Message from the Chief Residents

Greetings prospective applicants!

The UC Irvine Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care provides a wide array of services at facilities throughout Orange and Los Angeles County.

The brand new UC Irvine Douglas Hospital, which opened March 2009, illustrates where we’ve taken modern medical care, both inside and outside the operating room. As the only Level-One trauma center in Orange County, we are equipped with 16 large, state-of-the-art operating rooms with cutting edge equipment, monitoring, and electronic medical record keeping. Our Surgical Informations System streamlines preoperative evaluation; reviewing old records is literally at the touch of your fingertips. An electronic Physician Scheduler integrates our faculty, resident and CRNA schedules while evenly distributing calls. Additionally, the Chronic Pain Division has relocated to Gottschalk Medical Plaza located on the UC Irvine campus near Newport Beach. The newly constructed fluoroscopy suites have state-of-the-art equipment and a recovery room with hillside view.

Under the leadership of Dr. Zeev Kain from Yale University, the educational and clinical programs have seen an elevation in stature and respect on a national scale. Our revitalized residency curriculum includes live webcasts between affiliate sites so that all of our residents can participate in weekly Problem Based Learning Discussions, lectures, and board reviews. In addition to didactics, each year our residents participate in unique modules to enhance their practice. Our CA1s corroborate in a unique Wellness program that provides a smooth transition into our sometimes-stressful field. Our CA2 curriculum will include OR operations leadership training while our CA3s will gain insight in our practice management module. The addition of our new Simulation Training Center, projected to open January 2010, will enhance intraoperative clinical decision-making skills. Furthermore, our department earned a five-year accreditation from the RRC and has added a Clinical Base Year.

Hands down, the clinical experience and didactic curriculum at UC Irvine Medical Center will prepare you for any path you decide to take in the future. Our integrated Clinical Base year will smoothen your transition to anesthesiology with built-in electives in Anesthesiology and related fields. The CA-1 year consists of rotations in the main and outpatient OR settings where you will care for a wide spectrum of clinically challenging patients, including neurosurgical, vascular, burn, thoracic, and trauma cases. Other rotations include perioperative care, surgical ICU and acute and chronic pain. The CA-2 year focuses on subspecialty rotations at our premiere outside facilities, including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, Gottschalk Medical Plaza, Long Beach VA, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. During these rotations, you will push your comfort level and hone your skills. It’s an opportunity to network with practicing anesthesiologists in the community who may one day be your employer. The CA-3 year encourages independent practice and reinforces subspecialty experiences with advanced rotations in pain management, neuroanesthesia, ambulatory, pediatrics, and cardiothoracicic. Residents are expected to have a leadership role as Team Leader and participate in day-to-day decisions with the Operations Officer, our Anesthesiologist who runs the OR. Every resident is groomed for independent thinking and management of OR scheduling.

Our department currently has 26 anesthesiology residents with the potential of expanding to 30 in the near future. Our goal is to provide residents with opportunities to immerse themselves in the art of anesthesia while being supported/surrounded? by modern facilities, strong departmental leadership, a diverse patient population and an enthusiastic and experienced staff. Our current residents make UC Irvine a very special place to train. At UC Irvine you will find more than colleagues, you will find life-long friends though our teamwork approach to getting though residency. We hope to meet you this year.

Sincerely,

Panda Prutaseranee, MD and Daniel Schweissinger, MD

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