Medical Student Courses

Our medical student rotations were developed to provide you with an engaging experience. We offer a variety of options that will help you gain further exposure to general and/or subspecialty areas of Anesthesiology. Our department faculty and residents enjoy teaching medical students about pharmacologic and physiologic principles of anesthesiology, technical skills, preoperative optimization, postoperative care, perioperative and critical care medicine, and how we approach patients as Anesthesia Consultants. Please see the options below for brief descriptions of our courses:

ANES 9110: Anesthesia Selective

Course Description: Students will be oriented to the OR starting on day 1 with hands-on practice in the CSETC simulation center, with a state-of-the-art CAE HPS mannequin system (considered the gold standard in patient simulation). During the SIM orientation, we’ll cover:

• Rotation expectations
• Orientation to OR, anesthesiologist perspective
• Brief overview of anesthesia equipment, machine, medications
• Patient preoperative evaluation (key points of history and physical)
• NPO guidelines and aspiration prevention
• Airway assessment
• Standard monitors
• Preoxygenation – Technique, goals/ physiology
• Induction medications and techniques
• Airway management – Positive pressure ventilation, airway maneuvers (chin lift, jaw thrust) and adjuncts (oral/nasal airways)
• Airway Management- direct and video laryngoscopy, ETT with correct size/depth,confirmation of placement
• Airway Management – LMA sizing, placement

Afterwards, students are taken to anatomy lab at BSEB where we’ll cover:

• Overview of ultrasound (physics, application in anesthesia)
• Regional anesthesia overview – indications, advantages
• Selective examples of PNB’s with description of innervation and anatomy
• Guided practice with ultrasound and needle on cadaver

The remainder of the two week selective is spent in the clinical setting, gaining hands-on patient care experience. Both clinical and didactic teaching will be emphasized, covering a broad range of topics related to anesthetic management with some topics having broad applicability to the practice of medicine. These topics include (but not limited to) airway management, pain management, ventilatory strategies, fluid management, pediatric and obstetric anesthesia, and IV induction agents. Students will summate their clinical experience with a presentation of a selected anesthetic topic to their peers and faculty. The majority of the clinical experience is spent in the adult ORs but there is the option to rotate to select subspecialty sites, should students express an interest in exploring further.

INDT 9403-101: Anesthesiology Sub-Internship

Course Description: After a general overview of the basic principles of anesthesiology with the selective rotation, students will delve into more subspecialized areas of anesthesiology. Students will rotate, approximately 1 week at a time through 4 various subspecialty options. The following clinical sites are available to students:

• Adult Clinical OR
  • Gain further experience in the anesthetic management of a variety of general anesthetic cases
• Acute Pain and Regional Pain Management
  • Participate in regional and neuraxial blocks for post-surgical pain management
  • Provide consultative services for complex medical pain management
• Ambulatory Surgery
  • Insight into anesthetic goals for a fast-paced surgery center including an emphasis on regional blocks and outpatient procedures
• Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology
  • Be involved in cardiac cases on cardiopulmonary bypass
  • Exposure to TEE
  • Learn one-lung ventilation strategies for thoracic cases
• Chronic Pain
  • Exposure to an outpatient pain clinic managing complex chronic pain concerns
  • Participate in procedures to alleviate chronic pain
• Neuroanesthesiology
  • Learn about the anesthetic principles in complex spine and neurological cases
  • Exposure to TIVA management
• Obstetric Anesthesiology
  • Participate in neuraxial blocks for expectant and surgical management of obstetric cases
  • Learn about the of impact of pharmacologic agents and physiologic changes of pregnancy on anesthetic management
• Pediatric Anesthesiology
  • Gain further experience in the anesthetic management of a variety of general anesthetic pediatric case

• Critical Care
  • Participate in the Surgical ICU, including being involved with the patient care team and procedures
  • Learn critical care for the complex post-surgical patient
• Trauma Call
  • Participate in the call experience, learning about principles of resuscitation, clinical care medicine, and physiologic changes associated with traumas

Each student will work along-side faculty, residents, and nurse anesthetists within our department and gain insight into some of the expanded applications of Anesthesiology. The students will follow assigned patients from preoperative evaluation through convalescence under the supervision of residents and faculty members.

INDT 9404-101: Anesthesiology Research

Weeks: 4 Prerequisites: Anesthesiology Selective (ANES 9110) Availability: based on availability of faculty advisor

Course Description: Students will work under the supervision of a faculty member to complete research and/or scholarly activity, with the goal of contributing to a publishable article about a predetermined subject.

Students must have a predetermined faculty mentor and research topic prior to beginning this course. Examples of scholarly work include:

• Writing a case report or case study
• Drafting an IRB protocol
• Enrolling patients into ongoing studies
• Data collection
• Systematic reviews
• Contributing to online questions banks or reputable anesthesiology resource
• Writing a textbook chapter
• Assisting with writing the manuscript

INDT 9406-101: Anesthesiology Special Studies

Weeks: 4 Prerequisites: Anesthesiology Selective (ANES 9110); requires Special Study Form for Enrollment Course Description Availability: May be repeated with change of subject matter.

Course Description: Students will work under the supervision of a faculty member. Topics of special nature or of unusual interest to the individual student may be explored. Course topic must be approved by the faculty mentor and medical student clerkship director prior to final enrollment. Assistance for finding a faculty mentor can be provided by the department student coordinator but must occur well in advance of the anticipated course start date.

**Our department has been able to offer a special studies course once a year during the fall term: Ultrasound Guided Regional Blocks with Cadaveric Dissection Review. This course incorporates anatomic review of regions related to commonly performed regional blocks for post-surgical pain management. Students will then be able to scan the contralateral body to compare the dissected model to a 2D generated ultrasound image. There will also be opportunity to practice POCUS exams.