Clinical Areas

The VCU Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine Division excels in helping seriously ill patients. Our results speak for themselves. Our strengths and accomplishments include:

General Pulmonary Consultation

Faculty and staff of the VCU Pulmonary Disease Division provide rapid and comprehensive care for lung disease and are experts in diagnosing and treating pulmonary disease. The conditions most commonly seen at the VCU are:

Pulmonary faculty will arrange for all necessary testing to provide an accurate diagnosis of your lung problem. Testing commonly includes pulmonary function testing and exercise testing; blood work or sputum samples for lab tests; chest x-rays or other imaging tests like a CT scan; electrocardiograms, echocardiograms; or sleep studies. Importantly, Division faculty work closely with Cardiology faculty in case cardiac catheterization is needed. For your convenience, all of these tests and doctor visits can be done at VCU. Your illness may require special tests or highly specialized care. Once your condition is diagnosed, your pulmonary doctor will describe your options for treatment and refer you to the appropriate clinic as needed.

Interventional Pulmonology

The Interventional Pulmonology Service led by Dr. R. Wesley Shepherd with faculty members Dr. Peter Lee and Dr. Samira Shojaee provides care for patients with structural lung disease such as severely narrowed airways, patients with lung cancer, pleural effusions and many other diseases which require interventional care.

You can find more information on Interventional Pulmonology services here.

Pulmonary Hypertension

The Pulmonary Hypertension Center at VCU is headed up by Drs. Paul Fairman, Daniel Grinnan, and Dr. Norbert Voelkel. This center provides correct diagnosis and individualized care for patients with pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure.

Asthma Case Management Clinic

The asthma clinic headed up by Dr. Catherine Grossman provides aggressive and individualized care for patients with severe asthma. Patients who have had histories of frequent hospitalizations for asthma receive focused care which restores quality of life and cuts the cycle of frequent hospital admissions.

Cellular Immunotherapies and Transplant Program

Patients who have had bone marrow transplantation sometimes develop lung problems. We provide highly specialized care for all patients who develop pulmonary problems following bone marrow transplantation.

Critical Care Medicine Inpatient Service

If you or other adult family members develop critical illness, Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine faculty at VCU are experts in caring for patients with acute illness such as severe pneumonia, or bacterial bloodstream infection. Division faculty direct all care in VCU’s Medical Respiratory Intensive Care. The excellent outcomes of care in the MRICU occur due to the fact that the unit is a closed unit. Division faculty are experts in mechanical ventilation.

Inpatient Pulmonary Consultation

Division faculty direct the inpatient pulmonary consultation service. You or your family will receive prompt and rapid diagnosis of pulmonary problems severe enough to require hospitalization. Your care will be rapid and accurate.

Important Divisional Educational Fellowship Activities

The faculty of the Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine are experts in educating medicine’s next generation. All faculty members are award winning educators. The faculty educates medical students and Internal Medicine Residents. Fellowship training in Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine is sponsored by VCU’s Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine. The Division is comprised of both physician educators and physician scientists who are focused on educating and training physicians in all aspect of the clinical and basic sciences of respiratory medicine. VCU Medical Center and the McGuire Veterans Administration are the teaching institutions for this activity and it includes state of the art inpatient and outpatient facilities a location for nationally recognized diagnostic and treatment center for advanced lung diseases. Following a three year fellowship, Fellowship trainees will be board eligible for certification in pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine. All physician trainees will have access to research programs that focus on pathophysiology, cell biology and molecular biology. The integration of research with patient care assures complete training in pulmonary and critical care medicine, and provide opportunity for Fellows to enter either academic medicine or private practice. Dr. Lisa Brath, Professor of Medicine is the Director of the Division’s Fellowship Program

Outpatient Consultations and Patient Care

VCU Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine faculty all have both inpatient and outpatient clinical activities.

Make an appointment

VCU Medical Center Ambulatory Care Center (804) 828-2161

Sony Point 9000 (804) 628-2374

Mayland Medical Center (804) 527-4538

Healthcare Professionals

VCU makes it easy for referring physicians to refer to VCU Pulmonary Medicine Division. Contact the VCU call center at (804) 828-2161 to:

• Schedule a patient appointment
• Contact a physician or get information
• Make special arrangements for patients
• Update your contact information
• Most appointments are made by physician referral or patient self-referral
• Patient self-referrals are welcome but if a copy of pertinent medical records is available please fax them to (804) 828-2578 prior to the visit in order to provide optimal care and consultation.
• Patients are generally seen within one or two weeks of appointment request and a full consultation report is faxed to the referring physician within 24 hours of consultation.