Anesthesiology

One of our best assets is the quality and diversity of cases you will experience. We have four base hospitals, all in the Milwaukee area and within 2-5 miles of our main campus. There is no need to send residents outside of our Medical College of Wisconsin Program for additional experience. Strengths of our residency program, as identified by our graduating residents, include a high volume, high risk obstetric service, a comprehensive pediatric experience at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin (physically connected to our main campus at Froedtert Hospital), a Pain Program that incorporates state of the art techniques and procedures with a very strong didactic component, and a newly established Regional Block rotation with ultrasound and nerve stimulation, to establish expertise in regional techniques for perioperative analgesia. Advanced training is offered in ACGME-accredited fellowship programs in Pain, Pediatrics, and Critical Care, and non-accredited fellowships in Neuro, OB and Regional Anesthesia. Our case volume is good (~600 cases per year), but not excessive. This provides time to read and avoids any issues with violation of the ACGME-mandated, 80-hour workweek.
 

We want to integrate you into the culture of our organization and provide you networking opportunities and scholarship experiences designed to complement your clinical skills. We have a mentoring program where each resident is matched with a Faculty mentor who extends his/her friendship, advice and expertise to areas within and beyond the Academic Program. We also seek resident input on our education, evaluation and curriculum committees.
 

We make extensive attempts to provide timely and constructive feedback to our residents. Residents receive monthly electronic evaluations from all Faculty that they have worked with in the previous 30 days. Also on a monthly basis, the resident is asked to electronically evaluate the Faculty that they worked with. This is an anonymous, confidential report that is sent to each Faculty member. On a quarterly basis, each resident gets a confidential summary of their performance as it compares to their class.
 

We aim to have transparency in our processes and easy access to information. We have a very active internal WEB page that not only has schedules, contact information and Department news, but also includes PowerPoint lecture presentations along with key articles from major anesthesiology journals. We publish a quarterly ResEd Newsletter with current Program information, department news, drug of the “month,” calendar of activities, and other items of general interest to our residents.
 

Hey! Milwaukee is a great place to live! The City of Milwaukee and surrounding suburbs are known for lack of traffic congestion, low cost of living, and a beautiful (and active) lakefront. The community is small enough to get around in easily, yet loaded with quality shopping, entertainment venues, and restaurants. The people are warm, friendly and welcoming. For those residents with children, there are many top-rated school systems, and we are happy to assist you with information and recommendations.
 

View the Fun Facts from FREIDA Online (PDF) that compares Anesthesiology programs.

The RRC reviewed our residency program in June 2006 and we are fully accredited.

We have a focused three-year didactic program designed to deliver materials on a progressive basis. Residents also are expected to complete the Anesthesia Knowledge Test (AKT) at 0, 1, 6, and 18 months to help them measure their progress and prepare for boards. Missed topics from each exam are reviewed and used for further teaching. Furthermore, we have weekly key word presentations whereby residents are required to research the in-service exam questions most frequently missed by our residents and write and present a synopsis to their peers. During the last three months before the annual in-service exam, CA-3s have weekly teaching sessions devoted to a comprehensive board review. We have several faculty members who write questions for the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) in-service exam and two faculty members who are examiners for the national oral board exam. Our Friday morning Morbidity and Mortality Conferences, monthly Journal Club meetings and teaching in the OR setting add to the preparation for these exams.

The graduating class of 2004 had an 80% pass rate on the written board exam; 2005 graduates, a 95% pass rate; 2006 graduates, a 100% pass rate; and 2007 graduates, an 88% pass rate. Candidates should not be too critical or impressed by Board pass rates. Oftentimes, programs will suggest that residents not take the written Boards for credit until after a year of practice or a year of fellowship to help prevent an underperforming resident from taking it for credit and risk failing. This is done not to improve a program's Board pass rate, but rather to help guide residents to success.

For those who are interested in extensive clinical and research training, we offer the Clinician-Scientist Research Track (CSRT) and a newer Anesthesiology Physician Scientist Development Program. The CSRT is a six-month research block offered to qualified residents. Qualification includes above average performance during the first two years of residency. The ABA has defined a research pathway as a six-month period of time that does not extend the residency. We typically have one or two residents each year that receive a research block and work with one of the many funded investigators in our Department, which currently ranks 5th in the USA in NIH funding. The Physician Scientist Research Track is an extensive Program for those with a strong research background that interview for the positions while a 4th year medical student or a graduate student who has completed medical school. This is described in detail elsewhere. Briefly it is a 5-year track of clinical anesthesia and research time. For those who are interested in getting just a taste of research, our Faculty are always excited to have residents participate in research. There are small projects and/or case reports that can be undertaken during the three years of residency training.

We have initiated a new didactic program this year, which offers lectures and programs geared specifically to each CA level of training. We also added a month long rotation in “Airway” where residents work with difficult airway cases and use many different devices to establish and secure the airway. It seems that each year a few new changes are added to or substituted for existing endeavors. These changes are often driven by resident input. We will continue to make changes based upon resident input with the goal of better meeting the needs of all residents with an interesting and diverse education program.

The Department holds weekly conferences and puts on three workshops every two years: Trauma, Airway and a Regional Block Workshop.  The Anesthesia Machine Workshop is held annually in September. View Typical Conference Schedule