The discipline of infectious diseases is ever-growing, with a spectrum of practice pathways adopted by ID physicians, including sub-specialized fields of expertise in public health, hospital epidemiology, antimicrobial stewardship, transplant ID, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and global health.

During the last decade, considerable interest has developed in combining ID training with an additional year of fellowship in critical care medicine (CCM).

With the emergence of the global outbreaks of novel infectious diseases and the related requirement of an educated workforce to manage the burden of care, ID physicians have become the core of attention once again.

As the world is dealing with the global spread of novel Coronavirus, or COVID-19, we have discovered that elderly patients with underlying co-morbidities have the highest case fatality rate, most developing respiratory failure resulting in death. We learned from the Ebola virus disease outbreak that hypovolemic and septic shock followed by multisystem organ dysfunction were the most frequent causes of death.

In both cases, critical care was has been the cornerstone of effective management to improve clinical outcome, particularly as we wait for effective COVID-19 treatment.

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