WSU College of Medicine welcomes first doctors to critical care program

The Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine's new critical care medicine fellowship is welcoming its inaugural class of fellows.

The two physicians, including one WSU College of Medicine alum, will join the Everett medical community next summer to continue their specialized training in caring for the sickest patients.

Launched earlier this year in partnership with Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, the Critical Care Medicine Fellowship-Everett expands the college's medical education offerings to train more doctors in-stateand will help alleviate a national and statewide shortage of intensive care specialists.

"Our fellowship match marks another milestone in advancing medical education and critical care services in our community," said Program Director Dr. Tomasz Ziedalski. "We are thrilled to welcome our inaugural fellows."

Fellowships provide advanced subspecialty training for physicians who have earned a medical degree and completed postgraduate residency training in their chosen specialty. Physicians across the country are paired with fellowship programs through a national match process.

The College of Medicine matched with its first critical care fellows, Dr. Alex Franke and Dr. Alfonso Siu, on Dec. 3.

I loved my medical school education, and when I heard that the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine was starting a critical care fellowship, it felt like the stars had aligned.

The match is a homecoming for Dr. Franke, who graduated from WSU's MD program in 2021 as part of the inaugural class of Coug Docs. He completed his residency in emergency medicine at the University of Utah, where he also served as chief resident.

"I loved my medical school education, and when I heard that the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine was starting a critical care fellowship, it felt like the stars had aligned," Dr. Franke said.

He was drawn to critical care medicine, which provides care for severely ill patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) setting, because of the depth of care it offers and the opportunity to connect with patients and their loved ones during pivotal moments in their lives.

Dr. Siu joins WSU from the Baylor College of Medicine, where he is completing a fellowship in infectious disease and researching bacterial infections in patients with weakened immune systems. He was drawn to the complexity and teamwork-oriented nature of critical care.

After earning his medical degree from the University of Panama, Dr. Siu completed a residency in internal medicine at Flushing Hospital Medical Center in New York, where he served as chief resident.

The critical care medicine fellowship is the WSU College of Medicine's first fellowship program. The two-yearprogram will welcome two new fellows per year, training four physicians at a time.

Fellows will train at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett alongside residents in the college's internal medicine residency program. Critical care medicine is a subspecialty of internal medicine.

WSU also offers a family medicine residency in Pullman and a pediatric residency in Spokane. The programs have brought more doctors to live and work in eastern Washington, which faces an acute shortage of primary care physicians.