A Day in the Life of a UofL Anesthesia Resident
Abigail Kramer, current CA-2
Hometown: Columbia, TN
Undergraduate: Lipscomb University
Medical School: East Tennessee State University
Anesthesia interest: Planning on practicing General following residency, but interested in OB and Acute Pain
Hobbies: Reading, going to concerts, online shopping, exploring Louisville with my husband.
Favorites in Louisville: Louisville Zoo, Bats games at Louisville Slugger Field
Best Louisville Restaurants: Holy Grale, Grassa Gramma, River House, Oishii
Why I Chose UofL Anesthesia?
When looking for a residency program, I desired a close-knit, family oriented environment. I wanted to know my co-residents and faculty well so that I could be pushed and encouraged to be my best. I take comfort in knowing that if an issue ever arises in or out of the OR, I can call on any attending or resident for help and they will be there in a heartbeat.
As a cherry on top, Louisville is a bustling and affordable city with so much to do! I am constantly updating my Louisville bucket list with fun activities and places to visit—whether you like sports, the arts, or nature, Louisville has something for you to enjoy!
I always take comfort in knowing that if an issue ever arises in or out of the OR, I can call on any attending or resident for help and they will be there in a heartbeat.
A Typical Day of a CA-1 Resident
A typical day at the VAMC (Robley Rex Medical Center)
0630: Arrive to the VA Medical Center to begin prepping the OR for the day. Meet up with your assigned medical student (if any) for the day and review how to check the anesthesia machine, set up for a case.
0700: Go see and examine your first patient of the day.
0715: Daily mini-didactics!
0730: Run through your prepared anesthetic plan with your attending.
0800: Patient rolled to room, case begins.
0800-1500: OR time, usually completing 2-3 mid-length cases with one 15 min morning and one 30 min lunch break. In between cases, I like to study for boards and catch up with my co-residents.
At the VA, you have the chance to get early exposure to more complex cases. In fact, I did my first Carotid Endarterectomy here during my second month of anesthesia training!
Most cases finish up around 3-4 at the VA; however the call resident (q4 days) will stay behind to finish up any remaining cases for the day (if any) and will remain on call from home until 7am the next morning.
​
Typical day at Jewish Hospital Main OR (CA-1, CA-2):
0630-7: Arrive, set up OR, chat with attending.
7-715: Go to Pre-Op to interview patient, assess if there needs to be changes to anesthetic plan based on patient interview
0730: In room- induce and carry out anesthetic plan
0930: 15 min AM break
1200: 30 min lunch- FREE hot lunch in Jewish Doctor's Lounge
1230-1700: more cases... some days we get out at 3, other days its 5,6,7 pm. Depends on case load. Jewish is sort of hard to predict.
1700-1800: head home!
1800-1900: call attending, discuss cases for next day
Hello
Sarah Schneider, CA-2
Hometown: Rockford, Illinois
Undergraduate: University of Wisconsin- La Crosse
Medical School: Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine
Anesthesia Interest: Cardiothoracic Anesthesia, Multimodal Pain Control
Hobbies and Interest: Hiking, DIY/Home Renovation, raising my 2 year-old-daughter and newborn! I also enjoy cooking anything from Half Baked Harvest website
A Typical Day of a CA-2 Resident
A typical day on OB Anesthesia
0645-0700: Receive checkout from OB Night resident about current laboring patients, running epidurals, any scheduled procedures (c-sections, ECVs, etc)
0715-0745: Do a machine check in both OB ORs and ensure all equipment ready for ant planned or emergency procedures
0745-0815: Touch base with OB team to discuss any concerning patients, or pending OR cases.
0815-0900: If no schedule cases, see post-op patients (POD1 from SVD/C-section on those who received anesthesia care).
0900-1845: Preop laboring patients/patients with planned procedures. Provide neuraxial(epidural, CSE, DPE, spinal)/GETA anesthesia to OB patients according to their needs.
1845-1900: Handoff to night OB resident
***I really have enjoyed my first month on OB as well. Very procedural based subspecialty. Very gratifying to help this patient population in a very exciting time in their life. So special to be a part of it all!
A typical day on Regional and Acute Pain
0645-0800: Place any 1st start surgical blocks or epidurals. Consent for all first start post-op blocks.
0800-0900: Round on any running epidurals on the floor placed on surgical patient’s, or any other acute pain consults. Write notes and discuss plans with Attending.
0900-1500: Continue to place perioperative blocks at UofL main OR. Occasionally will go over to outpatient surgery building to do more blocks. At around 1430-1500, early resident will go home.
1500-?: Late resident stay to finish any post-op blocks for later start cases. Often done around 1700, but can be later depending on the day.
For weekend call, often pairs with moonlighting ($70/hr) while coming in to round on any patients on the acute pain list. Number of weekends vary depending on how many residents are on during the month. Most of the time just one weekend.
***Blocks I did during my first month: adductor canal, axillary, erector spinae, femoral, interscalene, popliteal, quadratus lumborum, supraclavicular, superficial cervical plexus, transverse abdominal plane, ilioinguinal, thoracic epidural. Types of blocks will vary depending on the surgeries being done that day.
Hello
Kiley Southall, Chief Resident (2025-2026)
Hometown: Wilmington, IL
Undergraduate: Florida Atlantic University
Medical School: Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine
Anesthesia interest: General, Obstetrics, Acute Pain
Best Restaurants: Red Yeti and Star Sushi (Jeffersonville, IN)
Favorite Activities to do in Louisville: I had the MOST fun at the Kentucky Derby last year, it's a must-see sporting event, but this year I had even more fun at the annual anesthesia department derby party hosted by our very own, Dr. Bauereis and his wife! This city is also known for it's restaurants, I found that hard to believe initially but now I'm sold!
A Typical Day of a CA-3 Resident
A typical day at Jewish Hospital as the Cardiothoracic resident:
​
0500-0600: Arrive to the hospital to set up the room. This includes your airway materials, cerebral oximetry, and bis monitors. You will also set up all the drugs and drip lines that you will potentially need throughout the case.
0600-0630: Report to the preop area where you will meet your patient. After examining the patient and obtaining consent, you will place an arterial line.
0630-0715: You will take the patient to the room, hook up monitors and induce and intubate the patient. Afterwards, you will position the patient to place the 9-french MAC line that will be used for infusion and product replacement throughout the surgery. A Swan-Ganz catheter will be floated for PA pressure monitoring. The TEE probe will be placed as the nurses are prepping and draping the patient.
7:15-7:30: Surgery start time. The resident is responsible for the hemodynamic and anesthetic oversite while the attending and fellow will acquire TEE images. As you progress through your rotation and become comfortable with the flow of the case, you will also learn a great deal of TEE during this rotation. You will be responsible for readying the patient for bypass and coming off bypass. At the end of the surgery, you will transport the patient to the cardiovascular ICU where you will give hand off report to the physician taking over. The length of surgery depends on the case but drop off is usually anywhere from 11:30am to around 2pm.