Physician Profile

Ann E. Thompson, MD, is the chief of the Department of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. She also is a professor of Critical Care Medicine and Pediatrics and the vice chair of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Additionally, Dr. Thompson is the associate dean of faculty affairs at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Dr. Thompson received her bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Chicago in 1969. She then went on to receive her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1974. She completed two residencies, her first in pediatrics. Her first two years of pediatric residency (1974-1976) were completed at the Tufts-New England Medical Center (Boston Floating Hospital), and her third year was completed at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Dr. Thompson's second residency was in anesthesiology at the University of Pennsylvania in 1979. Dr. Thompson completed her fellowship training in pediatric critical care and anesthesiology at CHOP in 1980. Following her fellowship, Dr. Thompson was on faculty at CHOP before coming to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh to direct Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in 1981. In 2003, she completed a master's degree in health care policy and management at Carnegie Mellon University.

Dr. Thompson specializes in pediatric critical care medicine. Her primary interest is in the care of critically ill children and their families, as well as training physicians in critical care medicine. She has been especially interested in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for the support of critically ill infants and children. In recent years she has increased her longstanding interest in improving patient safety and overall outcomes.

Dr. Thompson has published multiple chapters and refereed journal articles. At Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, she serves on the Executive Council, and is chair of the Division Chiefs and Pain committees. She also is a member of Children's Quality Council, Clinical Resource Management, Strategic Planning Committee, New Hospital Planning Committee, the ECMO Management Committee and multiple other groups. She has also directed the training of more than 60 fellows in critical care medicine, many of whom are now national leaders in the field.

Dr. Thompson's work has earned her membership in numerous professional and scientific societies. She is a past president of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, a fellow and past regent of the American College of Critical Care Medicine, member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Member of the Executive Committee of the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators Network and a member of the board of the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies. She is a past chair of the sub-board of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine of the American Board of Pediatrics. She is a member of the Residency Review Committee for Pediatrics of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.