The UPMC Harrisburg Critical Care Medicine Fellowship provides comprehensive training in critical care medicine. Fellows develop advanced clinical judgment, procedural competence, and leadership skills while working alongside experienced faculty in a collaborative learning environment.
Our program combines broad ICU exposure, structured simulation-based education, and dedicated mentorship to prepare fellows for successful careers in academic or community critical care.
Omar Al-Janabi, MD
Residency: Jamaica Hospital Medical Center
Medical School: University of Al-Mustansiriyah College of Medicine
One of the most defining aspects of my training has been the opportunity to explore and dive into cardiogenic shock patients and MCS especially ECMO management. This experience truly transformed my approach to critical care. Being involved into initiating and managing ECMO support has not only refined my technical skills but also, underscored the importance of real time decision making and interprofessional communications, each case has been powerful lesson in balancing the cutting- edge technology and compassionate patient care, and its corner stone how this fellowship training has shaped my career path.
Sahar Karim, MD
Residency: Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center
Medical School: AGA Khan Medical College
What I enjoy most about my critical care fellowship is the focused ventilator teaching. Working closely with attendings and guiding residents through ventilator modes, adjustments, and troubleshooting has strengthened my understanding of respiratory physiology and improved my confidence at the bedside. It’s rewarding to see how thoughtful ventilator management can quickly impact a patient’s condition and deepen our team’s learning.
Manny Shergill, DO
Residency: Garnet Health Medical Center
Medical School: New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
What I enjoy most about our critical care fellowship is the energy and intensity of caring for the sickest patients each day. I’ve grown to rely on and appreciate the incredible teamwork and mentorship around me, which continually strengthens my skills and confidence. Moving through different ICUs has broadened my perspective and keeps me learning in every rotation. Above all, I honestly believe choosing to go on this journey through fellowship here in Harrisburg was one of the best decisions I could have made for personal and professional growth.
Arataxna Dave, MD
Residency: AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center
Medical School: Ross University School of Medicine
What I value most about our fellowship is the Boot Camp in the beginning of training. It truly helps with teambuilding as well as kickstarting mastery of topics/procedures earlier on. Additionally, UPMC offers a strong balance of academic rigor and compassionate patient-focused care. This well-rounded and robust education is what makes this program truly unique. I believe there is no better program for me to grow into the critical care physician I aspire to become.
Sabastain Forsah, MD
Residency: Internal Medicine at Richmond University Medical Center, Staten Island, NY
Medical School: Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Buea
I have been highly impressed by the level at which the program operates; it is difficult to believe that it is only in its third year of existence. The faculty are exceptionally knowledgeable, procedurally proficient, and consistently approachable, creating a strong and supportive learning environment. The boot camps provide a structured and effective transition into fellowship training. Additionally, the away rotations in Pittsburgh are highly complementary and offer substantial enrichment in both clinical knowledge and professional development. Since joining the program, I have developed a focused interest in point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) and have achieved greater efficiency in its application, which has significantly enhanced my ability to develop timely and effective management plans. I would unequivocally choose UPMC Harrisburg again if given the opportunity to apply for fellowship training.
Andrew Mekaiel, MD
Residency: Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Queens, NY
Medical School: Ain Shams University Faculty of Medicine Egypt
During my interview, I was impressed by the faculty's genuine dedication to both the fellows and the program. I also valued the balance between rigorous clinical ICU exposure and comprehensive didactic and elective time. Additionally, being part of a large academic institution such as UPMC offers diverse resources and ample opportunities that would help me become a well-rounded intensivist.
The UPMC Harrisburg Critical Care Medicine Fellowship provides a structured educational ecosystem designed to develop highly capable intensivists through mentorship, simulation-based training, advanced ultrasound education, and scholarly development.
Fellows benefit from close mentorship and structured support for career development and scholarly activity.
Simulation and procedural training are core components of the fellowship curriculum and are built into the didactic curriculum.
The fellowship provides a dedicated point of care ultrasound curriculum oriented towards the Critical Care Echocardiography Board Exam. Our faculty believe that point of care ultrasound is a foundational skill in the practice Fellows that wish to pursue Certification in Critical Care Echocardiography may track cases through QPath and the worksheet below.
Fellows present their ultrasound images during several conferences including our “Ultrasound Bingo Conference.” During the conference, a fellow presents 5 images from a row, column, or diagonal from the bingo card. Difficulty is mixed throughout the card.
View and download CCEeXAM certification tracking worksheet.
Fellows have access to the University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Library System and local campus libraries.
The program supports fellow wellbeing through institutional resources and protected time.
Christopher Franz, MD
Dr. Franz is a Pulmonary and Critical Care physician with a strong commitment to training highly competent and empathetic critical care physicians. He received his medical degree from New York Medical College, completed his Internal Medicine residency at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and finished his Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh in 2021. Dr. Franz has been an integral part of the UPMC Harrisburg Critical Care Fellowship since it began in 2023. As Program Director, he leads an intensive training program focused on preparing trainees to deliver high-quality patient care in any clinical environment while fostering a culture grounded in fairness, respect, psychological safety, and wellness.
Under Dr. Franz’s leadership, the fellowship’s educational program is designed to prepare fellows for both the Critical Care Board Examination and clinical practice. He leads a tailored fellowship experience that incorporates protected didactics, simulation-based education, and case-based learning. Dr. Franz is particularly passionate about simulation and has structured the fellowship to include monthly simulation experiences such as advanced airway management, obstetric cardiac arrest scenarios, and bedside procedural skill labs. In addition to education, Dr. Franz emphasizes a forward-thinking approach to organizational leadership and scholarship, with interests in clinical and organizational data science, machine learning, and algorithmic decision support. Dr. Franz is proud to lead a dynamic fellowship that values its fellows, faculty, and alumni.
Matthew Zaccheo, DO
Dr. Zaccheo joined the UPMC Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Division in August 2021. Prior to joining, he practiced as a Medical Intensivist at Bronson Methodist Hospital and University of Michigan - West in Southwest Michigan where he acted as the Vice Chair of the Critical Care Medicine service line, Trauma Liaison, Co-director of the ICU Performance Improvement Committee, and Director of the ICU advanced practice provider program. During his tenure, he held faculty appointments as a Clinical Assistant Professor for the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker School of Medicine, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, and the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine.
During his time at UPMC, he continues to practice as a Medical Intensivist. He also serves as the Section Chief of Critical Care Medicine and Regional ICU Medical Director of the UPMC Cental Pennsylvania region. He works alongside a group of multidisciplinary trained Intensivists, acute care advanced practice providers, hospital administrators, and providers from medical and surgical service lines to coordinate and operationalize ICU evidence-based best practice across a seven-hospital network encompassing 120 licensed and operational ICU beds. His special interests include percutaneous tracheostomy in the ICU, bedside clinical education, and system practice-performance improvement initiatives.
Akshay Avula, MD
Prior to joining UPMC, Dr. Avula worked as a Pulmonary and Critical Care physician at St. Barnabas Health system in the Bronx, New York. He also held a faculty position as Clinical Assistant Professor at the City College of New York. During his time in New York, he was an academic Internal Medicine Hospitalist for three years prior to fellowship and trained numerous residents and medical students. At UPMC, he has been an active member of the Lung Cancer Screening, Severe Asthma, and Pulmonary Education Committees. His research interests include Critical Care illness in the elderly, Critical Care ultrasonography and Pulmonary Vascular Disorders.
Kevin J. Misner, MD
Dr. Misner joined the UPMC Central PA Critical Care, Pulmonary and Sleep Division in August 2021. He previously completed his Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh where he performed research involving rare surfactant protein mutations in patients with familial Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. He has been involved in the education of medical students and residents for their rotations in the intensive care unit and in both outpatient and inpatient pulmonary rotations, as well as instruction in non-invasive ventilation, CPR, and ICU/Pulmonary procedures. Areas of interest include interstitial lung disease in the ICU, ARDS, and critical care communication.
Manuela Modelewski, DO
Dr. Manuela Modelewski is an Emergency and Critical Care physician at UPMC Central PA, spending her clinical time in both Emergency and Critical Care Medicine Services. She is on the ECMO Team and is an active clinical educator within the emergency and internal medicine residency programs and CCM fellowship; utilizing her emergency and internal medicine backgrounds to provide a unique and blended perspective to resident and fellow educations. She joined UPMC Central PA in 2020 after completing a combined Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine Residency and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship at Jefferson Northeast in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Modelewski has a love for teaching, both at the bedside as well as providing formal lectures. Her interests within critical care include difficult airway, critical care ultrasonography, and end of life care. Dr. Modelewski is passionate about the impact and importance of multidisciplinary cooperation and collaboration, working on rounding and education initiatives that bring together nursing, CCM, and IM to measurably improve patient outcomes.
Anil Nalla, MD
Dr. Anil Kumar Nalla joined the UPMC Critical Care Division in July 2020. He finished his Critical Care Fellowship at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. He is very enthusiastic about educating residents and medical students. In fact, he was associated with the SUNY School of Medicine, New York, NY during residency and played a key role in developing a core curriculum of clinical rotations for medical students and was core faculty of the simulation lab at Montefiore Medical Center in New York during his fellowship. During his stay at UPMC, he helped implement CRRT at the UPMC Memorial Campus. He is also the Site Director of the Critical Care Unit at UPMC Memorial. His areas of interest include CRRT, metabolic disorders in the critically ill, Critical Care Ultrasonography, and ECMO.
Morgan Oskutis, MD
Before joining the division, Dr. Oskutis completed her Emergency Medicine Residency at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ followed by a Critical Care Fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Oskutis' academic interests include care for the critically ill pregnant patient, medical education, and facilitating working relationships between the Emergency Department and the Intensive Care Unit.
The fellowship uses a 26 two-week block schedule designed to balance ICU experience, subspecialty exposure, and electives. Fellows complete 13.5 months of ICU training across ICUs in quaternary, tertiary, and community medical centers.
Fellows work in multidisciplinary ICU teams alongside residents, advanced practice providers, nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, and other specialists.
View the UPMC Harrisburg CCM Fellowship Training Structure (PDF).
The first year focuses on developing core critical care skills and clinical independence.
First-year fellows complete 7.5 months of ICU training, including:
Additional rotations include:
This structure provides early exposure to high-acuity ICU care across 5 hospital settings within the UPMC system while building procedural and diagnostic expertise.
During the second year, fellows transition toward leadership, teaching, and advanced clinical decision-making.
Second-year fellows complete 6 additional months of ICU training, including 2 months of dedicated Surgical/ECMO ICU time.
Senior fellows frequently function in a junior attending role, leading multidisciplinary teams while working closely with supervising intensivists.
Senior fellows are encouraged to develop subspecialty interests and areas of expertise.
Fellows can tailor training through a wide range of electives, including:
The UPMC Harrisburg Critical Care Medicine Fellowship offers comprehensive exposure to ECMO and advanced mechanical circulatory support (MCS) within a high-acuity, regional referral system (Central PA and Western Maryland). Fellows train within a multidisciplinary ECMO program that supports both cardiopulmonary failure and complex shock.
ECMO and MCS Training Environment.
High-fidelity ECMO and mechanical circulatory support training at UPMC Harrisburg, including simulation-based education, bedside management, and contemporary MCS devices.
ECMO care is delivered through the UPMC Central PA Shock Team, a fully integrated, multidisciplinary, ECMO Specialist-led model including:
Fellows engage in structured, system-wide ECMO education and quality improvement:
Fellows gain ECMO and MCS experience through targeted rotations:
Simulation is a central component of the UPMC Harrisburg Critical Care Medicine Fellowship. Fellows participate in a structured curriculum designed to develop procedural competence, crisis leadership, and clinical decision-making in complex critical care scenarios.
Our program integrates simulation throughout fellowship training, allowing fellows to practice high-risk clinical situations in a safe learning environment while receiving structured feedback from experienced faculty.
“Simulation is an extremely important part of medical training and practice. We take a simulation-first approach to procedural training — fellows build their technical foundation in a safe environment before performing procedures on patients. We use both low- and high-fidelity simulation adapted to the specific task, and we are always looking for ways to expand and improve what we offer our fellows.”
— Christopher Franz, MD, Program Director, UPMC Harrisburg Critical Care Medicine Fellowship
CCM Department Chief leading our percutaneous tracheostomy lab
CCM Department Chief leading our percutaneous tracheostomy lab
Every fellow begins the year with an intensive simulation bootcamp before independent clinical responsibilities begin. This “simulation-first” approach ensures that technical skills are developed in a structured, supervised environment before fellows perform procedures at the bedside. The bootcamp covers 18 distinct simulation types:
Beyond bootcamp, 11 dedicated simulation sessions are built into the fellowship’s didactic curriculum throughout the year. These sessions are sequenced to align with clinical rotations and progress in complexity as fellows advance in training.
Hands-on sessions cover difficult airway scenarios, direct and video laryngoscopy, rescue algorithms, surgical airway techniques, and fiberoptic intubation. Sessions reinforce technical competence while emphasizing preparation, troubleshooting, and team coordination. Additional sessions round out our curriculum include pericardiocentesis and transvenous pacemaker placement.
Team-based simulations address ICU emergencies including cardiac arrest, difficult airway, acute respiratory failure, and hemodynamic collapse. Fellows practice leading multidisciplinary teams, prioritizing interventions, and maintaining situational awareness under pressure.
Dedicated sessions address ventilator management and ventilator waveform interpretation. Fellows learn advanced respiratory and ventilator physiology and apply those concepts using a ventilator and test lung.
Selected simulations focus on communication and leadership challenges, including goals-of-care discussions, escalation of care, and interprofessional coordination — reinforcing the non-technical skills essential to effective intensive care practice.
Fellows participate in a dedicated two-day mechanical circulatory support simulation course. This standalone experience provides hands-on training with MCS devices and scenarios that reflect the complexity of managing hemodynamically compromised patients in the modern ICU.
Fiberoptic intubation on procedural trainer
Fiberoptic intubation on procedural trainer
Simulation sessions are faculty-led and designed to foster psychological safety, allowing fellows to take risks, make decisions, and learn from mistakes without patient harm. Structured debriefing emphasizes reflective learning, clinical reasoning, and team dynamics. Scenarios are tailored to fellows’ level of training, with increasing complexity as independence grows.
We use both low- and high-fidelity simulation, selected based on the specific learning objective. Procedural tasks may use task-specific trainers designed for tactile realism, while complex team scenarios use high-fidelity mannequins with dynamic physiology. The goal in every case is fidelity where it matters most.
Fellows train in a high-fidelity simulation environment equipped with advanced mannequins, procedural trainers, and ICU-specific equipment. Interprofessional participation mirrors real clinical teams, enhancing scenario realism and providing experience with the communication dynamics of actual ICU care.
Simulation is woven throughout the fellowship and aligned with clinical rotations and didactic teaching. This longitudinal approach ensures that technical proficiency and leadership skills develop together over the course of the year.
We are also expanding our simulation curriculum to include joint sessions with the UPMC Harrisburg Emergency Medicine residency, with a focus on interprofessional team scenarios that reflect the real dynamics of critical care delivery.
Our simulation program prepares fellows to manage critical events with confidence, communicate effectively under pressure, and lead multidisciplinary teams in complex situations. The goal is not only technical mastery, but the development of judgment, composure, and adaptability required for modern intensive care practice.
“The simulation program was an outstanding part of my training. It created a realistic, supportive environment where fellows could practice critical procedures, manage complex ICU scenarios, and build confidence before facing these situations at bedside."
— Dr. Omar Al Janabi, Chief Fellow
Our mission is to train critical care physicians who can practice with confidence in any ICU — academic or community, straightforward or complex. That mission is what shaped this simulation curriculum. Before you care for a patient, you’ve practiced the procedure. Before you lead a code, you’ve run it in simulation. The breadth of what we cover — from basic airway to mechanical circulatory support — reflects the full scope of what modern intensivists face.
For fellows who want to go further, our program also offers dedicated ECMO training — one of our signature clinical experiences.
The UPMC Harrisburg Critical Care Medicine Fellowship is a two-year ACGME-accredited program. Applications are accepted through ERAS during the standard fellowship application cycle.
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Scholarly activity is a core component of the UPMC Harrisburg Critical Care Medicine Fellowship. Our program is built around a straightforward idea: fellows do better research when they have real mentorship, real infrastructure, and real time to use them.
FROM OUR PROGRAM DIRECTOR
“Because of our research program, our fellows graduate with more than clinical skills. Developing content expertise and a professional identity matters when you’re building a career. Our graduates can practice anywhere and scholarly pursuits make that a reality.”
— Christopher Franz, MD, Program Director
Our fellows have presented oral and poster presentations at the major national critical care meetings — CHEST, SCCM, and ATS — and have contributed to peer-reviewed publications in critical care journals. Research topics have spanned sedation and delirium, airway management outcomes, mechanical circulatory support, and the application of data science to clinical and educational questions.
A recent example of fellow-led work:
Fellows are active leaders in research — they develop their own questions, with guidance. The mentorship model is hands-on: from literature review and IRB submission through data analysis and manuscript preparation.
Fellows have access to institutional infrastructure that removes the common barriers to completing scholarly work during training:
Fellows work directly with faculty members and the program director throughout their research project. Our program is also able to leverage the resources of the broader UPMC community when approaching research projects such as the systemwide Quality Review Committee. The program maintains observational databases and reproducible analytic pipelines that fellows can contribute to or build upon. We have a broad definition of scholarly activity and support fellows that are interested in hypothesis driven research, quality improvement, education initiatives and projects, and simulation development.
Fellows are provided a minimum of one month of dedicated research time per year — two months across the two-year fellowship. This time is protected from clinical responsibilities and is dedicated to project development, data analysis, and scholarly writing.
Fellows with active projects who request additional research time during elective rotations are supported in doing so. The goal is to give fellows the time they need to complete meaningful work, not to check a box.
Fellows may pursue a wide range of scholarly projects during their training. Current and recent areas of fellow-driven inquiry include:
If you are an applicant who wants to do real scholarly work during fellowship — not just fulfill a requirement — we want to hear from you.
Applications are accepted through ERAS during the standard fellowship application cycle.
Fellows have 28 days PTO, 4 educational days each year, and additional time to attend job interviews, required exams and certifications each year. Each fellow will have the opportunity to attend one of the annual conferences with registration and lodging shouldered by the division. Review books and educational materials can be available to fellows upon request and approval by the Program Director.
UPMC in Central Pa. is a participating member of the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) and all applicants must register with these programs. Email and fax applications will not be accepted.
H1B and J1 Visas are sponsored.
Applications are accepted beginning July 1 each year through ERAS.
Interviews are conducted September-November.
Robbie Kribell
Medical Education Program Sr. Dept Manager
Phone: 717-231-8673
kribellrl2@upmc.edu
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