Macp BartecchiAfter completing medical school training at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1964, I chose a mixed medical internship at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. Drafted for the Vietnam War call-up in 1964, I was allowed to fnish my internship before reporting to the US Army training program at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. I then chose to join the Army Flight Surgeon program and was assigned to Ft. Rucker, Alabama. There, following an abbreviated flight surgeon training program (flight surgeons were badly needed in Vietnam at the time), I was assigned to a helicopter ambulance unit known as "Dustoff", at Soc Trang, a remote base in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Our particular ambulance unit was given to the South Vietnamese Army that was fighting the war in the Mekong Delta. Following my military service, I returned to the Henry Ford Hospital for a three year residency in internal medicine. It was the period (1967-1970) when there were so many new innovations in medical care - kidney dialysis, pacemakers, and respiratory care to name but a few. My interest in critical care medicine and the care of critically ill patients encouraged me to take electives in related specialty areas. This interest in such subjects peaked when I, along with a group of my fellow Henry Ford Hospital residents (many, like me, having returned from military service during the Vietnam War era) decided to move to Pueblo, Colorado, where we would establish a multi-specialty clinic (Southern Colorado Clinic) in 1970. At that time, Pueblo had few if any invasive procedure providing, non-surgical physicians. Prior to my arrival in Pueblo, knowing the region's deficiency in the area of critical care patient management, I learned as much as possible about the provision of critical care medicine from my instructors at Henry Ford Hospital. Knowledge of my interest and specialty training in the area of critical care medicine and my willingness to work long hours, and consult on any difficult medical case, assured me of a steady flow of complex and interesting medical problems. Consulting on an average of 4 to 8 hospital consults daily, along with a full office practice, provided me with a wonderful opportunity to practice the skills that I had learned during my residency program. This book outlines the different aspects of critical care medicine that I encountered and how they became a part of my medical practice. Read More Read Less