American critical care medicine is in a fortunate position, since it is the only academic specialty in which the trainees are required to receive instruction and credentialing in administrative, management and economic skills by its certifying organization. There has been increased focus on developing skills in outcomes research for intensivists in training. The nonclinical curriculum and recommendations to its improvement are an important part of a critical care medicine fellowship program regardless of the specialty pathway. It remains to be seen whether all faculty are qualified to deliver quality, functional teaching in these areas. Critical care medicine has been entrusted with various levels of control of massive national medical resources, which are equivalent to about one-third of individual hospital's budgets. It is crucial that training in management be brought into the forefront in order for our specialty to remain competitive in the health care market. Curr Opin Crit Care 1999, 5:332-338