Rotation Summary

Anesthesiology residency training at the University of Minnesota is a comprehensive clinical experience encompassing six educational opportunities located throughout the Twin Cities area.  The Department of Anesthesiology and its core program are based at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview and is the location of most clinical rotations and didactic sessions.  Other integrated sites include: University of Minnesota Medical Center-Riverside Campus, Region’s Hospital, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics – Minneapolis, Hennepin County Medical Center and North Memorial Medical Center. 

Graduates of our program are well prepared to care for a wide array of patients, encompassing neonates, the critically ill adults, and the very elderly in our population. 

Residents may enter the program in the first postgraduate year (PGY-1) after medical school, or directly in the first clinical anesthesiology year (CA-1).  Advanced entry into the CA-2 or CA-3 year may be considered under special circumstances on a case by case basis. 

PGY-1

For senior medical students who have clearly selected anesthesiology as their career goal, the department offers three appointments to a one-year program of postdoctoral training Hennepin County Medical Center. This clinical-base year is designed to prepare the candidate for a residency in Anesthesiology and, after satisfactory performance, he/she would automatically progress to the CA-1 year. Rotations are spent in internal medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine, and OB/gynecology; the remaining months are arranged to the mutual satisfaction of the student and the program director. Strongly recommended are rotations in surgery, neurology, and neonatology.

During the clinical-base year, the trainee follows a common educational program with trainees of other specialties and participates fully in all patient care, conferences, and other clinical duties of the various clinical specialties. The trainee has no direct responsibility to the parent Anesthesiology department during the first year so that he/she may freely pursue the broad-based experience of that year.

The Clinical Anesthesiology Residency

Each clinical anesthesia year (CA-1, CA-2, CA-3) has seven trainees per class.  The thirty-six month continuum provides each trainee with comprehensive exposure to all aspects of clinical anesthesiology and meets the eligibility requirements for certification by the American Board of Anesthesiology.  All graduates are expected to pass USMLE Step 3, be eligible for Minnesota medical state licensure, and become certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA).  

Significant clinical experience is provided in all specialties including cardiovascular surgery, neurosurgery, pediatric and neonatal surgery, urology, transplantation, orthopedics, otorhinolaryngology, obstetrics and gynecology, trauma and burns, ophthalmology, critical care and pain management.  While some of our training sites are busy regional centers servicing the metropolitan region of the Twin Cities, the flagship hospital, University of Minnesota Medical Center, is a quaternary care center which attracts patients from throughout the nation and the world who require subspecialty care.  Consequently, the patient population is clinically diverse including patients who need routine care to those having experimental therapy for rare illnesses.

Anesthesiology residents progress through the program at a pace consistent with their level of training and capabilities, from basic duties to increasingly demanding responsibilities.  Trainees are guided and supervised in the operating suites by both full-time and adjunct Anesthesiology faculty from the University of Minnesota.  Attending anesthesiologists also supervise certified registered nurse anesthetists, who provide a significant portion of the service requirements of the Department and help to provide the flexibility to meet the educational needs of our resident trainees.  The Department also has an active medical student teaching program and Anesthesiology residents will have the opportunity to teach and work closely with medical students.   

Didactic Program

Throughout the Anesthesiology residency training period, residents participate in a wide array of teaching sessions which occur in a variety of formats outside of the operating suites. Faculty from the Department of Anesthesiology as well as from other departments at the University of Minnesota Medical School give lectures and lead teaching sessions.  In addition, national guest lecturers are invited to speak on a regular basis. 

During July and August of the CA -1 year, introductory lectures are provided to the CA-1 residents on a daily basis.  Thereafter, regularly scheduled teaching sessions occur four days per week and include:

Core Lecture Series

Resident Reading Seminar

Case Management Conference

Problem Based Learning Discussion

Journal Club

Visiting Professor Lectures

In-training exam preparation

In addition, mock oral board preparation and workshops on the difficult airway, regional anesthesia, and career planning are offered yearly.  The Department is very involved in the building of a new Patient Simulation Center at the University of Minnesota, which will enhance resident and medical student education with basic and advanced patient management protocols, crisis training such as malignant hyperthermia, and crew resource management (CRM) techniques.

The CA-1 and CA-2 Years

The two core years of clinical training are organized into blocks of one week to a month or more in the following areas:

Anesthesia for general surgery, otorhinolaryngology, thoracic, gynecology, and transplant

Cardiac anesthesia

Neuro-anesthesia

Obstetric anesthesia

Pediatric anesthesia

Acute and chronic pain management

Critical care

Post anesthesia care

Regional anesthesia

Residents take call an average of one week in every six while assigned at University of Minnesota Medical Center. More frequent call is taken during the obstetric anesthesia and critical care rotations. When residents are at affiliate sites, call at the Medical Center is assigned to fit within the parameters of the rotation and our guidelines. 

The CA-3 Year

The third year of clinical anesthesiology training is designed to meet the needs of the senior resident and to meet the requirements of the American Board of Anesthesiology.  Residents are encouraged to discuss career plans with their advisors and to pursue subspecialty rotations in areas of their interest.  During this phase of their training, senior residents are expected to begin to supervise more junior residents, under faculty guidance.  Up to six months of research time may be available to qualifying CA-3 residents.  All senior residents are expected to present a scholarly lecture to the entire Department of a clinical anesthesiology topic of their choice. 

Evaluation

Formal evaluations of every resident are performed by supervising faculty at the end of each rotation, which is usually monthly.  Results from these evaluations are shared with the faculty advisors who then discuss them with their resident advisee, usually on a quarterly basis.

Success

All recent resident graduates of the University of Minnesota program easily passed the American Board of Anesthesiology written examination.  Residents routinely score at or above the 50th percentile nationally on the In-service training examination – a focused goal in order to ensure optimal performance on the ABA written and oral board exams, as well as facilitate a smooth transition to clinical practice.