Additional Opportunities for Residents

Committees

Residents are invited and encouraged to participate in departmental committees. Some of the committees we offer include:

• The Morbidity and Mortality Committee, which reviews complications, presents cases for discussion and develops plans for quality improvement.
  
• The Medical Student Education Committee, which helps develop curricula and programs for our medical student education program.
  
• The Education Council, which helps improve and assure the quality of the resident education program.

Specialty Workshops

Specialty workshops are scheduled throughout the year. These include:

• The AirMan™ Simulator to teach residents advanced airway techniques, such as the Fastrach LMA, fiberoptic bronchoscopy and retrograde intubation as well as critical decision making in airway management.
  
• The "Anatomic Basis of Regional Anesthesia" workshop, which uses cadaver dissection and multimedia presentation to correlate clinical procedures with the underlying anatomy.
  
• The "Pacemaker" workshop, which teaches residents how to use modern pacemaker boxes and to place transvenous pacemakers.

Subspecialty Conferences

Various times. Subspecialty conferences are held to provide a forum for informal discussions between faculty and residents. Subject material may focus on interesting and relevant case management situations or issues that are of current interest within the subspecialty. These seminars are given by the sections of Obstetric Anesthesia, Pediatric Anesthesia, Cardiac Anesthesia (echocardiography), Neuroanesthesia, Ambulatory Anesthesia, and Pain Management (acute and chronic).

VA Connecticut Healthcare System Rotation

Although Yale-New Haven Hospital serves as the focal point for residency training, a portion of the educational experience is acquired in our affiliated institutions. Every resident spends a minimum of one or two months of their residency at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System in West Haven (3 miles away).

This gives the resident a chance to work in a different venue and with a the medically complex veteran population. During their chronic pain rotation, each resident will participate in the clinic and procedure room.

International Organizations

Some members of our attending staff are active in charitable organizations, such as Interplant, Healing the Children, Change child lives and Hand help. These organizations provide free medical and surgical care to people in developing nations. The attendings who provide anesthesia services during these missions select one resident to join them. This is an honor and a unique opportunity.

Many faculty and residents within the Department of Anesthesiology participate in international humanitarian missions, providing surgical care to children and adults around the world. Many of our humanitarian missions have been led by Dr. Dorothy Gaal, clinical director of the Pediatric Anesthesia section. In the recent past, we have sent groups to Vietnam, Paraguay, China, Thailand and the Philippines.

Friday - (7:00 - 8:00 AM). Departmental Grand Rounds provide a venue for prominent speakers, clinicians and researchers in the field of Anesthesiology (both members of our Department and visiting professors) to address the Department, apprise us of new developments and keep us on the cutting edge of our specialty. In addition, this meeting serves as a forum for discussion of morbidity and mortality. Periodically, a joint meeting is held with selected surgical sections to present common problems that arise in clinical care.

Journal Club provides an opportunity for faculty and residents to discuss current and classic journal articles that are interesting or controversial in a relaxed, informal atmosphere, typically at a local restaurant. Relevant journal articles are provided by the various sub-specialties. The ability to critically evaluate the literature and determine clinical significance is emphasized.

Dr. Will Rosenblatt, professor of Anesthesiology, is the founder and director of Remedy, a program that recycles still-useful but discarded medical supplies for use in under-served locations around the world. Headquartered at Yale, the program sends truckloads of much-needed supplies to hundreds of needy communities throughout the world.