The residency program is comprised of:
Clinical Base Year
We have 16 positions that begin with the clinical base year. The clinical base year is a transitional program which consists of:
- 2 months of inpatient medicine
- 4 months of inpatient surgery
- 1 month of emergency medicine
- 1 month of critical care at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (PPMC)
- 1 month of critical care at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP)
- 1 month of palliative care and pain management
- 2 months of electives
These positions are available only through ERAS.
There are 6 additional positions that begin with the PGY2 year. These applicants are expected to find their own internships or to be fully trained in another specialty.
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CA-1 and CA-2 Years
In accordance with requirements of the American Board of Anesthesiology, the department provides residents with three years of clinical training in anesthesia: CA-1, CA-2 and CA-3. The first two years of the program provide fundamental training in clinical anesthesia. Experience is presented in graded fashion, moving from fundamental techniques to subspecialty anesthesia practice.
We begin with an introductory course, which includes 70 to 80 classroom hours, introducing the essentials. The material ranges from cardiopulmonary resuscitation to the psychology of the physician-patient relationship.
In addition to the didactic introductory course, beginning residents receive close tutoring in the operating room. Teams of one or two new residents work with a single attending whose sole responsibility is to teach basic anesthesia skills to the preceptees. This close supervision promotes patient safety and provides individual resident instruction in the basic skills of anesthesia.
During the remainder of the CA-1 and CA-2 years, the resident participates in structured clinical specialty rotations that provide a graded exposure to clinical management problems. After additional exposure to such areas as anesthesia for general surgery, gynecologic surgery and orthopaedic surgery, residents move on to more advanced areas such as cardiac anesthesia, neuroanesthesia and obstetrical anesthesia.
We have divided the practice of anesthesia into subspecialties to promote learning and research. Faculty specialize in one of these areas, preparing teaching programs that include handouts, collections of reprint, lectures, seminars and hands-on demonstrations of special techniques. Much of the formal teaching in the department is associated with these clinical rotations; linking academic presentations and clinical experience enhances the relevance of the didactic effort.
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CA-3 Year
For the CA-3 year, the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) describes three tracks:
"Experience in Advanced Anesthesia Training constitutes the CA-3 year. During the CA-3 year, the resident and program director in collaboration will select one of three tracks designated as the (a) advanced clinical track, (b) subspecialty clinical track, or (c) clinical scientist track. Regardless of the track selected, residents in the CA-3 year should include the more difficult or complex anesthetic procedures and the care of the most seriously ill patients."
At Penn , this program is accomplished as follows:
Research and Other Academic Training
We believe that more than the six months training described in the "Clinical Scientist Track" is
required to begin a successful research career. Plans for training for
research careers depend on the resident's background, but usually at
least eighteen months of research experience, of which six months may
involve the CA-3 year, will be needed. These plans are made on an individual
basis after consultation among the director of research, the director
of the fellowship program, the resident, the research supervisor and
the department chair.
If you are interested in a research career, please consult us promptly regarding your training plans. Research opportunities are available ranging from collaborative experience with clinical research projects to formal training in basic science laboratories for techniques relevant to problems in anesthesiology. The latter is supported by a National Institute of Health Research Training Grant coordinated through Penn's Center for Anesthesia Research.
Clinical Specialization
In its description of the CA-3 year, the ABA offers wide latitude to residents seeking additional clinical expertise; the year might include rotations of one, three, six, nine or twelve months.
Our program offers training in all of the clinical specialties of anesthesia as well as fellowship training beyond the CA-3 year. We assign the CA-3 rotations to best meet the needs of all of our residents.
Pediatric Anesthesiology
Pediatricians or anesthesiologists planning careers in pediatric anesthesia or pediatric critical care medicine may spend part of their CA-3 year at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia by arrangement with the faculty there. For more information, please contact:
Alan J. Schwartz, MD, MSEd
Program Director
Department of Anesthesiology and CCM
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
34th and Civic Center Blvd.
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4399
(215) 590-1855
A CHOP application should be completed. On request, Ann Pfeifer will send copies of the supporting documents from your application at HUP to our colleagues at CHOP. Applicants seeking careers in pediatric anesthesia should schedule at least three hours to interview at CHOP during their visit to HUP.
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Additional Features
Clinical Case Conference
The Thursday clinical case conference combines a morbidity and mortality conference with a review of the literature as it pertains to the cases. Residents, faculty and anesthesiologists from the community attend this weekly conference.
Grand Rounds
On some Thursdays, the clinical case conference is replaced by "Grand Rounds," a review of the state-of-the-art in one area of anesthesiology.
Visiting Professors
Visiting professors provide lectures and in-the-operating-room teaching. We regard this program as a valuable source of intellectual "cross-pollination."
Level I Trauma Center
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is a Level I trauma center. Residents receive special instruction on the management of trauma patients, along with clinical experience.
Multi-organ Transplant
In addition to trauma surgery, the hospital accommodates an active organ transplantation service, with residents participating in heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas transplantation procedures.
Dripps Library of Anesthesia
In 1980, the Robert D. Dripps Library of Anesthesia opened at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Besides a collection of relevant books and journals, it provides computer-assisted literature searches. IBM computers with a variety of software are available for resident use. Also available is a reserved collection of recommended texts and other teaching materials and an audio-visual section.
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