Critical Care Medicine

Critical care medicine also called intensive care medicine is a specialized field of medicine that deals with the management of patients recovering from life-threatening conditions or critically or seriously ill patients.

The doctors providing services to these patients are known as intensive care physicians, intensivists, or critical care physicians.

In this field, the patients are helped with life support, resuscitation, invasive monitoring and end-of-life care.

Critical care medicine specialists work in collaboration with other healthcare professionals for example respiratory therapists, physical therapists, pharmacists, general physicians etc.

Intensivists work in different intensive care units of the hospitals such as:

• Medical intensive care unit (MICU)
• Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU)
• Surgical intensive care unit (SICU)
• Overnight intensive recovery (OIR)
• Trauma/shock intensive care unit (STICU)
• Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)
• ICU in an emergency department (E-ICU)
• Coronary intensive care unit (CCU or CICU)