The Anesthesiology Residency Program at UC Irvine offers training for residents from the second though fifth year of post-graduate education. Applicants to the program spend their PGY-1 (clinical base year) in either preliminary internships or in clinical programs such as medicine, surgery or pediatrics (The American Board of Anesthesiology does not accept programs in pathology, psychiatry or radiology for the clinical base year.)
Residents begin anesthesiology training at UC Irvine at the start of their second, or PGY-2 year. There are currently eight residents each at the PGY-2, PGY-3 and PGY-4 level. In addition, there are two PGY-5 residents who spend one year learning pain management.
During their three years of clinical anesthesia training, residents at UC Irvine are exposed to a curriculum that increases in difficulty and is designed to progressively challenge their intellectual and technical skills. The program includes training in basic, subspecialty, and advanced anesthesia, with optional involvement in research.
To ensure a well-balanced program of resident training, the Department of Anesthesiology has recruited academic faculty with highly diversified educational backgrounds, training and expertise in the various subspecialties of anesthesiology. Each faculty member supervises no more than two residents and supervision frequently occurs on a one-to-one ratio as appropriate.
PG II Year
The first week of Anesthesiology Residency Training is devoid of clinical duties. New residents learn by mentoring or role modeling as they observe faculty and senior residents in the operating room. Afternoons are spent learning basic skills and theories through case-based discussion groups and hands on
workshops. The new residents are instructed on the use of
various resources, such as the internet, classic texts, journals and interactive software
to solve basic problems. The remainder of the orientation month
is spent paired one-on-one with faculty or senior residents. New
residents are relieved for additional case based discussions and
workshops. Residents are not on call during their first month of training.
During the PGY II year residents gain experience in general anesthesia at
UC Irvine Medical Center along with the following specialty rotations: one month of OB anesthesia, one month of
pediatric anesthesia, one month of perioperative medicine and one month of
regional anesthesia at UC Irvine Medical Center.
PG III Year
The PG III year is divided into a series of one-month subspecialty rotations at several medical centers:
- Critical Care: This second year of anesthesia training includes one month of Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) at the Long Beach VA Medical Center. This 15-bed unit is managed by the Department of Anesthesiology team and includes an anesthesia intensivist faculty, two anesthesia residents (one from UC Irvine and one from UCLA), and a surgical resident. Residents also spend a second month on the UC Irvine Trauma ICU service.
- Cardiac: One month with the UC Irvine Cardiac Anesthesia team. Residents will learn intraop TEE.
- Pediatric: Two months at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.
- Pain Management: UC Irvine / Long Beach VA.
- Neuroanesthesia: One month at UC Irvine.
- Obstetrical Anesthesia: One month at Cedars Sinai on the Anesthesia OB service.
- Thoracic-Vascular: One month split between UC Irvine and the Long Beach VA .
The third year of residency gives senior residents an opportunity to focus on the subspecialty area where they have the highest interest. The ACGME allows residents to fulfill their rotations at away facilities for twelve months total of their PGY-II and PGY-III year, and six months total during their PG-IV year. (The Long Beach VA, which is an integrated program, does not count as away.) Residents generally divide their away rotations into two- to three-month blocks.
The subspecialty rotations take place as follows:
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for pediatrics
Long Beach Memorial Medical Center for obstetrics
Cedars Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles for cardiovascular or neuroanesthesia
UC Irvine for pain management
Long Beach VA Medical Center for critical care medicine
The six months not spent in away rotations will be spent doing advanced cases in the operating room at UC Irvine Medical Center.
Finally, residents can opt for two-month, three-month, six-month or
nine-month research slots under mentorship of our research faculty. All PGY-4 residents are required to complete an academic project regardless of their rotations.
The Didactic Program
The department faculty participate in an aggressive didactic program designed to prepare residents for
board certification. This program includes orientation lectures geared to PGY-2 residents, a lecture series for all residents (includes visiting professors),
journal club, professional development seminar (one each for PGY-3’s and PGY-4’s),
performance improvement meetings, and workshops (Difficult Airway Workshop and Regional/Ultrasound Workshop). In addition, each specialty rotation includes a subspecialty manual developed by appropriate faculty within the department.
Evaluations
Residents are evaluated in all the competencies, per ACGME guidelines. Multiple evaluation tools are utilized including, but not limited to, faculty evaluations, teaching evaluations by medical students, evaluations from peers and OR personnel, biannual department
oral exams, standardized exams, and participation in
performance improvement. Residents are assigned faculty mentors who review their progress with them on a regular basis.