The CA-1 year starts with a mix of intense didactic lectures and a daily exposure to the operating rooms. During the month of July, you will have two lectures each day and spend the rest of your time in the operating rooms, learning where things are and getting comfortable being in the environment. During this time you will be working one-on-one with attendings. You will also be involved in preoperative and postoperative visits with guidance from the other residents. Simulator sessions, airway workshops, and a lab practical will also be part of your orientation month. By the end of July, you will be ready to start your rotations.
Starting in August, CA-1 residents rotate through multiple basic anesthesia areas in the operating room including:
Each CA-1 also does a one-month rotation through The Ohio State University Preoperative Assessment Center (OPAC). They will receive instruction on performing preop evaluations and ordering patient workups according to evidence-based guidelines.
In addition, the resident gains experience providing anesthesia outside the operating rooms (eg, interventional radiology, CT, MRI, ECT).
CA-1 residents also complete one-month or two-week rotations on the obstetric floor and a two-week rotation in the PACU. An introduction to research is provided through a one-week research rotation, which provides a basic understanding of the process of scientific inquiry and is an excellent foundation for those residents interested in the Clinical Scientist Track in the CA-3 year.
Near the end of the CA-1 year, the resident will begin subspecialty rotations as a prelude to the CA-2 year.
The CA-2 year is dedicated to various subspecialty rotations. These include OB, neuro, cardiovascular, thoracic, regional, pediatric anesthesia, critical care medicine, and pain management.
The CV rotation is completed at the Ross Heart Hospital, which is connected to the general operating rooms.
Clinical experience ranges from on- and off-pump CABG surgery, valvular surgery, ventricular assist devices to aortic surgery (including ascending, arch, descending and abdominal aortic surgery and stent placement).
Didactics expand from physiology and pathophysiology to advanced monitoring, including transesophogeal echocardiography, cerebral oximetry and spinal drain monitoring. Teaching occurs pre- and intraoperatively, as well as during additional weekly cardiovascular didactic sessions.
The neuroanesthesia rotation takes place at University Hospital. Cases include both vascular and non-vascular craniotomies as well as various spinal procedures. One training site is our newly built, MRI-equipped operating room.
Residents learn neuroanesthesia and monitoring techniques, such as evoked potential and ICP monitoring. During the rotation, residents attend additional neuro didactic sessions.
Thoracic RotationThe thoracic rotation takes place at the James Cancer Hospital or Ross Heart Hospital, which are connected to the main operating room suites.
Procedures include thoracotomies and thoracoscopies, mediastinoscopies, bronchoscopies and esophagoscopy with laser Rx, as well as lung volume reductions and lung transplants.
Residents learn about physiology, pathophysiology and pharmacology as it applies to thoracic surgery. They will become proficient in methods of lung isolation, CDL tubes and bronchial blockers, as well as options for postoperative pain management (thoracic epidural and paravertebral blocks).
The OB rotation takes place in the new maternity suites at the main University Hospital. Residents learn about maternal and fetal physiology and pathophysiology as it applies to maternal pain control for labor pain and anesthetic management of the peritoneum for multiple procedures, including cesarean births, postpartum tubal ligations or cerclages. Anesthetic techniques include utero neuraxis blocks (spinal, epidural and combined spinal-epidural anesthesia), general anesthetics, as well as local anesthetics. Residents are involved in the care of high-risk OB patients and attend weekly multidisciplinary conferences.
Regional RotationThe initial rotation of regional anesthesia takes place away from the main campus at University Hospital East with a large percentage of upper and lower extremity orthopedic and podiatric surgery.
Residents will learn anatomy of the upper and lower extremity as it applies to performing upper and lower extremity blocks. The placement of blocks or in-dwelling catheters is facilitated using nerve stimulators or ultrasound.
Residents learn about acute and chronic pain in the hospital and office setting. There they will be exposed to patient evaluations, multi-modal measures of treating chronic and cancer pain, as well as managing acute pain using spinal epidural or systemic analgesic techniques. They will observe and perform numerous pain procedures.
Our residents rotate through our 42-bed Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU), which is co-managed by the Departments of Surgery and Anesthesiology.
During this rotation residents learn how to manage the critically ill post-surgical, burn and trauma patient. The teaching occurs at the bedside, during rounds and didactic sessions.
Pediatric RotationThe pediatric anesthesia rotation takes place at Nationwide Children’s Hospital away from the main OSU campus.
The resident learns about pediatric physiology and pathophysiology as it applies to the anesthetic management of a child. Residents are exposed to a wide variety of surgical procedures in the inpatient as well as ambulatory surgery setting.
The teaching that occurs in the operating room is supplemented with daily didactic teaching conferences.
The CA-3 year provides the resident with a 12-month experience in advanced and complex anesthesia assignments. Clinical assignments in the CA-3 year include difficult or complex anesthesia procedures and the care of seriously ill patients.
Subspecialty rotations are encouraged but may not be longer than six months.
The program offers resources to provide a research tract of up to six months devoted to a laboratory or clinical investigation. For the resident who elects this tract, it is expected that the result of the investigations will be suitable for presentation at a local, regional or national scientific meeting. The research tract generally occurs in the CA-3 year, but at the program director's discretion, may be taken earlier.
The resident is expected to do an academic project, which may include special training assignments, grand round presentations, preparation and publication of a review article, book chapters, manuals for teaching or clinical practice or similar academic activities. A faculty supervisor is in charge of each project. At the discretion of the program director, the project may occur prior to the CA-3 year.
