Anesthesiology Residency

Rotations

During residency, which includes the clinical base year, trainees have an opportunity to interact with more than 400 specialists and subspecialists who staff the two institutions participating in the program. The program is designed to present the art and science of anesthesiology as a practice of medicine.

Clinical base year (CB)

On each rotation, the intern is directly involved in patient care in a team concept with other house officers assigned to the service. The resident is fully delegated to the clinical service assigned and has no clinical responsibilities elsewhere. All house staff are supervised and instructed by faculty. Interns are responsible for documenting history, physical exam, management plans and progress of patients.

• Pediatría
• Medicina pulmonar
• Cardiología
• Endocrinología
• Medicine wards
• Medicina de emergencia
• Trauma surgery
• Medical ICU
• Palliative medicine
• Anestesiología
• Introduction to chronic pain medicine
• Preoperative Evaluation Clinic

Clinical anesthesia I

During CA-1 year, residents will learn foundational anesthesia principles and skills that they will build upon over the next 3 years. They will be assigned to a broad spectrum of cases including advanced subspecialties like cardiothoracic, pediatric and neurosurgical anesthesia throughout the year. Being involved in advanced cases not only accelerates the resident’s knowledge and skillset, but also allows them early exposure to subspecialties they may want to pursue as a fellowship.

• General OR anesthesiology
• Obstetric anesthesiology
• Pediatric anesthesiology
• Neurosurgical anesthesiology
• Cardiothoracic anesthesiology
• Acute pain management/regional anesthesia
• Veteran’s administration hospital
• Surgical ICU

Clinical anesthesia II

During the CA-2 year, residents will experience the full spectrum of anesthetic cases and at various locations. They will do rotations at all 4 of our surgical facilities ranging from fast-paced cases at our private practice style outpatient surgical center to complex vascular cases at our main hospital and VA.

• Chronic pain medicine clinic (Interventional)
• Transesophageal echocardiography
• Outpatient regional anesthesia
• Surgical ICU
• Vascular Anesthesiology
• Pediatric Anesthesiology
• Neurosurgical Anesthesiology
• Ambulatory anesthesiology
• Advanced OR anesthesiology
• Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology
• Acute Pain Management Service/Advanced Airway Management
• Outpatient Regional Anesthesiology

Clinical anesthesia III

During the CA-3 year, residents are given the flexibility to tailor their schedule to prepare them for life after residency. Several months of elective rotations allow CA-3 residents to do research, go on mission trips, do away rotations or do several months focusing on a subspecialty of their interest.

• Chronic pain medicine clinic (interventional)
• Transesophageal echocardiography
• Outpatient regional anesthesia
• Surgical ICU
• Non-OR Anesthesiology 
• Ambulatory anesthesiology
• Advanced OR anesthesiology
• Flexibility to emphasize subspecialties of interest
• Possible Electives – Mission trips, POCUS, Additional ICU experience, Away Rotations

Didactics

Educational programs are offered daily. Core lectures are normally held Monday through Wednesday, with smaller conferences on Fridays. Conferences and seminars are held from 6:45 to 7:30 a.m., which allows all residents and faculty to attend.

On Thursday mornings, the conference time is from 6:45 to 8 a.m., with a delayed operating room start in order to facilitate visiting professors and departmental conferences.

A summary of the didactic program is as follows:

• Faculty lectures
• Quality assurance conference
• Mock oral exams
• Group conferences
• Grand rounds
• Journal club
• Simulation training
• Intern didactics

Anesthesiology resident research forum and clinical update

Held each year, this forum allows residents to present original research, case reports or quality improvement projects to the anesthesiology department. This is a formal event, and judges award prizes for the best research project, best case report and best presentation. Typically, a well-known speaker also will present as a guest lecturer.

Gillespie Family Lectureship in anesthesiology and pain medicine

Through the generosity of the Gillespie Family’s endowment, each year, a nationally known guest speaker is brought to Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Temple to serve as a guest lecturer for morning Grand Rounds, a lunch roundtable discussion with residents and an evening lecture topic. We have been lucky to recruit many excellent speakers, including current and former American Society of Anesthesiologist Presidents, members of the American Board of Anesthesiology Board of Directors and many well-known chairs and program directors of distinguished residency programs throughout the country.

Specialty rotations

Currently, one-month specialty rotations are organized for the disciplines of cardiothoracic, vascular, obstetrical and pediatric anesthesia. Residents also receive specialized training in ambulatory anesthesia, post-anesthesia care and regional anesthesia. The resident will usually have one month of each in the CA-I and CA-II years. Supervisory faculty are also assigned to these specialties on a monthly basis to provide consistency.

An active pain service gives excellent training in acute and chronic pain management.

The airway management rotation allows residents to develop skill in the use of specialized techniques for management of the difficult airway.

Medicina de Terapia Intensiva

In addition to the intensive care experience during the clinical base year, four additional months are scheduled on critical care medicine later in residency. The Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) treats surgical patients from most surgical subspecialties, as well as those admitted with problems secondary to major trauma. The service is directed by an anesthesiologist with subspecialty credentials in critical care medicine. At the present time, anesthesiology residents spend two months during the CA-I year, one month during the CA-II year and one month during the CA-III year on the surgical ICU service.

Advanced clinical track

The advanced clinical track provides a broad mix of advanced clinical anesthesia assignments. The purpose of these rotations is to allow the CA-III resident to expand his/her experience and confidence in the management of more complex anesthetic problems. The upper-level resident manages patients with more complex medical problems for more complicated surgery. In addition, he/she is allowed greater freedom in development and implementation of an anesthetic plan. The resident may also obtain additional experience in subspecialty rotations.