| Occupation | |
|---|---|
| Synonyms | Critical care doctor |
Occupation type | Specialty |
Activity sectors | Medicine |
| Description | |
Education required | Doctor of Medicine or equivalent. |
Fields of employment | Hospitals, Intensive care unit, CVICU, Surgical ICU |
An intensivist, also known as a critical care doctor, is a medical practitioner who specializes in the care of critically ill patients, most often in the intensive care unit (ICU).[1][2] Intensivists can be internists or internal medicine sub-specialists (most often pulmonologists), anaesthesiologists, emergency medicine physicians, paediatricians (including neonatologists), or surgeons who have completed a fellowship in critical care medicine. The intensivist must be competent not only in a broad spectrum of conditions among critically ill patients but also with the technical procedures and equipment used in the intensive care setting such as airway management, rapid sequence induction of anaesthesia, maintenance and weaning of sedation, central venous and arterial catheterisation, renal replacement therapy and management of mechanical ventilators.[3]