You will join a cardiac critical care team carefully assembled for both clinical excellence and collaborative spirit. This is not a group where individualism or ego takes precedence over patient care and collegial relationships. The three current cardiac critical care specialists, supported by a growing team of advanced practice providers, have built a practice culture where asking for help is expected, boundaries are respected, and professional satisfaction comes from shared success rather than individual achievement.
Shaun Yockelson, MD leads the cardiac critical care service and has been instrumental in establishing the collaborative relationship with cardiac surgery that defines this program's culture. Dr. Yockelson's approach emphasizes partnership rather than hierarchy, working closely with the surgical chiefs to craft mutually beneficial relationships where intensivists and surgeons depend on each other's expertise. His leadership style welcomes new physicians into collaborative decision-making rather than expecting adherence to rigid protocols. You will find in Dr. Yockelson a colleague who values innovation, respects work-life balance, and actively seeks input on how to structure the growing program to best serve both patients and physicians.
The relationship Dr. Yockelson has built with the cardiac surgical team exemplifies the trust-based practice you will experience. Surgeons do not dictate ventilator management or hemodynamic strategies, but they do voice concerns based on surgical experience and anticipated trajectories. Intensivists respect surgical judgment about readiness for chest closure or when delayed sternal closure better serves recovery. This mutual respect eliminates the territorial conflicts and finger-pointing common at many academic centers, replacing it with genuine collaborative problem-solving when complications arise.
Adrian Alexis Ruiz, MD and Melanie Pozzo, MD complete the current cardiac critical care physician team. Together, these specialists manage the week-on rotations that provide 24/7 coverage for the CV-ICU. Your addition to this team will allow transition from the current week-long continuous coverage model to a more sustainable structure with separate day and night teams, improving both work-life balance and clinical coverage depth.
David Broussard, MD serves as Department Chair of Anesthesia, overseeing a physician-led organization that prioritizes clinical excellence, educational mission, and sustainable practice patterns. Dr. Broussard understands that physician well-being directly impacts patient care quality, and departmental policies reflect this philosophy. The schedule creation process begins six months ahead with publication three months in advance, vacation requests are honored 12 months out when possible, and high-demand periods use lottery systems rather than favoritism to ensure fair access to desirable time off.
Under Dr. Broussard's leadership, the Department of Anesthesiology has grown to include 70 anesthesiologists and 100 CRNAs, with more than 45 house staff contributing to an annual case volume exceeding 52,000 procedures. This scale creates both depth of expertise and flexibility in coverage. When you need assistance with a complex case or want to discuss an unusual clinical scenario, you will find colleagues with relevant experience readily available and genuinely willing to help.
Your daily work will bring you into close partnership with the cardiac surgical team, and the quality of these relationships will significantly impact your professional satisfaction. Patrick Parrino, MD and Aditya Bansal, MD lead the cardiac surgery service and have embraced the collaborative model where intensivists and surgeons round together, make decisions jointly, and support each other through challenging cases.
This is not a surgical team that views critical care physicians as obstacles to be worked around or consultants to be tolerated. These surgeons recognize that optimal patient outcomes require expertise they cannot provide alone, and they have learned to trust intensivist judgment on ventilator strategies, hemodynamic management, and the complex decision-making required when transplant patients develop rejection or mechanical circulatory support patients show signs of device malfunction. In return, intensivists respect surgical perspective on patient trajectories, readiness for intervention, and when conservative management has reached its limits.
The daily joint rounding process exemplifies this partnership. Rather than surgeons rounding first and then intensivists seeing patients separately, the teams move through the CV-ICU together, discussing each patient's status, reviewing overnight events, and collaboratively determining the day's care plan. When disagreements arise, they are resolved through discussion and shared clinical reasoning rather than appeals to hierarchy or specialty authority. For physicians who have experienced contentious surgery-critical care relationships at other institutions, this collaborative culture offers unexpected professional satisfaction.
The CV-ICU team includes four advanced practice providers who bring specialized cardiac critical care experience to daily patient management. Three are currently integrated into the service with one completing orientation. The APP schedule is evolving as their numbers grow, initially providing daylight coverage Monday through Friday and gradually expanding toward 24/7 presence as additional providers join and gain experience with the patient population's unique demands.
Each APP ramps up at their own pace, reflecting the program's recognition that managing ECMO patients, transplant recipients, and complex mechanical circulatory support cases requires substantial training beyond general critical care experience. Eventually, APPs will provide coverage during the high-volume 12:00pm-6:00am window when operative cases emerge from the OR and patients decompensate overnight, allowing physician intensivists to focus on the most complex clinical decisions while APPs manage routine post-operative care and triage incoming admissions.
The APPs are integrated into daily workflow as collaborative team members rather than supervised subordinates. During morning rounds, APPs present their patients, contributing clinical observations and participating in care planning discussions. This model allows you to supervise care without micromanaging every decision, delegating appropriate tasks while remaining engaged with overall ICU operations.
Beyond physicians and APPs, you will work daily with a dedicated interprofessional team that understands the unique demands of cardiac critical care. The respiratory therapy team brings expertise in managing patients on ECMO, those requiring advanced ventilator modes after thoracic surgery, and the complex weaning challenges following prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass. Occupational therapists begin early mobilization even in mechanically supported patients, understanding that muscle wasting and deconditioning complicate recovery. Dedicated CV-ICU nursing staff develop relationships with the cardiac surgical team and understand post-operative trajectories well enough to recognize subtle changes that warrant intensivist notification.
The resident team rotates through from both surgery and anesthesiology programs, typically providing 2-3 residents during daytime hours and one overnight. These learners manage the documentation burden through their note-writing responsibilities while gaining graduated clinical experience under your supervision. The resident-run structure for documentation frees you from clerical tasks while creating teaching opportunities throughout each shift.
Pharmacists with critical care training make daily rounds, proactively identifying drug interactions, recommending antibiotic adjustments based on culture results, and helping optimize anticoagulation strategies for mechanical circulatory support patients. Their expertise particularly shines in managing the complex medication regimens common after heart transplantation or during simultaneous CRRT and ECMO support.
The Department of Anesthesiology's 70 physicians and 100 CRNAs create a culture where collaboration trumps competition and collective success matters more than individual achievement. Nobody will criticize you for requesting assistance with a difficult airway or complex hemodynamic situation. The phrase "nobody bats an eye if you call for help" reflects a genuine cultural norm rather than idealistic aspiration. When you ask for backup, colleagues respond promptly and without judgment, understanding that complex cases benefit from additional expertise and that tomorrow you may be the one providing support.
If you choose the blended track with operating room time, you will work alongside both CRNAs and residents depending on daily assignments. Fifty percent of your OR shifts will pair you with CRNAs, typically managing 2-3 rooms simultaneously. The other 50% guarantee you two resident rooms when residents are assigned, balancing efficiency with educational mission. The practice pattern rarely starts more than two cases simultaneously even with CRNA support, recognizing that cardiac and thoracic cases demand focused attention rather than task-switching across multiple rooms.
The department includes more than 45 house staff across anesthesiology residency and three fellowship programs (Adult Cardiac Anesthesia, Pulmonary Critical Care, Neurocritical Care). This robust graduate medical education environment creates constant teaching opportunities without overwhelming clinical responsibilities. Residents and fellows bring intellectual curiosity and fresh perspectives, asking questions that keep you engaged with evidence and best practices while you provide the clinical wisdom that comes only from managing thousands of critically ill cardiac patients.
Physician retention within the cardiac critical care team and broader anesthesiology department speaks to both job satisfaction and organizational support. This is not a position with high turnover requiring constant recruitment to replace burned-out physicians. The collaborative culture, reasonable schedules, and institutional investment in program growth create an environment where physicians build careers rather than seeking exit strategies. Your colleagues chose to stay at Ochsner not because better opportunities were unavailable but because this practice offers what many cardiac intensivists seek: high-acuity clinical work, academic engagement, collaborative relationships, and sustainable work-life balance.
The stability extends beyond physicians to nursing and support staff. Experienced CV-ICU nurses develop expertise in managing ECMO, LVADs, and complex post-transplant care that takes years to cultivate. Their presence creates clinical depth that enhances safety and allows newer team members to learn from multiple experienced mentors. When staff retention is high, institutional knowledge accumulates rather than constantly draining away through turnover.
Your professional relationships will extend beyond the immediate cardiac critical care and cardiac surgery teams to include cardiologists, vascular surgeons, thoracic surgeons, and other specialists whose patients occasionally require CV-ICU care. The cardiology service, particularly the interventional cardiology program run by Dr. Ivory Crittendon, provides exceptional support when your patients develop ischemic complications or require catheter-based interventions. The congenital heart program accepts patients up to 30 years of age, creating occasional crossover with your adult-focused practice.
Pulmonology colleagues manage the lung transplant recipient follow-up and provide consultation on complex respiratory failure cases. Nephrology supports the CRRT program, though opportunities exist for intensivist leadership in building a more robust acute kidney injury service. The trauma program is coming online, which will eventually add another referral source for critically ill patients requiring your expertise.
This position places you within a team carefully constructed for both clinical excellence and interpersonal compatibility. You will work alongside colleagues who chose cardiac critical care for the same reasons you did, supported by leadership that values sustainable practice patterns, in an organization committed to program growth and physician well-being. The collaborative relationships you will build with cardiac surgeons, your fellow intensivists, and the broader interprofessional team will provide the professional satisfaction that comes from genuinely shared success in caring for the region's most critically ill cardiac patients.