An intensive care physician (or intensivist) is a doctor who specialises in caring for critically ill patients.
Intensive care physicians work within intensive care units, which generally operate in major hosptials with access to all types of bedside, laboratory, radiology and other investigative departments.
What Does an Intensive Care Physician Do?
An intensive care physician treats patients who have any medical or surgical illness or operation that requires critical care support – generally life threatening major illnesses or operations where high level life support is required.
- Surgical intensive care
- Medical intensive care
- Paediatric intensive care
- Research
Get the Care You Deserve
Treatment generally involves a multidisciplinary team. The intensive care specialist will direct patient management and ensure the patient is medically controlled as well as possible while other specialty teams intervene as appropriate.
Some common procedures include:
- Intubation
- Ventilation
- Dialysis
- Percutaneous tracheostomy
- Central venous access
- Arterial cannulation
