In this episode of Critical Matters, we explore the intersection of high-altitude medicine and physiology with critical care. Our guest is Robert B. Shoene, MD, FACP.

Dr. Shoene is Associate Director, ICU and Critical Care, at St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco. Dr. Shoene is a prolific author and researcher with more than 100 publications. His research has focused on pulmonary physiology and altitude medicine, and he has been part of numerous research expeditions to locations such as Mt. Everest and Denali.

Additional Resources:

• Arterial Blood Gases and Oxygen Content in Climbers on Mount Everest: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0801581


• A comprehensive review on illnesses at high altitude: https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(08)60216-0/fulltext


• Everest: The West Ridge by Thomas Hornbein: https://www.amazon.com/Everest-West-Ridge-Thomas-Hornbein/dp/1594857075/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520812701&sr=8-1&keywords=everest+the+west+ridge


• Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Journey by Alfred Lansing: https://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Incredible-Alfred-Lansing/dp/0465062881/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520812797&sr=1-1&keywords=endurance


• Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande: https://www.amazon.com/Being-Mortal-Medicine-What-Matters/dp/1250076226/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520812921&sr=1-1&keywords=Being+mortal


• Intensive Care, a poem by Dr. Robert Schoene: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1348231?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents