Anesthesiology Residency Program Overview
Positions offered in the Match: 16 Categorical positions (includes a PGY-1 year),
3 Advanced Positions (CA-1 to CA-3 years)
Positions offered outside the Match: typically 3 - 4
Total Residency Size: 66 residents in the CA-1 to CA-3 years
Program Director: Thomas J. Ebert, MD, PhD, tjebert@mcw.edu
Program Coordinator: Ben Farley, MBA, bfarley@mcw.edu
Our tiered education program offers the following:
CA-1 year
We offer an Introductory Lecture Series that addresses essential topics in anesthesia in July and August of the CA-1 year. The first month of the Lecture Series is devoted to practice management topics, including sleep deprivation, substance abuse, professionalism, library resources, ethics, and malpractice issues. As the year progresses, lectures on core topics such as anesthetic pharmacology, neuromuscular blockade, monitoring, the autonomic nervous system, and pre-op and post-op management are presented. Keyword reviews are focused on missed topics on the ABA in-service exam, and these missed topics are then incorporated into the Introductory Lecture Series.
CA-2 year
The CA-2 year rotations are primarily in the specialty areas of Pain, OB, Peds, Regional, Neuro, Ambulatory, Trauma, Airway, and Critical Care, with lectures provided in each of the specialty rotations.
CA-3 year
Finally, CA-3s have weekly Practice-Based Learning and Improvement discussions from September through March, followed by three months of Board review lectures. Keyword topics and Journal Club are part of the CA-3 curriculum.
Specialty rotations will offer their own focused lectures. At the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin (typically CA-2 and CA-3 residents), lectures specific to pediatric care occur three mornings per week prior to the OR start. While on the pediatric anesthesia rotation, residents are invited to attend a bimonthly multidisciplinary case or topic-based conference with pediatric surgery and pediatric critical care. Conferences during the OB anesthesia rotation are held weekly at St. Joseph's Hospital. In addition to the lectures, the OB service has a web platform which presents an OB grand rounds case each month that the resident must evaluate.
We aim to provide many opportunities help prepare for board exams by offering keyword reviews, mock oral exams, Journal Club, the ResEd (resident education) newsletter, workshops, a board review course and a Visiting Professor Lecture Series.
As part of the scholarship and discovery experience and to encourage collegiality, we have a Friday Conference series to which all Faculty, residents and medical students are encouraged to attend. This rotating conference series consists of Morbidity and Mortality Conferences, Grand Rounds, and resident case presentations.
In addition to the didactic program, residents who express interest will find ample opportunities to conduct research and complete scholarly projects in their area of interest. We also provide support to present scholarly work at scientific meetings.
It is our desire to graduate well-balanced residents with both a happy personal and professional life. To that end, we aim to foster close working relationships with your colleagues, and encourage professional networking by matching you with a mentor with shared interests. The mentoring relationship is designed to provide you with personal and professional support throughout your residency.
Rotation Sites
PGY-1 year: Rotations at three primary hospitals - Froedtert Hospital, Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center and Aurora Sinai Hospital.
CA-1 to CA-3 years: Froedtert Hospital, VA Medical Center, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, and St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center.
The primary goal of the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Anesthesiology Residency Program is to provide the clinical training, knowledge, skills and resources to graduate adept and trusted anesthesiologists who are consultants in their specialty. By offering a manageable volume and variety of cases, research opportunities, and the ability to work with premier clinicians and researchers, our residents have the opportunity to develop their skills to the highest level.
Our Residency Training Program has two ABA certified training tracks. The first is a four-year continuous program that includes the clinical base year. The four-year program is a great choice because it allows residents to take full advantage of the many opportunities available to them at the College and to attend anesthesiology core program seminars, workshops and social events with the anesthesiology residents. Residents applying for the Four-Year Anesthesiology Residency Program will need to apply on ERAS for the Medical College of Wisconsin Program number 1784040C0. The first year, or clinical base year, consists of 1-month rotations in Anesthesiology, Pain Management, Pre-op Clinic, Cardiology and Pulmonary consult services, Emergency Medicine, several months of ward medicine, two months in the Surgical Critical Care Unit, and two months on Cardiothoracic Surgery. There are two months available for elective rotations. All scheduling for the clinical base year is through the Anesthesiology Department. The Surgical Critical Care Unit is under the direction of the Anesthesiology Department and is located at the VA Medical Center. The rotations for the CA-1 to CA-3 years are as offered in the Advanced Program.
The Three-Year Advanced Program is listed on ERAS as the Medical College of Wisconsin Program number 1784040A0. The Clinical Anesthesia (CA) Program allows residents to gain experience in areas of basic, sub-specialty, and advanced anesthesia.
At the start of the first clinical anesthesia year (CA-1), the resident will have three to four months of general anesthesia training. Additional general anesthesia rotations will then be included in a mix of rotations including 1-month rotations in the Acute Regional Pain Service, Obstetric Anesthesiology, and Pain Medicine. Overnight call does not occur in the first several months of training and is instituted thereafter on an individual basis, determined by a Committee that evaluates resident competency in Patient Care and Medical Knowledge. Classroom work in the CA-1 year consists of a dedicated Introductory Lecture Series to cover all core topics in the specialty. There are multiple simulation sessions to review core skills, code and call readiness, and to assess basic skills in managing cardiac, respiratory events, and malignant hyperthermia.
In the second clinical anesthesia year (CA-2), residents are primarily focused on subspecialty rotations in Airway, Cardiac, Obstetric, Neuro, Pediatric, and Acute Pain Service (Regional Anesthesia elective), as well as Critical Care and Pain Clinic. Lectures are provided weekly in each of the subspecialty rotations.
In the third clinical anesthesia year (CA-3), residents may request electives in advanced anesthesia, any of the anesthesia subspecialties, or the clinical scientist tract. The clinical scientist tract is a six-month rotation in which a resident can chose to work with any one of the many anesthesiology faculty who have clinical or laboratory investigations. The resident experience is primarily tutorial in nature; (s)he is assigned a specific project that is closely supervised by a faculty mentor. The resident is expected to complete experiments, analyze data and present results in oral and written formats.
In an average three years of residency, each resident will have had the opportunity to perform 450-500 general anesthesia or monitored anesthesia cases, 100 spinal/epidurals, 120 other regional nerve blocks, 50 PA catheterizations, and 75 difficult airway cases. Because of the large number of severely ill patients at our academic hospitals, there are numerous opportunities for placing regional anesthetics, inserting central and peripheral catheters and honing skills in ASA class IV patients.
Educational Support
Residents receive $2000 ($500 department/$1,500 MCWAH office) per year to be used for educational purposes. The Department funds are for license fees, dues, PDA, etc. The Department provides extra funds to cover registration, travel, lodging and meals to residents who have presentations based on their research efforts. The MCWAH funds are designated as a Working Conditions/Fitness Benefit, and the money will appear on the last paycheck of each academic year.
Medical information is readily accessible through Internet-accessible department and hospital computers linked to the Medical College of Wisconsin Libraries. The department also uses the New Innovations and ANGEL websites accessed via user name and password that provide monthly call schedules, notices and memos, contact information for residents and faculty, lectures, keyword reviews and practice management guidelines.