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Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Fellowship

Education / Graduate Medical Education / Prospective Fellows / Anesthesiology Adult Cardiothoracic Fellowship / Curriculum

Curriculum & Educational Activities

Clinical Rotationsblood draw

Twelve 4 week rotation blocks, including:

  • One Thoracic blocks
  • Six Cardiac OR blocks
    • Includes two dedicated weeks on a rotation entitled “Perioperative Cardiac Consultation” designed to prepare fellows for their role as a consultant by rotating through multiple inpatient and outpatient experiences, including multidisciplinary conferences
  • Two Perioperative Echocardiography blocks
  • One Cardiac Surgical ICU block
  • One Congenital Cardiac block
  • One Elective Block split into multiple single or two week rotations from the following:blood draw
    • Perfusion
    • Mechanical Circulatory Support / ECMO
    • Point of Care Ultrasound
    • Pediatric / Congenital Echocardiography
    • Transfusion medicine
    • Research (pre-authorized project approval required)
    • Cardiac Catheterization
    • Electrophysiology
    • Cardiology Critical Care
    • Cardiac Surgery

Didactics

Fellows are offered one to two didactic sessions per week dedicated to the specialty of Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology. These include two seminar tracks including Clinical Management Seminars and Perioperative Echocardiography Seminars which are designed to prepare fellows for clinical practice and both the NBE and ABA board examinations.

Non-Clinical Time

Fellows receive 20 vacation days and 5 meeting days per year.

Additionally, Non-Clinical time is allocated into 26 academic days to assist fellows in meeting the academic requirements of the program. These academic days should be used for educational and scholarly pursuits, including but not limited to:

  • Reading and preparation for scheduled didactic seminars and board examinations.
  • Performing Perioperative Echo examinations and reviewing TEE studies with faculty.
  • Preparation of presentations to the division, department, or hospital.
  • Review, selection, and preparation of clinically challenging cases for publication or presentation.
  • Preparation of presentations or posters for academic meetings.
  • Scholarship activities structured to support eventual publication.

Additional Education Activitiespatient in bed

URMC is one of the busiest centers of its size in the country, performing more than 1200 adult cardiac procedures. In past years, the cardiac surgical program has grown in parallel with partnering services including interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, thoracic, and congenital cardiac programs. Furthermore, the hospital has committed to development of a new tower that will include a planned major expansion to the cardiac ICUs to support further growth.

  • Two Multidisciplinary Heart Dissection “Wet Labs”- an interactive porcine dissection lab with 2-d and 3-d echocardiographic and clinical correlates in collaboration with cardiology and cardiac surgery programs
  • “Perfusion Day” at SUNY upstate in Syracuse – a field trip to Syracuse where fellows learn the CPB machine in more depth and participate in a CPB simulator experience
  • Fellow education days – administered twice year to cover many professional issues including: Intraoperative Teaching Tips and Styles, Resident Supervision, Financial Planning, Business of Anesthesia (contract negotiation), Unconscious Bias training, Diversity and Inclusion, and Substance Abuse and Impairmentpatient in bed
  • Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Education Days and Seminars – an ongoing educational series for residents taught by UR faculty on basic TTE, lung, TEE, FAST, gastric, and airway. Fellows participate as learners in an early session and may participate as educators or course designers later in the year.
    • Education includes two Vimedix POCUS simulators featuring 2-D and 3-D TEE and TTE simulation as well as abdominal/gastric/FAST and lung POCUS imaging and many pathology packages.
  • Multidisciplinary Cardiac Surgery and Anesthesiology Journal Club - quarterly fellow-lead conference where our departments review current literature and discuss clinical and patient care implications
  • Cardiac Book Club – a laid-back hangout (often hosted at a faculty member’s home)  for division members to discuss an interesting book, article, or video pertaining to non-scholarly areas of interest such as medical ethics, personal wellness, and leadership/communication skills
  • Echo reading sessions to help create a rounded exposure to pathology and ensure case volume
  • Mock Oral Examinations – arranged multiple times a year for fellows and residents who have not taken the Applied examination
  • Multiple multidisciplinary quality assurance / QI meetings with the cardiac surgical group, structural heart team, ECMO/VAD group, and EP group
  • Support and mentorship to complete required scholarly projects, including complex case presentation to the SCA meeting, grand rounds presentation, and a quality improvement project