Curriculum

Anesthesiology Residency

The anesthesiology residency program at the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville is competency-based and structured to cover all areas in anesthesiology and its subspecialties. Our curriculum is designed to fulfill all the requirements of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, or ACGME, and the American Board of Anesthesiology. The smaller size of our program allows flexibility to schedule residents based upon their learning and ultimate career goals.

We are an integrated categorical program and therefore offer a wide variety of clinical experiences spread across four training years (PGY-1 – PGY-4). Starting in the PGY-2 year, residents on clinical anesthesia rotations participate in night float coverage, with an average of 3-4 weeks of night float per year. Night float shifts are 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., Saturday through Thursday nights. Residents also cover 3-4 Friday 24-hour calls per year. Residents on non-anesthesia fundamental clinical skills rotations participate in the call schedules of the relevant clinical departments.

Fundamental Clinical Skills (Clinical Base Year)

The fundamental clinical skills curriculum is designed to provide a strong foundation in general adult medicine and surgery as well as experiences in the major subspecialties that interface with the practice of Anesthesiology. Unlike many other programs, our fully integrated residency incorporates fundamental clinical skills rotations throughout the first 3 years of residency. This allows for both a strong foundation in hospital medicine as well as earlier experience in anesthesiology. We start Clinical Anesthesia Orientation in February of the PGY-1 year.

Fundamental Clinical Skills Rotations:

  • PGY-1 Year
    • Internal Medicine Inpatient (2)
    • Acute Care Surgery
    • Trauma Surgery
    • Inpatient Chronic Pain Management
    • Surgical Intensive Care Unit
    • Pulmonary Consultation
    • Cardiology Consultation
  • PGY-2 Year
    • Oral-Maxillofacial Surgery
    • Transfusion Medicine (2 weeks)
  • PGY-3 Year
    • Medical Intensive Care Unit
    • Emergency Medicine – Acute Resuscitation Rotation
Early Clinical Anesthesia Experience (PGY-1 & PGY-2)

The early clinical anesthesia curriculum provides the resident with a concentrated experience to continue to develop the fundamentals and basic skills of anesthesiology.

  • 8-week orientation program with 1:1 supervision in the OR and daily afternoon didactics
  • Multiple opportunities for assessment and feedback including simulation exercises
  • Graduated indirect supervision to build up clinical judgment and prepare for independent practice
  • Develop proficiency in airway management, regional block and placing invasive hemodynamic monitors and central lines
  • Introduction to subspecialty rotations to be prepared to apply to fellowships during the PGY-3 year
Advanced Clinical Anesthesia Experience (PGY-3 & PGY-4)

The advanced clinical anesthesia curriculum is guided to anesthesia subspecialties based on more advanced and complex cases, with supervised care to assure safe practices, while at the same time strengthening independent practice.

  • Residents take on a teaching role with junior residents
  • Residents dedicate more time to subspecialty rotations
  • Emergency Medicine rotation provides experience in trauma resuscitation and airway management
  • Senior residents develop into anesthesiology consultants with more responsibilities and academic activities
  • Senior residents become leaders in management including learning to run the operating room, supervise anesthesia care teams, manage surgical emergencies and interact with other anesthesia providers and operating room teams
  • Concentrated clinical experience in a community hospital practice care model with didactics in transition to practice
  • Elective months with time dedicated to advanced subspecialty rotations as well as research
Conferences and Didactics

A key resource of our training program is the ability to provide a full day every week that is solely devoted to resident didactic education. Residents are free of clinical duties on Wednesdays so they can attend all didactics and also have time to work on academic projects.

Wednesday Academic Day Schedules Include:

  • Grand rounds/visiting professor conference series
  • Quality improvement Patient Safety – curriculum series that covers the basic principles of quality improvement, just culture, and LEAN and Six-Sigma concepts
  • Keyword reviews of exam topic areas
  • Basic didactic series - covers foundational topics such as physiology and pharmacology
  • Advanced didactic aeries - covers subspecialty and advanced practice concepts
  • Integrated workshops throughout the year including ultrasound and regional anesthesia, difficult airway, and practice management
  • Dedicate time for Point of Care Ultrasound education
  • Some rotations have their own specific didactics and lectures, such as surgical intensive care unit
  • Evidenced Based Medicine Journal club - monthly and is a review of relevant articles, presented by one or two residents with a faculty mentor, followed by a group discussion
  • Floating academic days can be used for research projects/fellowship interviews

We provide board study preparation that includes:

  • Keyword Review and group written and oral examination practice
  • TrueLearn – practice questions for ITE, BASIC and ADVANCED exam study
  • Anesthesia toolbox – includes question bank with 3000+ practice questions
  • Multiple opportunities for practice tests - AKT exams, in-training exams, ACE/SEE exams
Simulation
Simulation Education for Anesthesiology Residents at the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville
  • Monthly 2-hour simulation sessions are held in conjunction with Mayo Clinic anesthesiology residents; this series teaches acute crisis resource management (ACRM) as well as preparation for ABA OSCE Board exams
  • A full mock ABA Applied Examination for our PGY-3 and PGY-4 residents that includes both the oral exam and the multiple station OSCE is conducted annually
  • Multiple workshops in regional anesthesia, vascular access, difficult airway management, one-lung ventilation and ultrasonography (POCUS) are conducted
  • Computer software and simulators to self-study and practice POCUS skills including ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia, TTE, TEE, and brochoscopy is provided