our
program information,
clinical sites and curriculum
Brittany Maggard, MD
Residency Program Director
program information
As a Level 1 trauma center and tertiary care center serving both Kentucky and Indiana, the UofL Anesthesiology program exposes its residents to a diverse population of approximately one million residents.
In addition to University Hospital, residents rotate at Norton's Children's Hospital, UofL Health - Jewish Hospital, and the VA Medical Center. Our comprehensive clinical rotations, including perioperative patient care, critical care, pain management and the numerous subspecialties of anesthesia, create an outstanding education with many opportunities.
Outside of our primary training, the residents' education is enhanced by didactics, grand rounds, journal club, key word sessions, and written and oral board preparation. Our work environment includes medical students, fellows, CRNAs and the numerous surgical services requiring anesthesia consultants. The coordinated effort of our department with other hospitals and services provides an outstanding clinical experience with excellent preparation for life beyond residency.
Our anesthesiology residency program has full ACGME continued accreditation and is in great standing.
Resident Salary based on PGY year
Stipend rates based on 2% increase for all PG levels. (Parking expenses were rolled into stipend beginning July 2010.) Fringe and administrative rate increases to 27.5% of annual stipend.
clinical sites and rotations
University of Louisville Hospital
As the first trauma hospital in the United States, University of Louisville Hospital is a unique regional health care resource. As the leading academic medical center in the area, University Hospital offers patients the benefits of the latest research, equipment and expertise.
General Anesthesia rotations will be done in the main OR of the University of Louisville Hospital and at the VA throughout the residency. By the end of the first clinical year rotation the resident will have obtained a level of performance consistent with a basic knowledge and understanding of anesthesia. By the end of the clinical third year the resident will have obtained a level of performance consistent with an ABA-boarded consultant in Anesthesiology.
University Hospital has received national recognition as a leader in several areas of care, including:
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Trauma Center
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Stroke Center
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High Risk Obstetrics
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Radiology/Diagnostic Imaging
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Cancer Care
All U of L Health Care facilities are fully accredited by the Joint Commission.
Above: Picture of the University of Louisville Hospital
Below: Trauma helicopter landing near the ER of UofL Hospital
Picture of the Robley Rex VA Medical Center located in Louisville, KY
Veteran's Affairs Medical Center
The Robley Rex VA Medical Center in Louisville, KY is a 109-bed hospital with seven operating rooms. It serves more than 150,000 veterans living in a 35-county area of the Kentucky-Indiana area. Robley Rex VA Medical Center is a tertiary care facility classified as a Clinical Referral Level 2 Facility.
It is a teaching hospital, providing a full range of patient care services, with state-of-the-art technology as well as education and research. Residents will spend 1 to 5 months during their residency at the VAMC. These rotations will be completed during the CA 1 and CA 3 years. This is a unique opportunity in which four residents will be working closely with a group of 3 or 4 faculty members for one month. The residents are given a lot of feedback, enabling them to work on specific areas for improvement in skills and knowledge.
The residents experience includes anesthesia for general surgical procedures, as well as orthopedic prosthetic surgery, robotic thoracic, vascular surgery, urology, and ENT surgery. CA3 residents also get experience in OR management and function in a supervisory role with a great deal of autonomy managing the most complex procedures and serve as teachers and mentors to more junior anesthesia residents. The VAMC anesthesia rotation runs its own didactic curriculum provided as a learner participation classroom-based teaching activity with formal resident participation, organized discussions of relevant clinical topics, and examination questions with every session.
Obstetric Anesthesia
The objective of the obstetrical anesthesia rotation is for the resident to function as part of a team composed of obstetricians, neonatologists, nurses and anesthesiologists.
The goal of the anesthesiologist is to provide safe and effective analgesia and anesthesia for women in the peripartum period. The CA-1/2 residents will spend two months on labor and delivery, and at the end of the rotation they will be expected to have the knowledge and skills to safely care for the pregnant and postpartum patient. The CA-3 resident will be given increasing responsibility as his/her knowledge and skill level increases.
Residents will complete their Obstetric Anesthesia rotation at The University of Louisville Hospital Labor and Delivery floor.
Residents regularly participate in Obstetric Anesthesia simulation scenarios to better prepare them for their OB Anesthesia rotation
Neuroanesthesia
Each anesthesia resident will spend two months on the neuroanesthesiology service. At the end of the rotation, it is expected that the resident should be qualified to plan and perform a routine neuroanesthetic.
Neurosurgical procedures, which the resident is expected to be conversant in, will include craniotomy for trauma, functional neurosurgery, tumor or cerebrovascular disease, cerebrospinal fluid shunting procedures and operations upon the spinal axis. Additionally, it is anticipated, following this rotation, that the resident be able to discuss relevant topics regarding neurophysiology, neuropharmacology and common neuroanesthetic considerations.
In the CA-3 year, senior residents may elect an additional month experience in neuroanesthesia. During this period the resident will refresh his/her knowledge of cerebral anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology. They will review all techniques learned during the initial rotation. The CA-3 resident will be expected to perform, review, and critique an anesthetic for a complex neurosurgical procedure.
Residents Dr. Dabbs and Dr. Spare prepare for a
neuroanesthesia case.
Critical Care
This rotation serves as the core part of the planned 6 month training rotation in critical care medicine.
The first month of this core critical care rotation occurs late in the CA1 year or during the CA2 year. During the rotation, the resident will be assigned to the Neuroscience and Anesthesia Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at U of L Hospital and will be supervised by the anesthesia-intensive care faculty.
The remaining 4 months include a junior level rotation during internship (PGY-1) year as well as a more advanced level rotation to be done in the senior (CA-3) year.
Curriculum: This rotation provides hands-on and intellectual background for care of critically ill adult patients with both surgical and medical illnesses. Residents provide primary care for assigned ICU patients, attend didactic conferences, are actively involved in bed-side case discussions, and participate in morbidity & mortality discussions. Successful completion of the rotation requires demonstration of his/her ability to assess and manage patients with a variety of neurosurgical, neurological diseases, massive trauma, and multiple organ failure.
Our program also offers an accredited Critical Care Fellowship for those with interest in the area.
Resident Dr. Kroh dons her PAPR in preparation for COVID intubations.
Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain
Residents will complete 1-3 months of Regional and Acute Pain during their CA-2 and CA-3 years. The rotation is focused on the development of skill and knowledge to effectively manage the pain of surgery in the perioperative setting for anesthesia and the post-operative period for analgesia utilizing regional anesthesia, consisting of neuraxial, peripheral neural blockade, and pharmacologic techniques.
Additional months are optional in the CA-3 year. The rotation is at the University of Louisville Hospital. Call is from home, and is shared with the Chronic Pain Residents.
Resident Dr. Yue performs a peripheral nerve block on a patient for pain control while on the Acute Pain Service team.
Pain Rotation
Residents will do 1-2 months in our Chronic Pain Clinic alongside fellowship trained staff.
In addition to our residency program, the Pain Medicine Fellowship Program at the University of Louisville is an anesthesiology-based, multidisciplinary program that is accredited by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
The mission of the program is to hone talented pain physicians who will be potential leaders and innovators in the field of pain medicine and research.
The clinical program is dedicated to providing comprehensive, multi-disciplinary and highest quality medical care for chronic pain patients.
Pain fellow Dr. Thebaud and Pain attending Dr. Chenna perform and pain block under fluoroscopy in the pain clinic.
Above: Cardiothoracic Anesthesiologist Dr. Settles and former UofL Anesthesia resident Dr. Parsons performs a TEE during an open heart surgery procedure.
Above: Dr. Babu performs TEE on a simulated heart in prepartion for his TEE rotation where he will be able to sit for basic certification at the end of the rotation.
Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular, and TEE
Cardiothoracic rotation
Residents will spend 1-2 months on the Cardiothoracic rotation beginning in late CA-1, or during CA-2 year with additional months during the CA-3 year. This rotation takes place in the Heart & Lung operating wing of Jewish Hospital. Residents will be supervised by Cardiac Anesthesiology faculty and will be doing major cardiothoracic cases such as CABGs, valve replacements (open, minimally invasive, and percutaneous), heart and lung transplants, as well as various cardiac procedures such as ablations, etc.
In addition, residents will also have one month of exclusive TEE training. At the end of this course many of our residents are eligible to sit for basic certification for TEE.
Thoracic & Vascular Surgery rotation
This is a 1 month rotation that will occur late in the CA1 year, or during the CA2 year. The resident will be assigned to the operating rooms at Jewish Hospital and will be supervised by anesthesiology faculty at Jewish Hospital. Curriculum: This rotation provides a focused exposure to all elements of anesthesia for thoracic and major vascular surgery and is designed to build on experiences at the VA Medical Center in the CA1 and CA2 years.
The curriculum is designed to provide the resident with hands-on and intellectual background for perioperative care of high risk patients for thoracic and major vascular surgery, including preoperative assessment of patients with multiple complex medical problems, line placement, general and regional approaches to anesthesia and analgesia, double lumen tube placement and position confirmation, endobronchial blocker placement and confirmation, fiberoptic bronchoscopy and one lung ventilation.
The clinical experience is supplemented by case discussions with faculty and assigned readings designed to build on content from lectures in the core didactic curriculum.
Pediatric Anesthesia
This rotation is completed at Norton Children's Hospital, the only stand alone children's hospital in the state of Kentucky. On the pediatric anesthesia rotation, residents will become competent in providing safe anesthesia and postanesthesia care for infants and children undergoing surgical, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The clinical experience ranges from high turnover ENT cases on healthy kids to complex neurosurgical and cardiac cases on newborns and medically complex children.
Curriculum: The pediatric anesthesia rotation is a minimum two-month rotation at Norton Children’s Hospital under the supervision of fellowship trained pediatric anesthesiologists. Although this minimum requirement is for the CA-1 through CA-3 years, the ideal time for this rotation is between late CA-1 to early CA-3 year
The clinical experience is supplemented with morning didactic conferences covering high-yield pediatric anesthesia topics.
Resident Dr. Spare performs anesthesia on
pediatric patients.
Perioperative Medicine
The Perioperative Medicine rotation is a two-module (eight-week) rotation in the CA-3 year that will teach the elements of anesthesiology that occur outside the operation room, excluding critical care and pain management.
Curriculum: The service combines the clinical care and academic skills of patient care for preanesthesia testing, post anesthesia care unit (PACU) and the anesthesia consultation service.
All patient care is supervised by sup-specialized faculty who combine education with clinical supervision. A core curriculum has been designed to achieve the teaching objectives of the rotation.
Residents Dr. Hrushka and Dr. Byrne preop a patient. They are also responsible for monitoring and caring for the patient in PACU post operatively.
curriculum
intern year (pgy-1)
ca-1 and ca-2 year (pgy-2, pgy-3)
ca-3 year (pgy-4)
