CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE ADVANCED PRACTICE PROVIDER MODEL AT A COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER: SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES Commentary

he growing demand for critical care services combined with a shortage of board-certified critical care physicians and increasing limitations on resident training hours have culminated in the need for nonphysician advanced practice providers (APPs), such as nurse practitioners (NPs) and physi-cian assistants (PAs) in US intensive care units (ICUs).1-6 Recent survey data suggest that NPs and PAs provide care in>50 % and ~25%, respectively, of adult ICUs in academic medical centers in the United States.7 APPs are typically utilized in 2 distinct paradigms in the ICU setting. In the first, APPs are recruited in small numbers to supplement existing residents o