Apply for the Acute Care Surgery Fellowship or Surgical Critical Care Fellowship

Join the Acute Care Surgeons at New Mexico’s only Level I Trauma Center. Applications process begins March 1 through SAFAS. Interviews will be conducted June through July 2026. Application deadline is May 1.

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505-925-7671

Acute Care Surgery Fellowship 

Welcome to the University of New Mexico Acute Care Surgery Program!

The Division of Acute Care Surgery at the University of New Mexico has had an ACGME accredited Surgical Critical Care Fellowship since 2017, and an AAST-accredited Acute Care Surgery Fellowship since 2020. Both are designed to provide excellent training in the management of critically ill surgical patients and all phases of Acute Care Surgery care.

Train at a High Volume Academic Medical Center

The fellowships are overseen by twelve acute care surgery faculty and one EM/CC faculty. The fellows also benefit from training with intensivists from other specialties including emergency medicine, anesthesiology, neurology, neurosurgery and medical critical care.

Trauma

The University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) in Albuquerque is the State’s only ACS verified Level 1 Trauma Center and only academic medical center and is the primary teaching hospital for the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.
UNMH has 629 beds and has approximately 25,000 admissions, performs 19,000 surgeries annually, and had 80,000 ER visits.
UNMH cares for a diverse patient population with complex and urgent surgical needs over a large geographic catchment area.
In 2025, the trauma program recorded:
- 8,710 trauma evaluations (approximately one every 60 minutes)
- 5,400 trauma activations (approximately one every 100 minutes)
- 3,482 trauma admissions, including 683 transferred patients
- 22,515 total hospital days (13% of all inpatient hospital days)
- Nearly 3,000 trauma-related surgical procedures, representing 25% of all surgical cases at UNMH
The trauma service manages thoracic, cardiac, and vascular injuries.

ECMO

UNMH also has an active adult ECMO program that consists of Intensivists from all subspecialty backgrounds.
Adult ECMO is entirely run by the intensivist service, including cannulations (VA, VV, and eCPR) and ongoing management of the patient and ECMO circuit.
UNMH is recognized as an ELSO Gold Center of Excellence and is the first hospital in the United States to offer pre-hospital eCPR.

Fellowship Tracks Offered
Acute Care Surgery Fellowship (2 positions)

The AAST-accredited ACS fellowship is a 2-year fellowship designed to give fellows training in all facets of acute care surgery. The first year is the traditional SCC fellowship with time spent on the Trauma service and taking overnight call.  Rotations include Trauma Surgical Burn ICU, Cardiothoracic/Vascular/ECMO ICU, Neuro ICU, Palliative Care, and Trauma Surgery. Electives in Prehospital/Austere Medicine, advanced Ultrasound, MICU, Airway, Nephrology, Trauma Program Management, and others are offered.

At the beginning of the second year of fellowship, fellows rotate on trauma, emergency general surgery, and take night call to prepare them to transition into a Fellow in Exception (FIE) role. At approximately 3–4 months, they transition into this FIE role, where they are appointed as an instructor in the Division of Acute Care Surgery, Department of Surgery, and are credentialed as a member of the medical staff.

As an FIE, the ACS fellow will spend the remainder of their fellowship rotating as the attending on the Trauma and EGS services. In this role, they will round on the inpatients, see consults and trauma activations in the hospital, operate, take call, and staff clinic in an identical manner to the ACS faculty. They will also have rotations on the Cardiothoracic Surgery, Vascular Surgery, and Hepatobiliary Surgery to further develop operative skills.

Please see the AAST ACS fellowship page for more information about the curriculum. https://www.aast.org/acute-care-surgery/fellowship-applicants

Surgical Critical Care Fellowship (1 position)

The one-year SCC experience focuses on the management of critically ill surgical and trauma patients. Rotations include Trauma Surgical Burn ICU, Cardiothoracic/Vascular/ECMO ICU, Neuro ICU, and Trauma Surgery. Electives in Prehospital/Austere Medicine, advanced Ultrasound, MICU, Airway, Nephrology, Trauma Program Management, and others are offered.

Surgical Critical Care Fellowship-Emergency Medicine Track – not currently offered

A 2-year experience for graduates of an Emergency Medicine Residency who are eligible for ABEM certification. The first year of the track is an immersive and meaningful experience in surgical care, participating in all phases of the patient’s care, including in the operating room. 

Core rotations in Trauma, emergency general surgery, night float, surgical oncology, and vascular surgery will provide an excellent experience managing surgical patients. The second year of the fellowship is similar to the traditional SCC year with an addition of one MICU month and more time in the Cardiothoracic/Vascular/ECMO ICU. 

Program Eligibility

ACS Fellowship
We are recruiting two fellows for the two-year AAST ACS fellowship per year. Applicants will have completed an ACGME-approved surgical residency and be Board certified or eligible by the start of their fellowship training. We are not able to support graduates from international surgical residency programs or applicants who require visa sponsorship.

SCC Fellowship
We are recruiting one fellow for the one-year SCC fellowship per year. Applicants will have completed an ACGME-approved surgical residency and be Board certified or eligible by the start of their fellowship training.

EM-SCC Track
Graduates of ACGME-accredited Emergency Medicine Residency who are eligible for ABEM certification.

Additional Opportunities

Ultrasound Curriculum with an emphasis on Transesophageal Echo
Opportunity to become ATLS instructor
Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma (ASSET) with potential to become instructor
Attend Annual Acute Care Surgery Meetings
Numerous career development opportunities in education, program administration, and research
Fundamentals of Critical Care Support (FCCS) instructor
Collaborations within the greater University community
Options for advanced degrees such as MPH and MBA

Surgical Critical Care Fellowship

Fellowship Program Director, Coordinator & Associate Directors

Program Director
Acute Care Surgery/Surgical Critical Care Fellowship

Annie Moore, MD

Department of Surgery
1 University of New Mexico
MSC10 5610
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
smoore@salud.unm.edu

Program Coordinator
Sean Sierra
505-272-5416
SeSierra@salud.unm.edu

Associate Program Director
Acute Care Surgery/Surgical Critical Care Fellowship

Erin C. Howell, MD, FACS
Jessica A. Mitchell, MD

Acute Care Surgery Fellowship

Welcome to the University of New Mexico Acute Care Surgery Program!

Train at a High Volume Academic Medical Center

Trauma

ECMO

Fellowship Tracks Offered Acute Care Surgery Fellowship (2 positions)

Surgical Critical Care Fellowship (1 position)

Surgical Critical Care Fellowship-Emergency Medicine Track – not currently offered

Program Eligibility

Additional Opportunities

Surgical Critical Care Fellowship

Acute Care Surgery Fellowship 

Fellowship Tracks Offered
Acute Care Surgery Fellowship (2 positions)

Surgical Critical Care Fellowship (1 position)