OVERVIEW

2026 Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors (APCCMPD) Annual Conference is organized by Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors (APCCMPD) and will be held from Mar 04 - 06, 2026 at Scottsdale, Arizona, United States of America.

Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to:

Apply current ACGME requirements and national policy updates to fellowship program operations, accreditation processes, and compliance strategies for pulmonary, critical care, and interventional pulmonology programs.
Design competency-based curricula for emerging technical skills (critical care ultrasonography, extracorporeal life support, interventional pulmonology) that include introductory training, longitudinal practice opportunities, and summative assessment strategies aligned with accreditation standards.
Implement the 4S Framework (Silence, Second, Safety, Secret Moves) and other evidence-based strategies to promote graded autonomy and entrustment decision-making for fellows across inpatient and ambulatory settings.
Develop individualized action plans to address program-specific barriers in curriculum implementation, including faculty development needs, infrastructure requirements, resource allocation, and institutional buy-in strategies.
Integrate teaching about social determinants of health, structural inequities, and advocacy into fellowship curricula using practical strategies that navigate political, institutional, and funding constraints while meeting accreditation requirements.
Create inclusive learning environments for trainees with disabilities by recognizing common barriers, implementing legally compliant accommodation processes, and fostering cultures of belonging that benefit all learners.
Evaluate program strengths and limitations in areas such as procedural training, diversity and equity initiatives, advocacy skill development, and specialty-specific educational needs through benchmarking and peer collaboration.
Apply situated learning theory and consensus-driven content frameworks to redesign specialty-specific curricula (such as interstitial lung disease education) that embed knowledge in realistic clinical contexts and patient-centered approaches.
Develop strategies to navigate complex program challenges including trainee unionization efforts, interventional pulmonology integration, community-based program administration, and maintaining program cohesion during organizational change.
Engage with communities of practice through specialty-specific networks (critical care medicine, interventional pulmonology, community-based programs) to share best practices, identify common challenges, and build collaborative solutions that strengthen fellowship education nationally.